Pakistan government-Taliban talks postponed

The meeting of the committees, formed for the peace talks with Pakistani Taliban that was scheduled to be held on Tuesday in the capital city Islamabad, was postponed by the government side.Earlier, the banned Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) nominated a five-member committee to hold dialogues with government following an announcement by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to form a committee to represent government side for peace talks.Both committees were scheduled to meet on Tuesday but the committee representing the government for proposed peace talks sought clarifications from the TTP committee on certain matters and excused from meeting the negotiating team.The committee representing TTP comprises of religious cleric, Maulana Samiul Haq, former chief cleric of the Lal Masjid in Islamabad Maulana Abdul Aziz, and Professor Mohammad Ibrahim of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI). Chief of political party Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan and Mufti Kifayatullah, a former lawmaker of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) were also nominated by TTP but they distanced themselves from the dialogues.While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Maulana Samiul Haq alleged that the government was not serious about holding peace talks. He alleged that the government was under pressure to not carry out peace talks with Taliban militants.The government's committee comprises Irfan Siddiqui, Special Assistant to the prime minister on national affairs and member of the committee, Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan, Peshawar-based journalist Rahimullah Yousufzai and retired Major Amir Khan.According to the state-run channel Pakistan Television (PTV), Irfan Siddiqui, convener of the four-member government committee, apprised member of the Taliban committee Maulana Samiul Haq of the decision to postpone the meeting. The government's committee held a meeting on Tuesday in Islamabad to discuss matters relating to the TTP committee.