JUI-S hails US direct talks offer to Taliban

NOWSHERA: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami head and Difa-e-Pakistan Council Chairman Maulana Samiul Haq on Wednesday welcomed the United States offer of direct talks with the Afghan Taliban.

In a statement issued from Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak town of the Nowshera district, the JUI-S chief said the announcement by General John Nicholson who is commanding the US forces in Afghanistan that he was ready for direct talks with Taliban was a welcome move.

“The United States should not to take back the offer of direct talks with Taliban as the regional peace is linked to the latter who are the biggest military and political power,” he said in the statement pointing out that, according to the general, US President Donald Trump also wished the talks.

The Afghan Taliban, on the other hand, have termed the talks offer an important development. They wished the US should give a proper formal shape to the offer. The Maulana said it was the first time that the US had taken a practical step in the form of the very offer which was based on facts.

The JUI-S chief said talks between the two parties was the only way to restore peace in Afghanistan and the region. He said there was a need for finding a way for honourable US pullout from Afghanistan.