Pakistan's last-ditch effort to hold peace talks with the Taliban suffered a setback today when the first meeting in an already bizarre process was cancelled over concerns that Imran Khan had turned down an invitation to represent the militant group.
A four-man committee appointed by the Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, had been due to meet a group of three extremist clerics in Islamabad this afternoon.
Although none of the three are members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a coalition of Islamists fighting the government, they are among five people the militants originally proposed as their representatives. Khan, the cricketer turned politician, and Mufti Kifayatullah, a member of a right-wing religious party, turned down the TTP's offer.
The refusal by the two men to participate was cited as one of the reasons the meeting was cancelled. Irfan Siddiqui, one of the government-appointed negotiators, said the decisions of Khan and Kifayatullah had “put a question mark on talks”.
The cancellation underlined widespread scepticism about a push for peace announced as a “last-chance” option by Mr Sharif last week. His statement in parliament surprised many commentators as it had been widely anticipated that Islamabad was about to give its blessing for a military push against TTP sanctuaries.
Even a member of the government negotiating committee, the highly regarded journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai, had publicly expressed doubts about whether anything would come of the meeting, pointing out that previous peace deals had always come unstuck.
The highly unorthodox talks effort has no agreed timeframe or pre-agreed terms for the discussion. One person was apparently approached by both sides to represent their interests. Ansar Abbasi, a journalist who said he had turned down an offer from Sharif, was being considered by the TTP, the movement’s spokesman said.
Another problem is whether the individuals delegated by the TTP have any authority to speak for the movement. They include Sami-ul Haq Huq, a radical cleric popularly known as Mullah Sandwich. Although he was once deeply involved with the Afghan Taliban in the 1990s, some analysts believe the Pakistani movement has evolved considerably since those days.
(Guardian service)