By IANS,
Islamabad : The peace process with Taliban is probably Pakistan’s “biggest challenge” and the talks are multi-channelled and extremely complex, said a daily.
An editorial in the News International said Monday that it was now abundantly clear that no one person is able to speak for the Taliban. “The talks which have been denied as well as acknowledged at different times by both the Taliban and the government are multi-channelled and extremely complex,” it said.
Islamabad has denied that any talks are on, yet a prominent Taliban leader, Maulvi Fakir, has said that the government was not only talking but had released 145 prisoners as a gesture of goodwill.
“If true, then it really does represent a consolidation of the process of negotiation. Further the government is said to have halted the military operation in Bajaur and the Taliban are said to have reciprocated by calling a truce,” the editorial said.
It went on to say that “harmonising the peace process is probably the biggest challenge, as it would require getting each of the Taliban factions into a position where they could move synchronously with one another yet maintain a degree of separation and the perception of independence”.
Observing that “historically agreements with the Taliban have crumbled within hours or days”, the editorial said that it gives no chance for a post-conflict environment to develop or for normal processes of governance to get going again.