Government and TTP peace committee members meet for first round of peace talks; Maulana Abdul Aziz says government demand to hold talks under Pakistani constitution will unacceptable; TTP leader authorizes TTP talks team to agree to a ceasefire; Pakistani government considers TTP request to meet with Prime Minister and army and intelligence chiefs; Imran Khan says peace talks will likely fail; PM Sharif says establishing peace is top priority; U.S. fails to freeze assets of Haqqani Network and TTP; Interior Minister concerned U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will destabilize the country; Indian High Commissioner says trade is key to India-Pakistan relations; Former Hizbul Mujahedeen commander planned Peshawar attack; Militants throw grenades at two houses in Dera Ismail Khan; Militants bomb gas pipeline in Balochistan; Bomb targeting ANP leader in Karachi defused; Musharraf to appear in court on 18 February; Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson calls for complete halt of U.S. drone strikes.
Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) Peace Talks
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On Thursday, members from the TTP and the government’s negotiating committees met for the first round of peace talks at the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad to chart a “roadmap” for future discussions aimed at ending the seven-year insurgency.[1]
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On Friday, a member of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiating committee, Maulana Abdul Aziz, urged the government to remove the condition of holding talks under the constitution, stating that the government’s demand precluded the TTP’s demand regarding the imposition of “Sharia” law and would only delay the negotiation process. Aziz threatened that he would not participate in peace talks until the government committee agreed to include a clause about the imposition of “Sharia” law in Pakistan.[2]
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According to a Friday article in Dawn, the head of the TTP’s 9-member negotiations monitoring committee, Qari Shakil authorized the TTP-appointed negotiating team that they were to agree to a ceasefire if the government agreed to stop the deployment of forces. Shakil also added that the TTP could authorize the release of those detained for their links with the government or security forces if the government agreed to release TTP prisoners.[3]
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On Friday, Pakistan’s Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid said that the government was considering the TTP committee’s request to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as well as the Chief of the Army Staff and the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).[4]
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According to a Friday article in the Express Tribune, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan told Bloomberg that peace negotiations would likely fail, and a resulting military operation would only lead to more violence in Pakistan.[5]
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On Thursday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that establishing peace in the country was a top priority of his administration.[6]
Terrorist Designations
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A Friday article in The Daily Beast cited an unnamed U.S. Congressman, who oversees the Treasury Department’s financial “war on terrorism,” as saying that despite listing both the Haqqani Network and the Pakistani Taliban as terrorist organizations, none of either network’s assets have been frozen. According to the Congressman, enforcing such a sanction would disrupt peace talks currently underway in Afghanistan and Pakistan.[7]
U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
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On Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told Japan’s Ambassador to Pakistan that he is concerned that the American withdrawal from Afghanistan will create a power vacuum in Afghanistan, as he does not believe that the Afghan Army will be able to maintain control in the country.[8]
Indo-Pakistan Relations
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On Thursday, the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan said at a talk in Karachi that Pakistan and India must strengthen economic ties if they want to improve their relationship. He said that Pakistan’s political system is stronger than it has typically been which he believes bodes well for the future of the Indo-Pakistan relationship.[9]
Militancy
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On Wednesday, Mast Gul, who was formerly affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahedeen, a militant group which operates in Kashmir, claimed responsibility for planning Tuesday’s attack near a Shia mosque in Peshawar, which killed nine and injured 50. Gul had previously been friendly towards the government, but now appears to be affiliated with the TTP.[10]
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On Thursday, unknown militants threw hand grenades into two separate houses in Dera Ismail Khan. The first targeted the house of Syed Fayyaz Hussain Shah. The second targeted the house of a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl’s (JUI-F) worker. Neither explosion caused any casualties.[11]
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On Friday, a bomb disposal squad defused a bomb outside the house of an Awami National Party (ANP) leader in Baldia Town, Karachi.[12]
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On Friday, Rangers and Anti-Terrorist Squad personnel carried out operations in Sohrab Goth, Karachi, arresting several suspects and seizing weapons.[13]
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On Thursday, unknown militants blew up a gas pipeline in the Dera Allah Yar area of Balochistan. [14]
Domestic
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On Friday, an Islamabad judge ruled that former President Pervez Musharraf does not need to personally appear in court until February 18. The next hearing, on February 10, will be held without Musharraf present.[15]
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On Thursday, Tasnim Aslam, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Office, called for a complete halt in U.S. drone attacks.[16]