Islamabad: Imran Khan will not be part of the peace talks with Pakistani Taliban despite the militant group showing interest in having him on the committee. This was revealed by his Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The talks due to begin on Tuesday already has PTI member former Ambassador Rustam Shah Mohmand in the group.
Negotiators nominated by the government and the Taliban will chart a “roadmap” for dialogue at their first meeting. The government team has four members, besides Mohmand: veteran journalists Rahimullah Yusufzai and Irfan Siddiqui, and a retired Major from the ISI intelligence service, Amir Shah.
The Taliban team includes Maulana Sami ul-Haq, known as the “Father of the Taliban”, the chief cleric of Islamabad’s Red Mosque Maulana Abdul Aziz, and two top religious party leaders, Mufti Kifayatullah and Prof Ibrahim Khan.
Maulana ul-Haq said, “We expect a ceasefire from both the government and the Taliban. It’s mandatory for the peace process”. The talks come at a time when Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been under mounting pressure to bring the insurgency waged since 2007 under control.