TTP members to decide time & place for Taliban talks with Pak govt

Maulana Yousuf Shah said the nation would soon receive some good news on the talks' front

Members representing the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Thursday reached Waziristan in a special-charter helicopter to meet leaders from the Taliban shura ahead of peace talks with Pakistan government-nominated negotiators.

The aim of the meeting is to decide the time and venue for the shura's talks with the new government committee, Dawn Online reported.

Maulana Yousuf Shah, contact person for the TTP, and Jamaat-i-Islami's Ibrahim Khan reached North Waziristan for the talks.

"The nation would soon receive some good news on the talks' front," Shah said in a statement to the media in Islamabad before he left for the talks.

"Members of both committees need to adopt a cautious approach. The venue of the meeting between government representatives and the Taliban shura is not yet decided," Shah added.

The government has formed a new high-level committee for direct talks with the Taliban. The committee comprises top government officials.

The new committee, headed by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special assistant Irfan Siddiqui, comprises Habibullah Khan Khattak, federal secretary for ports and shipping; Arbab Muhammad Arif, additional chief secretary of FATA; Fawad Hassan Fawad, additional secretary at Prime Minister's Office; and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) member Rustam Shah Mohmand, who has served as chief secretary of the then North West Frontier Province and the country's ambassador in Afghanistan.