PESHAWAR: Prof Muhammad Ibrahim, a member of the Taliban`s negotiating committee, claimed on Monday that both the government and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had indicated their willingness for a ceasefire.

`Both sides have expressed willingness for a ceasefire which is expected in the next few days,` he said at a press conference after returning from North Waziristan, where he met members of the TTP Shura.

Prof Ibrahim and Maulana Yousaf Shah, coordinator of the Taliban`s committee, spent two days in the tribal region, where they held a series of meetings with the TTP council. They flew back to Peshawar from Miramshah in a helicopter. He said the Taliban`s suggestions would be shared with the government`s four-member committee.

A meeting between the two committees was expected within a couple of days, he added.

Prof Ibrahim said the Taliban`s response to the government`s five points was very positive, expressing hope that `the nation will hear good news soon` `We can`t share the Taliban`s demands with the media before meeting the government`s negotiators,` he said.

`Members of the TTP Shura were positive and their response was very encouraging,` he said, adding that the peace talks had entered a crucial phase.

He said the negotiators had discussed during their visit the government`s five points and demands of the Taliban in a very cordial atmosphere.

The government`s committee had demanded that talks be held within the framework of the constitution, their scope be limited to the insurgencyaffected areas, all activities which might affect peace efforts be immediately stopped and the dialogue be concluded in a short timeframe.

Prof Ibrahim did not disclose the place of the meeting with the TTP, but said it was about four-and-a-half hours drive south from Miramshah.

`Both the government and Taliban have shown positive signs and lawless-ness will come to end very soon,` the Jamaat-i-Islami leader observed.

However, he warned, some spoilers were trying to sabotage the talks.

Asked about the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government`s offer to help the TTP set up an office in the province, he praised the provincial government`s gesture but said nobody could give a guarantee on behalf of the federal government and the army to allow the Taliban to set up an office.

`Who will give a guarantee on behalf of the army?` he replied with a smile when asked about the Taliban`s response to the offer.

TTP VERSION: TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the government should refrain from setting unnecessary conditions which could jeopardise the peace process in case they could not be fulfilled.

In a statement issued to the media, he said the supervisory Shura of the TTP had informed its negotiators that the government should not include unnecessary conditions in the first phase of the talks.

He said Prof Ibrahim and Maulana Shah had met members of the TTP`s political Shura and handed over the government`s demands to the supervisory Shura.

The Taliban leadership had been informed about the government`s demands and it had given a positive response after discussions, he said.The spokesman said the Taliban had also handed over their demands to the negotiators. They would be discussed with the government`s committee.

He said his group had decided that the peace process should be carried on in a friendly atmosphere and both sides should not make haste. He said both parties would have to exercise patience if minor irritants happened during the talks.

Our Correspondent adds from Nowshera: Maulana Samiul Haq, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulemai-Islam, said at a press conference in Akora Khattak that the Taliban negotiating committee`s members had returned after a successful meeting with the TTP Shura.

He said the Taliban Shura had decided to hold negotiations under the constitutional limits.

The conditions of the government had been presented to the Taliban council, which had accepted them, Maulana Sami added. `The Taliban also gave some demands and conditions and they will be discussed with the government committee.

Yousaf Shah said six or seven drones hovered over North Waziristan during the negotiations, setting off uncertainty.

He said meaningful talks had been held with the 10-member political committee of the Taliban and `we are hopeful that the process of talks will move ahead`.