Islamabad: The Pakistan government and the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have reached an agreement after lengthy negotiations following days of violent protests by the outfit’s members demanding release of their party chief and expulsion of the French ambassador, the negotiating team appointed by PM Imran Khan announced.
PM Khan had tasked a group of influential clerics to hold talks with TLP, whose thousands of members started marching towards Islamabad from Lahore on October15 after the government announced that it cannot meet its demand for the expulsion of the French ambassador.
The announcement of the deal was made at a press conference attended by foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, parliamentary affairs minister Ali Mohammad Khan, religious scholar Mufti Muneebur Rehman and TLP members Mufti Ghulam Abbas Faizi and Mufti Mohammad Ameer.
“The government and TLP had a detailed discussion under the environment of mutual trust, and a deal has been reached,” Mufti Muneeb, who led the talks on behalf of the government, was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper. “The deal was reached after sense prevailed over aggression, rationality prevailed over sentiments,” he said. He did not give any specific details of the deal, saying they’ll be shared at an “appropriate time”.
He said the deal was also endorsed by TLP chief Saad Rizvi. According to sources, the cleric met Rizvi and convinced him to end protests to avoid bloodshed. According to a report, the delegations held a 12-hour long meeting to settle the matter between the two sides.
Four policemen killed in violence
Four Pakistani police officers were killed and hundreds wounded when armed activists from a banned group clashed with security forces at an anti-blasphemy demonstration near the eastern city of Lahore, officials said. The clashes broke out at a rally of TLP on a highway in Sheikhupura, just outside Lahore, as the group prepared to march on the capital Islamabad, a spokesman for the Punjab police said. The TLP is protesting against the detention of its leader Saad Rizvi, arrested in April when the group was outlawed by authorities, and is demanding the expulsion of France’s ambassador for the publication of a series of caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad by a French satirical magazine.
