Word: mehsud
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Already blamed by Pakistan and the CIA for killing Benazir Bhutto, Baitullah Mehsud is just getting started. The articulate, baby-faced commander of the Tehrik-i-Taliban in Pakistan's tribal wilds along the Afghan border is waging an increasingly coordinated insurgency threatening further destabilization on the eve of parliamentary elections. His forces have embarrassed the Pakistani military in recent weeks by attacking its forts, inflicting heavy losses and seizing weapons before retreating into the mountains of South Waziristan, Mehsud's home turf...
...thirtysomething Mehsud cut his teeth fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, and later sharpened his political aspirations while serving the Afghan Taliban's Mullah Omar, to whom he refers as his "Ameerul Momineen," or Commander of the Faithful. But some local analysts see Mehsud as potentially an even more formidable jihadist than his mentor...
...Mehsud is an affable jokester who wears a camouflage vest over his traditional tunic and trousers, according to Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan, Pakistan bureau chief for al-Jazeera. Zaidan interviewed Mehsud just days after he was chosen by several diverse militant groups in December to lead the new Tehrik-i-Taliban movement. The interview, which will air Friday, is a first for the commander who seems to take his PR cues from the notoriously camera-shy Mullah Omar. Mehsud was surprisingly plump, says Zaidan, but his soft, stout figure and easy camaraderie belie a powerful charisma and laser-like focus. Zaidan...
...Persistent rumors about the government's complicity in the attacks on Bhutto have only escalated in recent days, even though Musharraf has invited in British investigators from Scotland Yard to determine how Bhutto died and who was behind it. Musharraf has blamed al-Qaeda affiliate Baitullah Mehsud for her death, and the government is expected to attribute today's bombing to the Pakistani Taliban leader as well. Many Pakistanis, however, consider him simply a convenient scapegoat, and in any case, ascribing the attacks to an elusive militant leader hidden in the impenetrable mountains of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province...
...Musharraf maintains the al-Qaeda affiliated pro-Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud was behind the attack. But he has also said that Bhutto, who was shot at as she waved to supporters from the sunroof of her armored vehicle, was also partly responsible. She had been warned repeatedly that she was under threat, he told a gathering of journalists on Thursday, but she neglected to take the necessary safeguards and insisted on holding a rally at Liaqat Bagh Park, which intelligence agencies had specifically told her was dangerous. "She went of her own volition, ignoring the threat," he said...