Pakistani Taliban council picks new chief

Government, U.S. say past leader died in Aug. 5 strike; group claims he only fell ill

— The Pakistani Taliban have appointed a new chief, militants said Saturday, selecting a top commander known for his ruthless efficiency in staging attacks, including a major hotel bombing and a deadly assault against the Sri Lankan cricket team.

The appointment of 28-year-old Hakimullah Mehsud could herald an increase in attacks asthe group tries to prove it is still intact and operational, analysts say. It comes after weeks of speculation and reported infighting among Taliban commanders to replace Baitullah Mehsud, the group's former chief who was reportedly killed in an Aug. 5 CIA missile strike in northwestern Pakistan.

Several top Taliban commanders have insisted Mehsud is alive, but have provided no proof. U.S. and Pakistani officials are almost certain he was killed in the strike.

The Pakistan government said it was investigating the reports that Hakimullah Mehsud had been chosen as the new Taliban leader.

Two close aides to another commander, Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, said that a 42-member Taliban council, or shura, appointed a new head becauseBaitullah Mehsud was ill.

"I do confirm that a shura held Friday ... has elected Hakimullah Mehsud [as] the new chief of the Taliban," said one of the aides, Bakht Zada, adding that it was a unanimous decision. "Now all these talks of differences should end. There have not been any differences ever."

Another close Mohammad aide, Sher Zamin, also confirmed that Hakimullah had been elected as the new Taliban chief.

Mohammad had announced last week that he had taken over interim control of the Taliban until a shura could pick a new leader because Baitullah Mehsud was too ill to lead. Beyond the statements of Mohammad's aides, there was no other confirmation about the new appointment. The commander himself was not reachable.

Rather than a cohesive unit, Pakistan's Taliban is a loose alliance of disparate groups and tribal factions that Baitullah Mehsud had managed to unify. If true, the selection of Hakimullah Mehsud is likely an attempt to shore up an organization reeling from the loss of its leader, said Kamran Bokhari, directorof Middle East analysis with Stratfor, a global intelligence company.

"It's an attempt to stabilize the group after the initial reports of infighting. ... I think that the group is trying to emerge out of a crisis," Bokhari said, noting that the loss of Baitullah would have been "a massive blow to the organization."

As military chief of Baitullah's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban Movement, Hakimullah commanded three tribal regions and had a reputation as Baitullah's most ruthless deputy. He had been considered one of the top contenders to take over. He first appeared in public to journalists in November 2008, when he offered to take reporters on a ride in a U.S. humvee taken from a supply truck heading to Afghanistan.

Authorities have said he has been behind threats to foreign embassies in Islamabad, and there is a $120,000 bounty on his head. His men have been blamed for attacking U.S. and NATO supply convoys traveling through northwest Pakistan en route to Afghanistan, and he claimed responsibility for the June 9 bombing of the Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore earlier this year.

He had also threatened suicide bombings in Pakistani cities in retaliation for a recent army offensive in the Swat Valley, which has been winding downin recent weeks.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government had received intelligence reports about Hakimullah's appointment "as the chief terrorist" but that there was no official confirmation.

The decision comes as Amjad Malik, the lawyer for two Pakistani students arrested in raids in England, said Abdul Wahab Khan and Shoaib Khan were subjected to frequent strip searches and searches by dogs while in detention and that they had been served contaminated food.

The pair returned to Islamabad Saturday after being detained in April along with 10 other students during a series of terrorism raids. British authorities lacked enough evidence to prove the terror charges but deported the students after months of detention.

The British High Commission rejected the claims of mistreatment as "unfounded" and said that apart from one incident of reportedly contaminated baked beans, no other complaints were made during their detention.

"The U.K. government treats all those in detention in U.K. prisons fairly and humanely, regardless of their nationality, race or religion," the high commission said in a statement.

Information for this article was contributed by Anwarullah Khan, Asif Shahzad and Munir Ahmad of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 11 on 08/23/2009

Upcoming Events