Pak Taliban ready to lay down arms?

BBC:

Taleban militants fighting the Pakistan army in the country's tribal areas say they are willing to hold unconditional talks with the government.

Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for the militants, said they were also willing to lay down their arms if the military ceased operations against them.

The army is conducting operations against militants in the tribal region of Bajaur and the Swat valley.

The operations are said to be a serious effort to eradicate the Taleban.

The army wants them and al-Qaeda to be removed from Pakistan's tribal regions next to the Afghan border.

"We are willing to negotiate with the government without any conditions," Maulvi Omar told the BBC Urdu service on Wednesday.

"We are also willing to lay down our arms, once the military ceases operations against us."

Pakistan's government has said that it is willing to talk to the militants once they lay down their arms.

But it has also said it will not tolerate the presence of any foreigners in the region.

Maulvi Omar said that the local Taleban did not want foreign militants in the region and would help the government to remove them.

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I am not sure I believe them. They have made similar promise before and not lived up to them. The test will be their willingness to turn over the foreigners. They must also agree not to facilitate attacks into Afghanistan. Those two things are the minimum for any agreement with them and there must also be a way to monitor compliance with the agreement if one is reached.