Pakistan: Government did not ask Samiul Haq to hold peace talks: Sources

The government did not task Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) Chief Maulana Samiul Haq to revive peace talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), sources told Express News on Friday. Express News correspondent Aamir Ilyas Rana reported that sources clarified that the influential cleric had asked for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s time, and after meeting him, unilaterally announced that the government had given him the task to hold peace talks. On December 31, it was reported that Nawaz was looking to mend broken communication links with TTP, naming Haq as the government’s point man and ice-breaker in the proposed negotiations. The recently-initiated dialogue process had collapsed after the TTP leader Hakeemullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack on a North Waziristan compound. Background It should be noted that JUI-S was not invited in the All Parties Conference in 2013, which was convened to chalk out a plan to tackle terrorism. Samiul Haq was not made a part of the government’s plans of starting dialogue with the TTP after JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman expressed his reservations over Haq’s inclusion. Haq is nicknamed the ‘Father of the Taliban’ and runs a madrassa where several Taliban leaders were educated.