PESHAWAR: The Swat Taliban on Thursday alleged that five leading members of their organisation holding secret peace talks with the military authorities for the past eight days had been taken into custody as they were no longer traceable.
The five men included the Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan and an important commander Mahmud Khan. The remaining three Taliban representatives in the delegation were all clerics. They were Maulana Sartaj Ali belonging to Peochar in Swat’s Matta tehsil, Maulana Abdur Rahman from Baishban village and Mufti Bashir Ahmad, originally from Dir district but reportedly living in the Shamozai area in Swat.
Salman, officiating as the spokesman for the Swat chapter of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Muslim Khan’s absence, told our sources in a phone call from somewhere in the Swat Valley that he can no longer make telephonic contact with the members of the Taliban delegation in Islamabad. “I last spoke to Taliban commander Mahmud Khan three days ago. The way he talked made me suspicious. I figured out that he wasn’t allowed to talk freely. It seemed he was in the custody of the military,” the Taliban spokesman said.
The Pakistan Army and the government have in the past ruled out holding any more peace talks with the Taliban. A full-fledged military operation was launched in Swat and rest of Malakand Division after the collapse of the previous peace accord reached through the mediation of the Tehrik NifazShariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) leader Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who also happened to be the father-in-law of the Swat Taliban head Maulana Fazlullah.
There has been no announcement in recent days about the arrest of any important Taliban leader. Attempts to reach the Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas late in the night proved futile as he didn’t answer his cellphone.
This is the first time that the Taliban have admitted holding some kind of peace negotiations with the military. According to the Swat Taliban acting spokesman Salman, the fresh peace talks were mediated by one Kamal Khan, a resident of Deolai village in Swat settled in the US. He said Kamal Khan had contacted the Taliban commander Mahmud Khan and after certain guarantees from the military authorities the five-member delegation was constituted to hold talks with the Pakistan Army. “This time we wanted to talk directly with the Army as the previous two peace deals with the ANP-led NWFP government didn’t work,” Salman argued.
The Taliban spokesman said an officer of Military Intelligence Maj Abdullah was the contact person for undertaking the peace negotiations with the Pakistan Army. “Since June, Major Abdullah had been in contact with us and was offering peace talks. Finally we agreed to his offer when Kamal Khan became involved as an intermediary between the two sides,” he explained. Salman said eight days ago Major Abdullah and Kamal Khan came to Manglawar near Mingora and took the five Taliban negotiators including Muslim Khan and Mahmud Khan with them. He said he was in regular contact with Mahmud Khan during the initial round of talks between the Taliban and the military authorities in Mingora and Peshawar.
According to Salman, the Taliban delegation was given full powers by their leader Maulana Fazlullah and the Shoora for holding talks with the Army. “We made two demands only. One was enforcement of real Shariah and the other release of Taliban prisoners. We made it clear to the military authorities that we would not oppose the presence of the Army in Swat and rest of Malakand Division,” he disclosed.
The Taliban spokesman said the military authorities were angry that some Taliban commanders sabotaged the previous peace efforts by refusing to dismantle roadside checkpoints and by sending fighters to Buner. “The Taliban delegation told the military authorities that mistakes were committed in the past by all sides but it was time to forget and forgive and move ahead,” he recalled.
Taliban spokesman Salman said he was given an impression by Commander Mahmud Khan that the military authorities were putting pressure on them to surrender the Taliban commanders who refused to abide by the terms of the previous peace accords and continued to use force against the security forces and political opponents. “We sincerely entered the peace negotiations with the army but it seems this was a trap. We became suspicious when our proposal for a ceasefire in Swat before starting formal peace talks wasn’t accepted. The military action continued and now five of our leading members have been taken into custody,” he stressed.
Salman added that Maulana Fazlullah had conveyed a message that arresting Taliban peace negotiators was a breach of trust. “Maulana Fazlullah pointed out that the government and the military may announce the arrest of the five Taliban leaders who were all Shoora members. That is the reason we decided to go public with this information and tell the media about the arrest of our five men who were invited for peace talks and then made prisoners,” he added.
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