Pakistani Taliban offer conditional truce

KABUL on Sunday said they would seek from security forces guarantee of the country’s three top political and religious leaders for their proposed talks with the government.

“Taliban have offered dialogue with the government to end the on-going bloodshed, but the government has not yet responded to it,” Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said in a video.

The Pakistani insists the insurgents should lay arms first and stop attacks, the conditions rejected by the militants.

Ihsan last month said they would call a guarantee from the security forces after a new military doctrine which views the home-grown militants as the major threat to the country’s security than a foreign threat.

In the video released Sunday, Ihsan listed former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League, the second largest political party, chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, religious political party Jamiat Ulema Islam (F) leader  Maulana Fazal Rehman or Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Ameer Syed Munawar Hasan as guarantors for the talks.

He also called for the release of Taliban detainees including Maulvi Omar, TTP’s Swat former spokesman Muslim Khan and other leaders. He said Maulvi Omar and Muslim Khan would lead the Taliban delegation in the proposed talks.

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