No peace talks with Pakistan government: Taliban

Islamabad: Blaming the Pakistan government for the death of their chief Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone attack Friday, the Pakistan Taliban said they would not hold any peace talks with the "puppet government". "After consultation with all the factions it has been unanimously decided that we will not hold any peace talks with the government. It`s a puppet government of the US and it deceived us in the name of peace talks," Geo News quoted Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Shahidullah Shahid as saying Sunday.

The spokesman said the killing of Mehsud had proved that the government was not serious in holding the peace talks. "We did not want innocent Pakistani people to suffer any more and therefore decided to hold negotiations with the government. But the government, by helping the US in the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud, proved that there was zero sincerity in the mind of the rulers. It was neither sincere nor serious in peace negotiations," he said. "We are passing through a difficult phase and are still in the state of mourning. And that`s the reason we could not sit to choose his successor," he added.