Raza Rabbani wants govt to brief Senate on talks with TTP.

ISLAMABAD -- PPP SenaAtor Raza Rabbani on MonAday asked the government to take the Senate into confidence on the talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) amid reports that the latter had been demanding rolling back of the merger of the country's tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The upper house of parliament, which met after a two-day recess, later witnessed an exchange of heated arguments on the government's move to clip the powers of the National Accountability Bureau through an amendment to the NAB Ordinance as the opposition members belonging to the PTI and Jamaat-i-Islami participated in the proceedings wearing black armbands.

Taking the floor after JI Senator Mushtaq Ahmed raised the issue of target killings in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Mr Rabbani said he believed that the government, especially Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, should take the house into confidence about the status of the talks with the TTP.

Mr Rabbani said first it was announced that the TTP had declared a temporary ceasefire, which was later turned into a permanent ceasefire, but one of the factions of the TTP had increased terrorist activities in the country.

'What are the conditions of the TTP for the agreement? I have heard through media that the TTP's patent demand is rolling back of the merger of Fata and they are adamant on it. Such decisions are to be made by the public and not...

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