ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met his national security team on Friday to discuss steps to be taken for the dialogue process with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam and PM’s Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi attended the meeting held at the prime minister’s residence.
According to the PM Office, the meeting was held to discuss “matters relating to national security and national importance”.
Conspicuous among those absent from the meeting were PM’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, who has largely sidelined himself from ‘national internal security’ matters and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.
The meeting was initially planned for earlier in the week, but had to be postponed because of the prime minister’s political consultations with his party colleagues over whether or not to allow former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, who is being tried for high treason, to fly out of the country to see his ailing mother.
The meeting followed an announcement by the Ministry of Interior about the release of 19 ‘non-combatant Taliban’ during the last week of March and happened on the day the TTP formally announced extension in suspension of their violent activities till April 10.
“The government has a set of parameters against which it is measuring the progress in the talks’ initiative. The meeting took stock of the situation,” an official said.
“The meeting was updated about the next steps that the government would be taking to keep the process continuing,” the official added.
There have been concerns in government circles about the TTP’s response to various steps taken by the government.
Voicing reservations over the process, another official, who did not want to be named, observed that other than a lot of posturing Taliban lacked clarity.
The government has been facing opposition from the army over any move to accept the TTP’s demand for the establishment of a “peace zone” outside North Waziristan on the grounds that doing so would send a wrong signal about the gains made so far in other tribal areas which have been cleared.
The army had earlier resisted its inclusion in the government’s negotiating team. However, at a later stage it agreed to assign a mid-ranking officer, though still not officially part of the negotiating team, for what is being described as “institutional support”.
At the meeting, the prime minister was also briefed about elections in Afghanistan and release of kidnapped Iranian guards by the group that had been holding them.
The abduction of guards had increased friction in bilateral ties with Iran, which had alleged that the abductors were holding them on Pakistani soil.
Iran has said that the guards have been freed in Pakistan.
“Four of the five abducted Iranian border guards have been handed over to Iranian officials in Pakistan,” Fars quoted Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kosari as saying.
MEETING WITH AIR CHIEF (APP): Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique called on Prime Minister Sharif on Friday.
Professional matters pertaining to Pakistan Air Force were discussed during the meeting.