ISLAMABAD: The newly-formed government committee comprising three serving bureaucrats and a former one is expected to begin its work for holding dialogue with militants in the coming days, but there is a question mark over its decision-making powers and limitations.

The government says it will be a “decision-making body” and the previous committee headed by the prime minister’s special assistant Irfan Siddiqui was tasked only with establishing contacts with the militants.

The new committee comprises Habibullah Khan Khattak, Federal Secretary for Ports and Shipping; Arbab Muhammad Arif, Additional Chief Secretary of Fata; Fawad Hassan Fawad, Additional Secretary at Prime Minister’s Office; and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) member Rustam Shah Mohmand, who has served as chief secretary of the then North West Frontier Province and the country’s ambassador in Afghanistan.

All of them belong to the Pakistan Administrative Service, formerly known as the District Management Group (DMG).

Three members hail from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and have vast experience of working on the ground in different capacities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Habibullah Khattak was born in Peshawar, but hails from Akora Khattak, the town near Nowshera where JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq runs his Madressah Haqqania. Mr Khattak has served as political agent in Khyber, Mohmand and South Waziristan tribal regions and is known as a straightforward man with a clean service record. He has also served as deputy commissioner of Peshawar and secretary for the states and frontier regions.

Peshawar-born Arbab Arif has also served as political agent in various tribal regions, including Khyber Agency. A grade-21 officer with a clean service record, he previously served as secretary to the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is said that he will be representing the governor in the committee. He was the provincial secretary for home and tribal affairs before taking up his current post.

Rustam Mohmand, a senior diplomat and politician who has specialised in Afghan and Central Asian affairs, is a member of the PTI which is a staunch supporter of peace talks with the Taliban. He is also a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advisory committee, headed by the party’s chief Imran Khan which advises the provincial government on development and planning. He served as interior secretary and held the post of chief commissioner for refugees for about 10 years.

Fawad Hassan, born in Azad Kashmir, spent 15 years of his career in Balochistan where he served as assistant commissioner and deputy commissioner at various places. He joined the federal government in the 1990s and is considered to be a confidant of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He had served in the PM House during the first tenure of Mr Sharif as prime minister. He served as deputy commissioner of Lahore in 1999 and then as commercial counsellor in Germany for four months. He has worked as services, health and implementation secretary in Punjab. Since the establishment of the current government, he has been serving in the PM Office as an additional secretary on law and order.