Balochistan rebel leader Brahamdagh Bugti 'ready to talk'
- Published
Bugti rebels have been fighting an insurgency in Balochistan for over a decade
A leading Baloch separatist has said he is ready to consider dialogue with Pakistan, as long as the army ends military operations in the province.
Brahamdagh Bugti told BBC Urdu his party could drop calls for independence if "the Baloch people agree".
Mr Bugti, who lives in Switzerland, is accused of leading an armed struggle.
Balochistan has seen a long-running conflict between security forces and separatists who want a greater share of the province's natural resources.
Brahamdagh Bugti, 34, is regarded as one of the most hardline of the Baloch separatist leaders and has until now been opposed to any rapprochement with the Pakistani state which he has vowed to "fight to the death".
His remarks are being viewed as an olive branch to the military and could signal the first softening of attitudes within the separatist movement.
Brahamdagh Bugti said it would be foolish to refuse dialogue "if it is offered in the right spirit"
Talking to the BBC from his base in Geneva, Mr Bugti said the Pakistani military had already suffered a moral defeat.
"What has been the cumulative effect of the last 10 or 15 years of violence, murder, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and body bags? Have the Baloch people changed their minds or has this strengthened their resolve">