ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik asked the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan on Saturday to nominate their ‘real’ representatives for talks if they were serious about holding negotiations with the government.

Talking to journalists here, the minister said that Taliban’s decision indicated they were not serious in talks because they had nominated Adnan Rashid, a murder accused and proclaimed offender, as their representative for dialogue. He said the Taliban factions should form a joint team for negotiations.

Mr Malik said starting the dialogue process with the Taliban before the elections would be a welcome development.

He again urged the militants to give up violence in order to start the talks. “If they believe in Pakistan’s sovereignty, they must stop killing innocent people.”

The interior minister said Taliban’s statements appeared to be made on the directives of ‘someone else’ because they did not reflect their own thoughts.

In reply to a question, Mr Malik said Taliban had threatened to assassinate Dr Tahirul Qadri, chief of Tehrik Minhajul Quran, but three days after the threat they denied their statement.—Agencies