TTP offers Imran security in peace march
02 October, 2012
KARACHI: Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said that it has offered Imran Khan its security for a peace march into tribal region at the weekend, a British daily newspaper said in a report.
According to the daily Telegraph, senior commanders with the TTP said a recent meeting headed by the group's leader Hakimullah Mehsud set aside earlier instructions to send suicide bombers to assassinate the former all-rounder.
Instead the group noted Khan's strident opposition to US drone strikes against militants in its territory as it reversed course to offer security assistance, the newspaper's report said.
A spokesman said: "We are ready to provide them security if they need. We endorses Imran Khan's plea that drone strikes are against our sovereignty," he said. "The anti-drone rallies should have been taken out by the religious leaders long ago but Imran had taken the lead and we wouldn't harm him or his followers."
Imran Khan in his press conference said he had been promised the support of local tribes but was worried the government was opposed to allowing foreign peace campaigners and journalists to attend.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has recorded at least 2570 deaths since 2004 in 346 drone strikes.
Earlier, the entire world's eyes are focused on the Waziristan rally as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan is all set to take his peace mission, against drone attacks, to South Waziristan.
He will have an opportunity to give a strong message to the world from Waziristan that a vast majority of the people in that area are peaceful and they do not support the terrorists, said PTI leader and former minister Malik Abdul Qayyum.
He said Imran Khan's stance on the war on terror and military operations in the Tribal Areas was well known to everyone. He always stressed for a dialogue instead of using force. His fight against perpetration of atrocities in Waziristan won him the hearts and minds of even those who were not politically aligned with him. His visit to Waziristan did not come out of the blue. He has often been talking about this visit to attract the world attention through international media and plead Pakistan's case against drone attacks.
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