Pakistan government: No formal talks with Taliban

Pakistani government Sunday denied media reports that talks with the Taliban have started. According to earlier media reports, Pakistani officials have started talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, also rejected the talks reports as baseless and part of propaganda. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Sunday said that no formal talks are currently being held with the Taliban. "Most of the media reports on the Taliban talks are speculative and not based on facts," the Minister said in a statement. He said that the negotiations with the Taliban are very sensitive and complex issue and it is premature to state that the dialogue process has begun. However, he said the government has chalked out its strategy for talks with the Taliban. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterated talks offer to the Taliban in his televised speech late last month to end bloodshed which he said has claimed lives of over 40,000 people. He had also warned use of force if the Taliban continued their attacks. The Taliban spokesman had termed statement of the prime minister as a threat to the group. Taliban had offered talks with the former government of Pakistan Peoples Party in February this year but withdrew the offer in May, a day after a U.S. drone aircraft killed the group's deputy chief Wali-ur-Rehman Mehsud.