Pakistani Taleban elect new leader

Azhar Masood | Arab News

ISLAMABAD: Leading Pakistan Taleban commander Hakimullah Mehsud has been appointed the new head of the militant group, media reports said on Saturday, weeks after Washington and Islamabad said the militants' chief, Baitullah Mehsud, was almost certainly killed by a missile strike. A senior correspondent Gul Pazir told Arab News telephonically from Miranshah that earlier it was reported that Hakimullah Mehsud was killed during infighting but he is alive and was elected new chief of the outfit. Maulvi Faqir Mohammad said that a 42-member Taleban council appointed a new head because Baitullah was ill. Top Taleban commanders have insisted Baitullah was not killed by an Aug. 5 CIA missile strike, but they have provided no proof he is still alive. However, a captured Taleban spokesman reportedly acknowledged to authorities earlier this week that Baitullah was dead. Pakistan's Taleban is a loose alliance of disparate groups and tribal factions, and government and intelligence officials have said they are embroiled in a bitter leadership struggle which could lead them to deny their leader is dead until a firm replacement is found. On Wednesday, Mohammad said he himself had assumed the role of acting head of the Taleban until the shoura could appoint a new leader, because Baitullah was too ill to lead. According to a report, Mohammad said Baitullah wanted to appoint someone else to lead the Taleban because of his ill health. He said the shoura was held in Orakzai Agency in northwestern Pakistan's lawless tribal area, along the border with Afghanistan. Members of the Mehsud tribe use the same last name. Hakimullah Mehsud, the 28-year-old military chief of Baitullah's Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taleban Movement, commanded three tribal regions and has a reputation as Baitullah's most ruthless deputy. — With input from agencies