Pakistani government and Taliban negotiators met informally today to discuss the banned group's demands for a dialogue aimed at ending a bloody insurgency that has killed thousands.
The talks were held ahead of a formal meeting tomorrow at which will the two sides are expected to discuss, among other things, the possibility of a ceasefire.
Senior journalist Irfan Siddiqui, the coordinator of the government's committee, told reporters after the talks that the response from the Taliban's political 'shura' or council to the demands of the government was "satisfactory".
The government had said earlier that talks would have to be held within the ambit of the Constitution.
Samiul Haq, the radical cleric who is a member of the committee nominated by the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, said the demands of the militants were placed before the government's panel.
In the first stage of discussions, an attempt would be made to put in place a ceasefire, he said.
The talks were held after Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-S spokesman Yousaf Shah returned from North Waziristan tribal region after meeting the Taliban's political shura and receiving its response to the government's demands.
The government's committee later called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at his official residence. The other members of the panel are senior journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai, former ambassador Rustam Shah Mohmand and former ISI official Major (retired) Muhammad Amir.
The committee informed Sharif about its talks with the Taliban negotiators, an official statement said. The meeting at the PM's House was also attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Baluchistan Chief Minister Abdul Malik.
There is intense scepticism about the initiative achieving a lasting solution to the insurgency led by the TTP, which has been blamed for hundreds of bombings and suicide attacks. Earlier in the day, 12 people were killed when three grenades were lobbed into a cinema hall in Peshawar.
