| There are no Taliban in Peshawar and the provincial government will not hold talks with local Taliban in other settled areas, NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour told the provincial assembly on Friday. “We do not accept Taliban except in Swat. Nor are we going to initiate dialogue with them,” he told the House while addressing suggestions from ANP’s Maulana Obaidullah in his budget speech that the Taliban had reached Peshawar. Bilour said the provincial government stood by Swat peace agreement that it made with local Taliban, and Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain reiterated the sentiments, saying the deal would be implemented in phases. He said the government would release those Taliban who deserved to be freed. On a point of order, former chief minister and the leader of the opposition Akram Khan Durrani from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), accused the local Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leaders and workers of stoning the car of party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Lower Dir and accused the local administration of siding with the local JI leaders and workers. Condemning the incident, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said he and his government held Rehman in high esteem and assured Durrani his government would take strict action against those involved in the incident. |