Allow Taliban to open office in Pakistan: Imran Khan

Islamabad: Cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan on Wednesday said that the Pakistani Taliban should be allowed to open an office in the
country so that peace talks could be held with the militants.
Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, asked the PML-N government to declare a ceasefire if it is serious about holding talks with militants.

Khan, who has often been accused of being soft on the Taliban, said: “People voted for the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf because they want peace.”

“At the All Parties Conference, all political parties decided to talk to the Taliban,” he said. He argued that if the US could facilitate the opening of offices by the Afghan Taliban in Qatar, Pakistan should do the same.

Talking about the bombing of the church, Khan claimed the incident had been “politicized”. He said 170 blasts had occurred in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in the past nine years but his party had not politicized those attacks.

The Tehrik-e-Insaf, which rules Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, has been criticized by analysts and the media for its stand on talks with militants blamed for over 40,000 deaths.