In a rare television interview, the leader of the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Taliban Paksitan (TTP), Hakimullah Mehsud, offered an invite to representatives of the government to meet in Taliban territory, to hold talks about bringing peace into the country.
Mehsud told journalists that he would guarantee the protection of government negotiators to encourage a discreet dialogue, instead of a lengthy protracted process through the media.
Speaking to a a journalist from the BBC, Meshud reiterated,
“The proper way to do it is that if the government appoints a formal team, and they sit with us, and we discuss our respective positions.”
Mehsud also made clear that any negotiations would have to lead on the imposition of Sharia law in the country and an end to CIA drone in the Taliban areas.