An Islamic system of governance, introduction of Shariah law and release of jailed militants are part of a 15-point agenda finalised by the Taliban for peace talks with the Pakistan government, according to media reports on Sunday.
The Taliban ‘Shura’ or council, which has been meeting in the restive northwest since yesterday under its deputy chief Sheikh Khalid Haqqani, also demanded the withdrawal of the army from tribal areas, said a report on the website of the Dawn daily.
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ibrahim Khan and Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam-S leader Yousuf Shah, members of the Taliban-nominated committee, are in Waziristan for a meeting with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
They are likely to convey the Taliban’s demands to state negotiators, the report said.
The Taliban’s 15-point agenda was also reported by Dunya News channel. However, Geo News reported that the Taliban’s demands included release of militants, withdrawal of the army from insurgency-hit areas and compensation to people affected by violence.
The reports about the 15-point agenda could not be independently confirmed.
According to the report on Dawn’s website, the agenda includes introduction of Shariah law in courts, halting US drone attacks and introduction of an Islamic system of education in public and private institutions.
Other demands include release of Pakistani Taliban and foreign fighters from jail, restoration and compensation for property damaged in drone attacks, handing over control of tribal areas to local forces, withdrawal of the army from tribal areas and shutting down of check posts.
The report said the agenda also states all criminal allegations against the Taliban should be dropped and prisoners from both sides released.
“Equal rights for all, poor and rich, families of drone attack victims to be offered jobs, end interest-based system, stop supporting the US in the war on terror, replace the democratic system of governance with the Islamic system and stop all relations with the US,” the report quoted the agenda as saying.
TTP leaders met Ibrahim Khan and Yousuf Shah in North Waziristan after they flew to the lawless region in a government helicopter on Saturday to inform the banned group about the first round of talks with state negotiators.
Khan and Shah met the nine-member committee formed by the Taliban to oversee the peace talks at an undisclosed location.
Negotiators from both sides formally met in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss a roadmap for ending the nearly decade-long insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives. The government side insisted that negotiations should be held within the framework of the Constitution. The process was dealt a blow on Friday when a member of the Taliban committee – lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz – rejected the condition of holding talks under the Constitution.