Stop fighting if you want talks

Pakistan government mediators yesterday demanded a ceasefire from the Taliban before they resume peace talks as another two soldiers were killed in separate attacks.
A faction of the insurgent group announced on Sunday they had killed 23 kidnapped soldiers, prompting condemnation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the cancellation of scheduled peace talks on Monday.
Following a meeting yesterday in Islamabad, the government negotiators briefed the prime minister and said they had received a "discouraging response" since talks were announced on January 29.
"The prime minister was told that the committee was unable to carry forward the dialogue process in the absence of an announcement by the Taliban ceasing violent activities and then implementing the decision," a statement said.
A senior Taliban negotiator told AFP the militant group was working towards a ceasefire which might have been agreed at Monday's cancelled meeting.
Professor Muhammad Ibrahim said he had spoken to senior Taliban commander Azam Tariq and were "making efforts for resumption of the stalled talks".
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told AFP that "we are in contact with all Taliban groups on the issue of ceasefire and hope to reach a decision pretty soon".
He said implementing a ceasefire would "not be very difficult".
Some observers have raised doubts about the ability of the central Taliban command to control all factions, including some opposed to negotiations.