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‘Secret contacts in Tribal Areas led to ceasefire’

* Siraj Haqqani said to be among militant representatives for talks

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Government officials held secret talks with militants and tribal elders as part of a dialogue that produced a ceasefire announced by Taliban militants who have been fighting Pakistani forces near the Afghan border, AP quoted two unnamed officials as saying on Thursday.

Few details have emerged about terms of the ceasefire, announced on Wednesday by a spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant umbrella group, after weeks of heavy fighting.

The government did not confirm a truce, but Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the national leadership was ready for a dialogue with the Taliban.

“There is no announced ceasefire, there is a de facto ceasefire between militants and government troops. Both sides are currently holding the fire,” Nawaz told AFP. He said a tribal council, or jirga “comprising representatives of the government and tribal elders will be formed to negotiate peace but I cannot give you any timeframe in this regard”.

“Talks between tribal elders and militants had been in progress for the past several days,” a government official in the region told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Militant spokesman Maulvi Mohammed Umar told AP that the truce would include the tribal belt along the Afghan border and the restive Swat region to the east where the army has also battled pro-Taliban fighters.

The two officials AP talked with were familiar with the talks. They said the talks took place at an undisclosed location in South Waziristan. But they would not say who represented the government side.

Haqqani: Militant representatives included Siraj Haqqani, one official said. A ceasefire in North Waziristan in September 2006, which collapsed in July, was widely seen as a setback in the war against terror because it gave the Taliban and Al Qaeda a freer hand to stage cross-border attacks into Afghanistan and extend their control of areas within Pakistan. agencies

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