Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan’s claim that the US drone attack that killed Hakimullah Mehsud was carried out shortly before a three member government delegation was to meet the TTP leadership, does not seem credible keeping in view TTP spokesman’s Nov 1 statement (hardly six hours before his boss was to be droned to death), denying Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Oct 31 declaration that dialogue with the Taliban has begun.
The interior minister had claimed at his Nov 2 press conference in Islamabad that the drone attack that killed Hakimullah was a deliberate attempt by the US to sabotage the peace efforts that were poised to begin by a three-member delegation which was on its way to meet the TTP representatives, carrying a letter from the government side formally setting out the dialogue offer. But the Taliban circles strongly refute Ch Nisar’s claim as a white lie, saying they were never informed about a three-member delegation; neither anyone from the government had approached them [seeking a meeting with the TTP leadership either on Nov 1 or Nov 2] nor was any such meeting ever scheduled, as claimed by Nisar.
The Taliban sources refer to the Nov 1 statement issued by TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid wherein he had refuted Nawaz Sharif’s statement [issued in London on Oct 31] during a meeting with British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, saying dialogue with the Taliban had begun as his government could not wait and see innocent people being killed. Shahid had stated: “We once again reiterate our previous demand that the US drone attacks should be stopped before initiation of peace dialogue. Whatever Nawaz Sharif and Ch Nisar Khan have said with regard to the initiation of the talks is not true. No one from the government has approached us for peace talks so far. We are surprised to read these misleading statements. That’s why we have called an emergency meeting of TTP Shura today (Nov 1) to check if someone [from TTP] was really negotiating with the government”.
Shahidullah Shahid’s statement also addressed the query as to why the TTP Shura was holding a meeting under Hakimullah’s chairmanship on Nov 1 in Danday Darpa Khel village of Miramshah in North Waziristan.
Interestingly, the government side has been giving an impression ever since Hakimullah’s killing as if the TTP Shura had met to chalk out the agenda of peace talks with the three-member government delegation.
On the other hand, sources in the security establishment also express lack of knowledge about any meeting having been scheduled between the government side and the TTP leadership hours before Hakimullah was killed. They reminded that the TTP had made conditional the initiation of peace parleys with the release of convicted and under trial TTP prisoners, withdrawal of the army from FATA, enforcement of Shariah in the country and the halting of the American drone attacks in Pakistani tribal areas. And the government was not in a position to entertain any of these demands which were simply rubbish.
The establishment circles referred to Ch Nisar Ali Khan’s Nov 4 statement on the floor of the National Assembly, saying: “The biggest dilemma for the government in the way of the peace talks is that the TTP is actually a lose conglomerate of at least 37 different jehadi groups based in the tribal areas. But despite being members of the TTP umbrella, each of these groups is fully independent in decision making which is a major problem. Therefore, holding peace talks with a single group would be useless”. According to the establishment circles, Nisar’s statement was self-contradictory and clearly negated his earlier claim of having struck a breakthrough [with Taliban to hold talks] shortly before Hakimullah was killed.
On the other hand, the Taliban sources pointed out that Ch Nisar has not yet named the “so-called” three-member delegation which was to hold talks with the TTP leadership. “Had there been any such delegation, its members would have come forward by now to at least condole with us the said demise of our ameer”, said a Taliban commander while requesting anonymity. While referring to Shahidullah’s latest statement, the TTP leader said there are clear indications to suggest that the Sharif government was also involved in Hakimullah’s killing. Shahid said the other day that the group’s leadership knew that the government was not sincere in peace talks but had decided to hold parleys for the sake of Pakistani people. We did not want innocent Pakistanis to suffer any more. But the government, by helping the US in the killing of Hakimullah, has proved that it was actually deceiving us”.
According to the Taliban commander, any breakthrough between the government and the TTP was out of question after the Oct 30, 2013 US drone strike in the main bazar of Miramshah in North Waziristan. “The attack was conducted hardly a couple of days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent meeting with American President Obama in New York after which the Pakistan government gave an impression as if the Americans had agreed to halt their drone campaign. Therefore, there were zero chances of any breakthrough between the government and the Taliban leadership after the Oct 30 drone attack. Therefore, no one could believe in Nisar’s claim that the TTP leadership was scheduled to see a government delegation to hold talks on the eve of Hakimullah Mehsud’s demise”, the TTP commander added.
In a related development, despite Ch Nisar’s recent anti-US tirade and announcement to summon the US ambassador for lodging official protest over Hakimullah’s death, the US State Department spokesperson Marie Harf declared yesterday in Washington that ‘it had no specific communication to report on a protest note from Pakistan over the killing of the TTP chief in a US drone attack’. Therefore, it is not that much difficult to ascertain as to who is actually correct.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Pakistan: No govt-TTP talks were afoot, Nisar’s claim not credible
Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan’s claim that the US drone attack that killed Hakimullah Mehsud was carried out shortly before a three member government delegation was to meet the TTP leadership, does not seem credible keeping in view TTP spokesman’s Nov 1 statement (hardly six hours before his boss was to be droned to death), denying Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Oct 31 declaration that dialogue with the Taliban has begun.
