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Tuesday 21 May 2013 - 12:21

Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif urges talks with Taliban

Story Code : 266113
Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif urges talks with Taliban
On Monday, Sharif said the Taliban was ready to hold peace talks with the Pakistani government, adding that the offer of talks by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) “should be taken seriously.”
 
    “Guns are not a solution to all problems,” Sharif stated.
 
 
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N Party won the National Assembly elections of May 11.
 
He described terrorism as the “most serious challenge” plaguing Pakistan in an address to the PML-N party in Lahore. “All options should be tried. Why shouldn’t we sit and talk, engage in dialogue?” he said.
 
Nawaz Sharif has called for peace talks between the militants and the government several times in the past, but the speech on Monday was the first time he made a public announcement for dialogue.
 
Earlier a Taliban spokesman was quoted as saying that the militants might agree on a truce if Sharif and his party showed seriousness in holding the peace talks.
 
Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001 when Pakistan entered an alliance with the US on the so-called war on terror, according to local media.
 
Many hundreds have also been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy.
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