Maulana Samiul Haq excuses himself from Taliban talks

ISLAMABAD: The chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S), Maulana Samiul Haq who had received the go ahead from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to initiate dialogue with the Pakistani Taliban has excused himself from the process.

Mualana Samiul Haq said he had informed the prime minister of receiving a positive response from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on January 2. He added that despite repeated contact, the prime minister did not convey the future course of action.

Maulana Samiul Haq further said he had appealed to avoid a military operation and use of force but yesterday’s strikes in North Waziristan, Tirah and tribal areas had led him to decide against being part of the dialogue process.

AFP adds: A Pakistani cleric with close ties to the Taliban said Wednesday he would no longer act as a government-backed peace broker with the militants after airstrikes killed 40 people in a tribal district.

Sami Ul Haq, who heads the hardline Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania seminary and is often referred to as the "Father of the Taliban", was given the task of initiating peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban in December by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Sharif´s government announced its talks policy in September and began making preliminary contact with the Taliban´s leadership, but the initiative ended after a US drone strike killed then-Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud in November.

"The government does not seems serious and concerned. I had requested them to avoid a military operation and use of force but yesterday it started bombing in North Waziristan and tribal areas," Haq said in a statement sent to AFP.

The air strikes in the North Waziristan and Khyber tribal regions on Tuesday were retaliation for two major Taliban attacks on military targets in as many days.But Haq, whose seminary has awarded Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar an honorary doctorate, said more fighting was not the answer.

"Both sides (Taliban and government) are in a state of war. Innocent citizens and soldiers are dying," he said in the statement. "

A military operation is not the answer: we should instead put all our passion into the process of talks.

"In such a situation I want to separate myself from this bloody tragedy," he added. Haq said Sharif sought his help in initiating peace talks and he received positive signals after contacting the Taliban leadership, but "the lack of seriousness on behalf of the government" forced him to quit the process.

Haq also sent AFP a copy of a letter he wrote to Sharif, complaining that multiple calls and efforts to reach the premier had gone unanswered.

The TTP have been waging a bloody campaign of gun and bomb attacks against the Pakistani state since 2007, often on military targets.

The two high-profile attacks on Sunday and Monday left at least 39 dead, marking a bloody return for the militants after a period of relative quiet following Mehsud´s death and the installation of hardline cleric Maulana Fazlullah as his replacement.