Pakistan offers to hold peace talks with militants
By Maaz Khan (AFP) – 5 hours ago
QUETTA, Pakistan — Pakistan is willing to hold peace talks with Islamist militants if they surrender their weapons first, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Tuesday.
"We have received messages from banned outfits and militant organisations for reconciliation and we have conveyed these messages to our leadership," Malik told reporters in Quetta, the capital of troubled Baluchistan province.
Pakistan plays host to myriad Islamist militant groups, principally a Taliban-led insurgency in its northwest on the border with Afghanistan, but also a regional insurgency with separatist aspirations in Baluchistan.
Malik refused to disclose which militants he was talking about. Asked whether these reconciliation messages were coming from the Taliban or Baluch rebels, he replied: "It is purely confidential."
"The prime minister has also clearly stated that reconciliation is possible only with those who lay down their arms," he added.
"Reconciliation and talks are not possible when there is Kalashnikov in one hand. There is clear government policy that talks or dialogue would be held only with those who surrender their weapons," Malik said.
Pakistan is under mounting US pressure to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked safe havens, in particular to launch an offensive against the Haqqani network considered the primary US foe in eastern Afghanistan.
Closing ranks against the US pressure at a conference uniting political and military leaders on September 29, Pakistan called for a new emphasis on reconciliation, saying "'give peace a chance' must be the guiding principle".
Washington says eliminating militant sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal belt are vital to ending the 10-year war in Afghanistan and defeating Al-Qaeda.
But Pakistan has refused to open a new front against the Haqqanis and denies US accusations of support for the Al-Qaeda-linked network.....
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