ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday postponed the announcement of the outcome of negotiations with Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), the banned group whose week-long violent protests have paralyzed parts of the country.
TLP started a long march on Islamabad on Oct. 22, seeking the release of its leader, Saad Rizvi, and the expulsion of the French envoy to Pakistan over publication of caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in France last year.
A government team comprising Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Muhammad Khan held talks with TLP’s negotiation team headed by Rizvi on Saturday night.
The announcement of results was expected Sunday midday, but the Press Information Department reporters quoted the foreign as saying it would be held “shortly.”
The TLP, meanwhile, said in a statement that “the issues are still under discussion.”
“It will be premature to say anything about success or failure of the talks,” the group said. “We hope that whatever the announcement will be made that will be in the interest of Islam and Pakistan.”
At least five law enforcers have been killed in recent clashes with TLP supporters. The demonstrators were currently camped in Wazirabad, a city some 190 kilometers from Islamabad, and waiting for a final nod from their leaders whether to return home or continue their march on the Pakistani capital.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Imran Khan also held a discussion with veteran religious scholars to defuse the crisis.
Rizvi was arrested in April this year for inciting similar mass protests to force the expulsion of the French envoy. After his arrest, violent demonstrations by TLP supporters erupted in major Pakistani cities.
TLP has built a wide base of support in recent years, rallying around cases of blasphemy, which are punishable by death in Pakistan.
It was banned following April’s protests.
Rizvi became the leader of TLP in November last year after the sudden death of his father, Khadim Hussein Rizvi.
