Word: mehsuds
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...visit to Afghanistan last year; he is closely linked with both the Taliban movements in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Authorities have not confirmed the Tuesday morning attack, but sources in the area told the Associated Press that the compound may have belonged to a tribal leader linked to Baitullah Mehsud, the head of the newly unified Pakistani Taliban and the man charged by both the Pakistani government and the CIA with planning the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on December...
...Rana, the confession of the boy bomber meshes well with the modus operandi of Mehsud's loose coalition. "Mehsud is not only organizing in the tribal areas," says Rana. "He is trying to unify all of the insurgent movements, even from Karachi and Baluchistan. These groups will have mutual understanding on one issue, and they will work together to achieve their common goals...
...Pakistani government appears to agree. It has accused Mehsud of orchestrating the attack that killed former Prime Minister Bhutto in December, and CIA Director Michael Hayden has indicated that he supports this conclusion. Authorities are currently interviewing Aitzaz Shah, a 15-year-old militant who confessed last week that he had been part of a backup plan, one of several local suicide cells scattered across the country that was ordered to attack when the right opportunity presented itself...
...recent Gallup poll shows that more than half of Pakistanis remain unconvinced; some even suspect government involvement in the assassination. Mehsud, through his spokesman, has denied involvement, but Zaidan believes Mehsud would certainly have had a motive to kill Benazir. "If I put myself in his shoes, of course I'm not going to take credit. Why give a clear answer to the intelligence services? Make them work. From Mehsud's interest point, it suits him to kill her. Musharraf is no longer of use to the West; he is too unpopular. But Benazir could deliver. She had popular support...
...That vision sounds frighteningly similar to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. Of course, Mehsud was with Mullah Omar when the Taliban first started. Clearly he took notes...