ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military will not let Taliban rebels set conditions for peace talks as the government seeks dialogue to end the insurgency, the army chief said yesterday. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan on Sunday announced preconditions for any peace talks, saying troops must be withdrawn from the tribal areas and its prisoners released. “It is understandable to give peace a chance through a political process but no one should have any misgivings that we would let terrorists coerce us into accepting their terms,” Kayani said. Politicians last week gave backed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s calls to begin talks with the Taliban. But Kayani warned that militants “will not be allowed to take advantage of it (talks offer)”. The army, he said, “has the ability and the will to take the fight to the terrorists”.
Sharif leaves for Turkey
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif left for Turkey yesterday on a three-day visit at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart. He will meet President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Officials said the two countries will sign agreements and MoUs to enhance cooperation in all fields, especially in the economic and commercial spheres.
25 rebels killed in Afghanistan
Kabul: Afghan police backed by the national army have killed 25 Taliban fighters in the past 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said in a statement yesterday. “Units of national police backed by the national army and the Nato-led coalition force have killed 25 rebels and arrested 43,” it said.
Push for bill awareness
PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plans to run a campaign to increase awareness about the recently-promulgated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Ordinance 2013, touted to be third best in the world. The ordinance makes its obligatory for all 32 government departments to provide information to any citizen and hands punishments to officials obstructing the right to records or destroying information.
Agencies
