ISLAMABAD: The committees, formed by the government and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to broker a peace pact between the two sides, held an informal meeting at an undisclosed location in Islamabad on Tuesday.
During the meeting, agenda for Wednesday's formal meeting was discussed, said a press release issued after the meeting.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Affairs Irfan Siddqui, who is coordinator of the government committee, said that response from the TTP Political Shura over the government’s conditions was ‘satisfactory.’
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq, who is a member of the committee nominated by the TTP, said that Taliban’s demands were placed in front of government negotiators, adding that attempts at a ceasefire would be made in the first stage of dialogue.
The meeting was held after Professor Ibrahim and Maulana Yousuf Shah returned from North Waziristan after meeting with the TTP’s political shura and receiving their response regarding the demands of the government.
After meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif earlier on Monday, Irfan Siddiqui reiterated that the government was fully committed to restoring peace in the country and would leave no stone unturned to achieve this objective.
However, a senior official of the prime minister office, when contacted, said that “frankly speaking the top leadership of the government isn’t that hopeful. But one can expect that the TTP leadership positively responds to the government’s offer for talks.”
Meanwhile, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who was not present at the meeting, said that he was not informed of today's as well as tomorrow's formal meeting of the two committees.
Earlier on Friday last week, Maulana Aziz had declared at a press conference that he would no longer take part in negotiations between the two sides until the condition of imposing Islamic laws was made part of the dialogue.
But, Maulana Yousuf Shah said the following day that it was likely that the chief cleric of Lal Masjid would continue the work with the TTP committee.