Pakistan interior minister says Taliban agrees to disarm for talks

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik Tuesday said that several militant groups have contacted the government and expressed willingness to hold talks to end violence in the country. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani last month offered dialogue with the Taliban militant groups days after nearly 60 political and religious leaders asked the government at a conference to hold talks with the armed groups. Gilani had warned that the security forces will launch operations in tribal against the militants if negotiations are filed. The Prime Minister had stated that his government will not ask the militants to lay down arms as a condition for the proposed talks but the Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that talks would be held with those groups who lay down arms. Malik told reporters in the southwestern city of Quetta that talks will be held only with those Taliban groups which renounce violence and lay down their arms first. Two senior Pakistani Taliban leaders -- Maulvi Faqir and Qari Wali-ur-Rahman – had positively responded to the government talks offer. Faqir, the deputy chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP had suggested direct talks with the federal government and Wali-ur-Rahman, a close aide of the TTP chief, Hakimullah Mehsood, had suggested mediation by Saudi Arabia to ensure implementation of any peace agreement. Despite the last month’s offer by Prime Minister Gilani and positive response by two Taliban leaders, there has been no progress so far and the Interior Minister’s statement for laying of the arms as a condition may delay any possible progress. Malik said on Tuesday that the minimum agenda is that the militants must throw out weapons to pave the way for talks. “If they think they will keep Kalashnikovs in their hands and also hold talks, that will not happen,” he said in Quetta, the violence-stricken capital of Balochistan province. The Interior Minister arrived in Quetta following a series of sectarian attacks in recent weeks, which claimed lives of dozens of Shia Muslims. The Taliban-linked banned group ‘Lashkar-e-Jhangi’ group had claimed responsibility for attacks. Malik said that he would discuss with the provincial authorities security measures for Shia Muslims who want to visit shrines and religious sites in neighbouring Iran. The militants carried out two attacks on the buses, carrying pilgrims upto the border town of Taftan for their onward journey to Iran.