Islamabad, Nov 20 (PTI) Right-wing religious party JamiatUlema-i-Islam led by Maulana Samiul Haq, known as the "fatherof Taliban", and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf haveagreed to formulate a "joint strategy" for the next elections.
The decision was made by the leaderships of the twoparties at a meeting attended by Maulana Sami and Khan, theDawn reported.
They agreed to continue consultations and contacts witheach other so that they could come closer before the generalelections in 2018, the paper reported, quoting a statementissued by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party yesterday.
"In the meeting, the leaderships of both the parties inprinciple agreed to continue consultative meetings to preparea joint strategy for the next elections so that the twoparties could jointly struggle to bring the country out of thepresent crises and difficulties," said the statement.
Maulana Sami, also known as the "father of Taliban", saidthe ideologies of the two parties had similarities and theycould work together.
He praised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led KhyberPakhtunkhwa government's "pro-Islamic steps" in the province.
He said the country had been besieged by "enemies" and therewas a need for a united struggle to face the currentsituation.
Maulana Sami also serves as the chairman of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council, an umbrella coalition of more than 40groups, including Hafeez Saeed-led Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) and thebanned Sipah-e-Sahaba.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had lastyear allocated Rs 300 million in the budget to Maulana Sami'smadrassa Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak in Nowshera.
The madrassa is known for having several top AfghanTaliban leaders among its alumni, including Mullah Omar whoreceived an honorary doctorate from the seminary.
Haqqani Network founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, Al-Qaeda inthe Indian Subcontinent leader Asim Umar and slain AfghanTaliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor were also among alumni ofthe seminary which is dubbed as the 'University of Jihad'. PTIZH AKJZH.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.