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Islamabad: Pakistan officials on Friday tried to downplay concerns about peace talks with militants linked to Al Qaida and Taliban, saying it was engaging only with those who renounce violence.
Authorities in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan signed a peace deal on Wednesday with militants in the Swat valley, promising to pull out troops from the region in return for a commitment from the insurgents to cease attacks.
The government is also negotiating a peace deal through tribal elders with Baitullah Mehsud, the de facto leader of the Pakistani Taliban based in South Waziristan tribal region, which is regarded as a safe haven for Al Qaida militants.
The US has expressed concerns over these talks by Pakistan's new government, saying that deals with militants might allow them to plot attacks.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government was committed to use force, whenever needed, but a military option alone could not end violence.
Pakistan has a three-pronged strategy to deal with militancy and terrorism: political, socio-economic and military, he said.
Pakistan has cut peace deals in the past also, but critics including western allies have complained that these resulted in militants regrouping and intensifying cross-border attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.
Lawless areas
US General David Petraeus, nominated for the military's top Middle East post, said Al Qaida's top leaders were inside Pakistan's lawless tribal areas on the Afghan border and that the group's next major attack would likely originate there.
Pakistan said it was holding peace talks from a position of strength and was reaching out to tribal elders to use political means to end violence.
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