MIRAMSHAH: The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan regretted on Monday the decision of PTI chief Imran Khan and JUI-F leader Mufti Kifayatullah to disassociate themselves from the five-member committee it had nominated for talks with the government.

TTP spokesman Sahidullah Shahid told Dawn on phone from an unspecified location: “We regret the decision of PTI and JUI leaderships about distancing their representatives from the proposed peace talks.”

He said Imran Khan had been nominated a member of the committee because “he had done some good things/deeds, while Mufti Kifayatullah was named because he was a religious personality”.The spokesman said the names of columnist Orya Maqbool Jan and senior journalist Ansar Abbasi were being considered to replace Imran Khan and Mufti Kifayatullah.

He said Qari Shakeel, head of the political affairs committee of Shura, would oversee the committee.