NAWAZ SHARIF CALLS FOR PEACE TALKS WITH TALIBAN FIGHTERS

Lahore, Pakistan, 11 Rajab 1434/21 May 2013 (MINA) – Pakistan’s presumptive prime minister Nawaz Sharif has called for peace talks with Taliban fighters at war with the government, potentially charting a course that could put him at odds with the country’s powerful army.

Sharif said on Monday that “terrorism” was one of the most serious problems plaguing the country and any offer by the Pakistani Taliban to talk “should be taken seriously”, Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“All options should be tried, and guns are not a solution to all problems,” Sharif said in a speech to newly elected members of his party in the eastern city of Lahore. “Why shouldn’t we sit and talk, engage in dialogue?”

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The Pakistani Taliban have been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for years. The fighters say they are fighting to enforce Islamic law in the country and end the government’s alliance with the United States.

The Pakistani army has launched multiple operations against the Taliban in their strongholds along the border with Afghanistan, but the fighters have proven resilient and continue to carry out near-daily attacks.

Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who met with Sharif on Saturday for the first time since the May 11 election, laid out strict conditions last month for any potential peace deal with the Taliban.

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“We sincerely desire that all those who have strayed and have picked up arms against the nation return to the national fold,” Kayani said in a rare public speech. “However, this is only possible once they unconditionally submit to the state, its constitution and the rule of law.”

It is unclear whether Sharif’s concept of peace fits within this framework.

Activists have raised concerns that Sharif’s government could accept militant demands that they consider would threaten human rights in the country, especially for women.

The Pakistani government has previously struck peace deals with the Taliban, but they haven’t held and have been criticised for allowing the fighters to regroup.

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Sharif has called for peace talks in the past, but Monday’s speech was the first time he has done so publicly since his Pakistan Muslim League-N party scored a resounding victory in the election. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).