Sheikh Rasheed: Not all TTP members will be granted amnesty if talks fruitful

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said on Saturday that high-level talks are underway with some Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) groups seeking reconciliation.

Speaking to the media, the interior minister Sheikh Rasheed ruled out the need for taking opposition parties into confidence on the move.

“There is no need to take the opposition into confidence as they [opposition leaders] are themselves thieves,” he said.

Sheikh Rasheed clarified that groups and members involved in terrorist activities will not be granted amnesty, adding that “it is irrational to fight those who have laid down their arms”.

The case of the terrorists involved in the Army Public School (APS) carnage is also different, the interior minister maintained. “We know who is good and who is bad,” he said.

In an interview TRT World on Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the negotiations with the TTP factions are talking place in Afghanistan.

When the interviewer asked him whether the government was in talks with the TTP, he said: “There are different groups that form the TTP. We are in talks with some of them.”

When asked if the Afghan Taliban were helping in the reconciliation process, he said: “Talks are taking place in Afghanistan. In that sense, Yes.”

To another question, the prime minister said the government can pardon TTP members and they can become normal citizens if they lay down their arms.