ISLAMABAD: A joint meeting of the government and the Taliban negotiating committees held in Islamabad on Saturday with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the chair.
During the meeting, they discussed progress of talks as well as venue and date for the next round of direct talks between the government team and the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Shura.
Not a single prisoner released demanded by Taliban: Shah
Earlier in the day, the coordinator of the TTP committee Maulana Yousuf Shah said the news of the release of 19 non-combatant Taliban from the government side held no truth and not a single name of the released men was on the list given to the government by the Taliban.
Shah said that the government should refrain from issuing rhetorical statements and take the Taliban committee into confidence regarding the issue of prisoners’ release.
On Friday, the TTP extended the ceasefire till April 10 and expressed the hope that the government would reciprocate its ‘gesture’ with positive steps.
The extension came a day after the government announced that it had released 19 non-combatant Taliban as a goodwill gesture for bolstering the peace process.