Pakistan: Peace Talks Can’t Progress Without End to Drone Strikes

Interior Minister Says Deals Are Impossible Amid Attacks

In a speech today to the Pakistani lower house of parliament, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar offered further details of the peace process before Hakimullah Mehsud’s assassination by a US drone strike.

According to Nisar, the talks were scheduled to officially start just 13 hours after Hakimullah’s assassination, but never got the chance. Hakimullah’s successor, Mullah Fazlullah, has ruled out future talks.

Nisar seemed to concede that the talks were pretty much permanently stalled so long as the US keeps launching strikes, saying a deal would be impossible unless the attacks ended.

“This drone was against the peace process rather than a single individual,” Nisar added. Pakistan’s government has repeatedly demanded an end to such strikes, but the US has continued to launch them regularly.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.