The interior minister had claimed at his Nov 2 press conference in Islamabad that the drone attack that killed Hakimullah was a deliberate attempt by the US to sabotage the peace efforts that were poised to begin by a three-member delegation which was on its way to meet the TTP representatives, carrying a letter from the government side formally setting out the dialogue offer. But the Taliban circles strongly refute Ch Nisar’s claim as a white lie, saying they were never informed about a three-member delegation; neither anyone from the government had approached them [seeking a meeting with the TTP leadership either on Nov 1 or Nov 2] nor was any such meeting ever scheduled, as claimed by Nisar.
The Taliban sources refer to the Nov 1 statement issued by TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid wherein he had refuted Nawaz Sharif’s statement [issued in London on Oct 31] during a meeting with British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, saying dialogue with the Taliban had begun as his government could not wait and see innocent people being killed. Shahid had stated: “We once again reiterate our previous demand that the US drone attacks should be stopped before initiation of peace dialogue. Whatever Nawaz Sharif and Ch Nisar Khan have said with regard to the initiation of the talks is not true. No one from the government has approached us for peace talks so far. We are surprised to read these misleading statements. That’s why we have called an emergency meeting of TTP Shura today (Nov 1) to check if someone [from TTP] was really negotiating with the government”.
Shahidullah Shahid’s statement also addressed the query as to why the TTP Shura was holding a meeting under Hakimullah’s chairmanship on Nov 1 in Danday Darpa Khel village of Miramshah in North Waziristan.
Interestingly, the government side has been giving an impression ever since Hakimullah’s killing as if the TTP Shura had met to chalk out the agenda of peace talks with the three-member government delegation.
On the other hand, sources in the security establishment also express lack of knowledge about any meeting having been scheduled between the government side and the TTP leadership hours before Hakimullah was killed. They reminded that the TTP had made conditional the initiation of peace parleys with the release of convicted and under trial TTP prisoners, withdrawal of the army from FATA, enforcement of Shariah in the country and the halting of the American drone attacks in Pakistani tribal areas. And the government was not in a position to entertain any of these demands which were simply rubbish.
The establishment circles referred to Ch Nisar Ali Khan’s Nov 4 statement on the floor of the National Assembly, saying: “The biggest dilemma for the government in the way of the peace talks is that the TTP is actually a lose conglomerate of at least 37 different jehadi groups based in the tribal areas. But despite being members of the TTP umbrella, each of these groups is fully independent in decision making which is a major problem. Therefore, holding peace talks with a single group would be useless”. According to the establishment circles, Nisar’s statement was self-contradictory and clearly negated his earlier claim of having struck a breakthrough [with Taliban to hold talks] shortly before Hakimullah was killed.
On the other hand, the Taliban sources pointed out that Ch Nisar has not yet named the “so-called” three-member delegation which was to hold talks with the TTP leadership. “Had there been any such delegation, its members would have come forward by now to at least condole with us the said demise of our ameer”, said a Taliban commander while requesting anonymity. While referring to Shahidullah’s latest statement, the TTP leader said there are clear indications to suggest that the Sharif government was also involved in Hakimullah’s killing. Shahid said the other day that the group’s leadership knew that the government was not sincere in peace talks but had decided to hold parleys for the sake of Pakistani people. We did not want innocent Pakistanis to suffer any more. But the government, by helping the US in the killing of Hakimullah, has proved that it was actually deceiving us”.
According to the Taliban commander, any breakthrough between the government and the TTP was out of question after the Oct 30, 2013 US drone strike in the main bazar of Miramshah in North Waziristan. “The attack was conducted hardly a couple of days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent meeting with American President Obama in New York after which the Pakistan government gave an impression as if the Americans had agreed to halt their drone campaign. Therefore, there were zero chances of any breakthrough between the government and the Taliban leadership after the Oct 30 drone attack. Therefore, no one could believe in Nisar’s claim that the TTP leadership was scheduled to see a government delegation to hold talks on the eve of Hakimullah Mehsud’s demise”, the TTP commander added.
In a related development, despite Ch Nisar’s recent anti-US tirade and announcement to summon the US ambassador for lodging official protest over Hakimullah’s death, the US State Department spokesperson Marie Harf declared yesterday in Washington that ‘it had no specific communication to report on a protest note from Pakistan over the killing of the TTP chief in a US drone attack’. Therefore, it is not that much difficult to ascertain as to who is actually correct.
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