Taliban talks in Qatar had no agenda: Fazl

Taliban talks in Qatar had no agenda: Fazl....http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/208052/

 February 19, 2013
Farooq Mehsud

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman has said that Qatar talks were nothing more than waste of time as it had no agenda and the whole of the noise was made in the name of Qatar. He was talking to The Frontier Post on Monday during his visit to Dera Ismail Khan.
"Now I am here before you and I tell you that there was nothing in Qatar," Fazal said while replying a query about the recently held Qatar talks between US and Taliban.
He said JUI-F was with the Hazara community and it was JUI-F which called a strike against the ruthless killing of innocent people.
"We condemn it strongly and it is not the mourning of the Hazara community rather whole of the nation is equally mourning the attacks over them", Maulana said, adding, he had advised JUI-F Balochistan parliamentary leader to remain in close contact with the Hazara community and probe into the matter.
"I have told them clearly to see who were behind the killings of the innocent people and how the culprits can be punished sternly", Fazal said.
He added that he was ready to devise a joint plan for uprooting these types of incidents.
Replying to a query about the recent offer of talks with Taliban and APC, JUI chief said that he considered it a positive step. "We have always supported every step towards peace and opposed each step towards war" Fazal added.
He came hard over USA and said if US could talk with Taliban in Afghanistan why we could not do it in Pakistan.
He said JUI-F had called on a tribal jirga which would be a real representative of the people of tribal areas, acceptable to Taliban and the government as well.
"On one side the government is doing nothing, while on the other side the country is being bathed in blood, in that kind of situation we cannot sit idle", Maulana said, adding, the jirga had the efficiency to establish peace in the tribal areas and the country as well.
He also explained that the leaders of all the political parties would be invited to the grand tribal jirga and a joint strategy would be devised for peace talks with Taliban.
"Let establish peace in the tribal areas and than give them an opportunity to decide their political future by themselves", he said.
He also lamented over the change in the electoral symbol of JUI-F and said he was not ready to accept the decision of the ECP in any case.
"We have put forward a written application to the ECP in this regard and we hope they would not change it without any known reason", JUI chief said, adding, JUI-F was the first party to show confidence in the ECP.
"Does it mean that we were wrong in our perception of the ECP", Maulana concluded.