Pak govt, Taliban negotiators to meet on Saturday

Negotiators from the government and the Pakistani Taliban will meet on Saturday even as a senior minister today stressed that peace talks cannot move forward without a ceasefire.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan rejected the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) claims that the government is not serious in pursuing peace talks with the banned group.
The TTP, which called off its ceasefire yesterday, blamed the government saying it is not serious about talks.
Official sources quoted the minister as saying that the government has moved removed all blocks on the road to dialogue with sincerity and strong resolve.
"If the government was not serious, why would its team travel to South Waziristan," Khan said.

He said that if the Taliban has any issues, they should be discussed and thrashed out on the negotiating table. He said the government also had its own set of issues and concerns.

Khan underlined that issues cannot be resolved through media statements.
"I don't think that talks can move forward without cessation of violence," he said.
The minister said he has called for a meeting with the Taliban's negotiating committee to decide on the next steps towards peace.
He met Taliban negotiating committee chief Maulana Samiul Haq who was of the view that "peace can come only through dialogue".

Earlier in the day, Taliban negotiating committee coordinator Maulana Yousuf Shah said peace talks cannot succeed without a permanent ceasefire, adding that they would soon meet with the group's Shura council to convince them.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security (CCNS) today in Islamabad during which it was decided that the peace process with the Taliban would continue on a slow pace based on a wait and watch policy.
Sharif said Pakistan was facing serious security challenges which need to be tackled and overcome.
Subsequently, the interior minister briefed the committee on the dialogue process.

The meeting also reiterated the government's resolve to improve the internal security situation which according to the committee was critical to economic and social development.
Sharif's government had begun negotiations with the Taliban through intermediaries in February to try to end the cycle of violence that has claimed over 40,000 lives.