Feb. 25 -- Taliban fighters in Pakistan's northwest want talks with the winners of last week's elections and the new government they form to end President Pervez Musharraf's anti-terrorism campaign, Associated Press reported.
``We hope after the government comes into power, they will not make the mistake of continuing the existing policies and will bring peace to the people of the tribal areas,'' AP cited Maulvi Umar, a Tehirk-e-Taliban group spokesman, as saying. ``We want peace and are looking for dialogue with those who got elected.''
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari, whose parties won the most seats in the elections, last week agreed to set aside decades of rivalry to challenge Musharraf's military-backed rule.
Musharraf deployed more than 80,000 soldiers to crush the Islamic insurgency in the mountainous northwest region, where U.S. officials have said al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden may be hiding. Musharraf's government blamed Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud for the Dec. 27 killing of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at
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