ISLAMABAD: The opposition leader in the National Assembly and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Syed Khursheed Shah said on Wednesday that the Pakistan army should not be made part of the peace dialogue process with the Taliban as it is dangerous.
Talking to newsmen in Islamabad on Wednesday, the opposition leader said that the role of the armed forces was neither to hold negotiations nor make deals.
Shah said that the government should itself mediate the peace talks with militants without involving the army. He said that he had no objections to any person’s involvement in the peace talks as long as they were not serving personnel of the armed forces.
The PPP senior leader said that no serving personnel should be involved in the talks though retired personnel could be included in the process.
Federal govt decides to dissolve its existing committee, army to be part of new committee
The sources said that the federal government led by Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to dissolve its existing committee which includes Irfan Siddqui, Major (retd) Amir, Rustam Shah Mohmand and Rahimullah Yousufzai and form a new committee to represent it in the talks with committee nominated by the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The new government committee will likely comprise of members from the federal government at the centre as well as members from the armed forces, the sources said, adding that the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak or his representative will be added to the committee.
Moreover, the new committee is also likely to include a high-ranking official from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will be its focal person.
