Parliamentary body to keep eye on talks with TTP

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ISLAMABAD: The military on Tuesday secured the nod of the Parliamentary Com­­m­ittee on National Secu­rity’s for peace talks with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakis­tan (TTP) after conceding to the Pakis­tan Peoples Party’s demand for the process to be overseen by a parliamentary committee.

“There was nearly a consensus that the talks should be held except for opposition by head of National Democratic Movement Mohsin Dawar,” one of the participants of the meeting told Dawn.

The Prime Minister Office, in a statement on the meeting, mea­nwhile, said: “The Parliamentary Committee on National Security formally approved the process of negotiations and approved the formation of a ‘Parliamentary Oversight Committee’.”

The parliamentary blessing for the process, which had for a large part been exclusively run by the military in complete secrecy, is being seen as a major endorsement of the controversial negotiations with the outlawed group that is responsible for the loss of nearly 70,000 lives in the country.