PESHAWAR — Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud said his organization could be open to talks with Islamabad in a video released Friday, but poured scorn on the idea his men would give up their guns. Mehsud, who has a $5 million US government bounty on his head, said the militant organization would consider peace talks with the Pakistani government but only if it abandoned ties with Washington. The release of the 40-minute video follows three high-profile Taliban attacks in the northern city of Peshawar this month: an attack by multiple suicide bombers on the airport, the killing of a senior politician and eight others in a bombing and the kidnap of 22 paramilitary forces on Thursday. The attacks underline the Taliban's ability to strike high-profile, well-protected targets even as the amount of territory it controls has shrunk and its leaders are picked off by US drones. “We believe in dialogue but it should not be frivolous,” Hakimullah Mehsud said. “Asking us to lay down arms is a joke.” In the video, Mehsud sits cradling a rifle next to his deputy, Wali-ur-Rehman. Military officials say there has been a split between the two men but Mehsud said that was propaganda. “Wali-ur-Rehman is sitting with me here and we will be together until death,” said Mehsud, pointing at his companion. Pakistani officials did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. The Taliban said in a letter released Thursday that they wanted Pakistan to rewrite its laws and constitution to conform with Islamic law, break its alliance with the United States and stop interfering in the war in Afghanistan and focus on India instead. Mehsud referred to the killing of the senior politician in his speech and said the political party, the largely Pashtun Awami National Party, would continue to be a target along with other politicians. “We are against the democratic system because it is un-Islamic,” Mehsud said. “Our war isn't against any party. It is against the non-Islamic system and anyone who supports it.” Pakistan is due to hold elections next spring. The current government, which came to power five years ago, struck an uneasy deal with the Taliban in 2009 that allowed the militia to control Swat valley, less than 100 km from the capital, Islamabad. — Reuters
