Pakistani minister: Taliban are not serious in talks

Pakistani Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, Saturday said that Taliban are neither serious nor sincere in peace talks with the government, local media quoted the minister as reporting. The remarks came days after the Taliban offered conditional talks with the government, which the Taliban had sought guarantee of three senior Pakistani religious and political leaders. The Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had also called for the release of their two former spokesmen Maulvi Said Umer and Muslim Khan. Ehsan said they will lead the Taliban negotiation team. However, a minister in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Saturday ruled out the release of Taliban prisoners before the talks and asked the Taliban to nominate some other names for the talks. Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, viewed with suspicious the Taliban dialogue offer and said the Taliban spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan has no credibility and that Taliban cannot befool the Pakistani nation by such jokes. Malik told reporters in Islamabad the Taliban have nominated Adnan Rashid, who is a proclaimed offender, and fled last year when armed Taliban stormed the prison in the country's northwestern district of Bannu. Rashid was involved in masterminding attack on former President Pervez Musharraf. He appeared in the video when the Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman offered talks in the video message. The Interior Minister urged the Taliban to nominate their real representative, if they are serious in holding peace talks with the government. However, the minister appreciated the offer of talks with Taliban before the general elections and termed it as a good omen. "If they believe in Pakistan's sovereignty, they must stop killing innocent people," he said, adding that the murder of one innocent person was like killing the whole of humanity.