ISLAMABAD: Former interior minister Rehman Malik has urged the government not to release those Taliban who have been convicted in different cases.

Talking to reporters after a meeting of the PPP’s overseas committee, he said the government should be careful during peace talks with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “Taliban cannot be trusted because they are not reliable. The government should not believe that they will honor commitments made by them,” he said.

The PPP has supported the government’s peace initiative but opposed release of Taliban prisoners. It has insisted that the government should ask the TTP to free Ali Haider Gilani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, and Shahbaz Taseer, son of slain governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer.

The government has recently released some non-combatant Taliban and announced that more will be freed soon.

Earlier, the meeting of the PPP overseas committee, presided by Mr Malik, was informed that a party membership campaign would be launched in different countries from May 15.

The meeting decided to direct PPP leaders in different countries to prepare lists of estranged party workers so that they could be persuaded to bury their differences and participate in organisational activities. The members of the committee would visit different countries to contact angry activists.

It decided to launch a website of the overseas wing of the party which will be inaugurated by PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The committee appealed to overseas Pakistanis to unite under the flag of the PPP.

Senator Jehangir Badr stressed the need for activating the overseas wing of the PPP.

Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, Fauzia Habib, Sabir Ali Baloch, Faisal Karim Kundi, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Asma Arbab Alamgir, Palwasha Khan, Muhammad Matloob Inqalabi and other members of the committee attended the meeting.