Militants offer peace talks with new Govt

ISLAMABAD—Taliban militants said Sunday they were ready for peace talks with new government, but only if it rejects President Pervez Musharraf’s “war on terror” in the country’s tribal belt. A rebel spokesman quoted Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud — accused by Musharraf of masterminding the slaying of ex-PM Benazir Bhutto — as calling for negotiations with parties that beat the president’s allies in elections.
The announcement comes amid US concerns about Islamabad’s commitment against extremists, following Monday’s victory by Bhutto’s opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the party of former premier Nawaz Sharif. “The Taliban movement welcomes the victory of anti-Musharraf political parties... and announces its willingness to enter into negotiations with them for bringing peace,” Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar said, quoting a statement by Mehsud.
“Taliban are ready for negotiations with the political parties as long as they do not re-impose war on them. If they do so, then Taliban will continue their activities against them,” Omar told journalists in Peshawar by telephone. He urged the new administration to “avoid repeating the mistakes of Musharraf government”. Omar says he is a spokesman for Taliban groups operating in the tribal areas but there is no way to independently verify his claim.
Musharraf’s regime swung between peace deals and negotiations with the militants — which were criticised by Western allies — and all-out military offensives in the lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. The PPP and Sharif’s party agreed on Thursday to form a coalition but are still hammering out their policies on the future of Musharraf, a key US ally, and on how they will deal with mounting Islamic extremism.
In fresh violence on Sunday, three security personnel and one militant were killed after dozens of rebels attacked a security post Sunday near Peshawar. Another militant was shot dead after wounding three troops with a grenade in the tribal region of North Waziristan, officials said.Hundreds of people have died in months of clashes with Taliban militants in Pakistan, and the country has been hit by a wave of suicide attacks over the past year. The most high-profile bombing killed Bhutto at a political rally on December 27. The Pakistani government said Mehsud orchestrated the killing and accused him of links to Al-Qaeda, but he has denied all involvement.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N party responded to the Taliban statement by saying that political and economic solutions were needed to deal with extremism. “Our stance is that General Musharraf has mishandled the situation to stay in power. We feel that if Musharraf steps down, half of the terrorism would end,” party spokesman Ahsan Iqbal told newsmen.
If a PPP-led coalition manages to muster a two-thirds majority in parliament, it could seek to remove Musharraf, either by impeaching him or having his election as president last year declared illegal.—Agencies