Cracks appear in Pakistani Taliban hierarchy over possible peace talks with gov't

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Cracks appear in Pakistani Taliban hierarchy over possible peace talks with gov't

By Muhammad Tahir (Xinhua) 19:01, September 02, 2013

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ISLAMABAD, Sept. 2 -- Serious differences have emerged within the top leadership of the Pakistani Taliban who cannot seem to agree on whether or not they will join in a peace dialogue with the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The differences surfaced days ago after Hakimullah Mehsud, chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), sacked Asmat Muawiya, a Taliban leader from Punjab province over his statement welcoming the offer of Prime Minister Sharif on opening a dialogue with the government.

During a televised address to the nation last month, Sharif reiterated his call for the Taliban to sit down with the government in the negotiating table to end the violence in the country which has already killed some 40,000 people, including innocent civilians, during the past 12 years.

Muawiya's statement welcoming Sharif's announcement has angered the TTP leadership and relieved Muawiya as chief of the Punjab Taliban. TPP Spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said Muawiya had no authority to issue such a statement.

The decision angered Muawiya who quickly rejected his sacking and said the Mehsud has no authority to remove him. Muawiya is also member of the Taliban Political Commission.

Latest reports suggest that TTP members had raided the residence of Muawiya in the restive North Waziristan tribal region, a move that can widen the internal conflict within the Taiban.

The raid on Muawiya's residence shows the anger of Mehsud's followers over Muawiya's unilateral stance on the peace offer.

But a Taliban commander in the region said that the Punjabi Taliban fully supports Muawiya in his quest for peace talks with the government.

The commander said that "besides almost all Punjabi Taliban fighters, some Pashtoon Taliban also endorse Muawiya stance over talks" and that Punjabi Taliban had never been a part of the TTP in the organizational structure.

"There are internal differences within the TTP ranks on political issues and opinion is deeply divided about the dialogue with the government," the Taliban commander said.

He said the Punjabi Taliban has its own "shura" or council and makes decisions and runs its own affairs independently. The TTP leadership has never interfered in the affairs of the Punjabi Taliban in the past and it is the first time the group's chief has removed the leader of the Punjabi Taliban faction, the commander continued.

In July the Taliban leadership also removed Ehsanullah Ehsan as the TTP spokesman over his alleged statement on the Afghan Taliban. Ehsan had admitted differences with the TTP leadership over political issues, including the peace talks with the government.

Ehsan later also relinquished his responsibility as head of the TTP's Political Commission to protest against his removal as spokesman.

The Taliban have not yet appointed a new man to lead the Political Commission. This reflects the group's weak position on the possibility of the talks with the government, a Taliban commander said on condition of anonymity.

The Taliban commander said that TTP Political Commission is currently dysfunctional and no one is assigned to pursue the dialogue issue.

The TTP had originally offered to conduct a dialogue with the former government of Pakistan People's Party in February but had refused to stop their attacks, a condition that the former government did not accept.

The Taliban withdrew their dialogue offer to the government of Nawaz Sharif in early June a day after a U.S. drone killed their deputy chief Wali-ur-Rehman Mehsud.

Despite Sharif's announcement, there have been no tangible steps taken by his government to officially approach the Taliban to start the negotiations.

In fact, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Sunday denied media reports about secret talks between the government and the Taliban, saying emphatically that there had been no talks so far.