TTP says Pak Govt. must stop U.S.-led war on terror, drone strikes for peace talks

The Pakistan Taliban has reportedly conveyed that the Nawaz Sharif Government must ensure an end to the U.S.-led war against terrorism and drones strikes if a dialogue for peace is to start.

The Nation quoted Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, who is also regarded as father of the Taliban, as saying that the government will have to address their reservations about the prevailing political system by giving them an assurance that it would be Islamised in a 'democratic' way.

Sami-ul-Haq, who heads his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), said 11 of the parties that participated in the All Parties Conference (APC) have been supporting the U.S. agenda and opposing the Taliban.

Hence, they could not be of any support to the cause of the resolution, he added.

He said the resolution passed by the conference had landed the government and the army into a new situation and now it was a test of their capabilities to deal with the problem.

The religio-political leader reaffirmed that the U.S. could not cause any harm to Pakistan, if it took measures to safeguard its sovereignty.

The Taliban was dissatisfied with the existing parliamentary system that had failed to give people their due rights, he further added.

Earlier, a TTP spokesman welcomed the peace talks offered through a resolution passed by the APC.

The JUI-F chief said it was for the government to decide which faction of the TTP to talk to for the peace talks.