KP govt insists on Taliban office for ‘better coordination’

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government Saturday reiterated its stance that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) should be allowed to establish its office in the province or elsewhere in the country for better coordination and holding of peace talks.
Talking to the media persons at the Peshawar Press Club, Information Minister and the PTI-led provincial government spokesman Shah Farman said the Afghan Taliban had been allowed to set up their office in Qatar and it had helped contacting them for talks and any clarification. “But in our country, we don’t have any channel to communicate with the TTP and it is causing worsening of the situation,” he argued.
Shah Farman was responding to questions by reporters about a statement by the TTP spokesman threatening journalists for ‘distorting TTP’s statements.’
He felt the TTP could have been immediately contacted if it had an office to clarify its stance in such situations or in case of a happening in which their involvement was alleged.
“Presently, it takes weeks to seek confirmation or clarification from the Taliban. Certain forces take advantage of the situation,” he stressed.
Referring to the role of the US, European countries and others in the West, Shah Farman said: “They razed the Berlin Wall in their region, but are not allowing us to seek peace. We helped the US to become the only superpower in the world by backing it in Afghanistan, but today we are facing insecurity and they are not playing their role to bring peace in our region.”
He said the provincial government wanted to work with the federal government to align the foreign policy with the aspirations of our people and in line with local needs. “We believe many of our problems are directly linked with the objectives of our foreign policy, which should be revisited in line with our fast changing geo-strategic and geo-economic scenario,” he argued.
He said the Taliban had sought guarantees from the previous government and might still believe that the federal government had no authority to hold peace talks on its own.
To a question about lack of security to the two polio workers killed Saturday on the outskirts of Peshawar, the minister said there was no polio campaign going on in the province these days. However, he hastened to add that providing security to all sections of the society was the prime duty of the government.
About the likelihood of an alliance between the PTI and other political forces for the upcoming local government election in the province, Shah Farman said the PTI was preparing for making an alliance with its coalition partners, Jamaat-e-Islami and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP), to jointly contest the local government polls.