ISLAMABAD, Oct. 1, 2008
Pakistani Taliban Leader Dead Or Dying?
Baitullah Mehsud Very Ill, Officials Say Group Scrambling For New Leaders, Taliban Says He's Getting Better
-
This undated photo shows Baitullah Mehsud, a powerful leader of Taliban forces in tribal Pakistan. (CBS)
-
Fast Facts Pakistan Learn about the people, economy and history.
-
Interactive Assault On Al Qaeda The manhunt on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Mehsud is only in his mid to late thirties, but is believed to suffer from multiple health issues, including diabetes and kidney problems.
One of Mehsud's subcommanders told CBS News' Sami Yousafzai he'd met with the powerful militant leader on Tuesday night and that his blood sugar level was improving, and with it, his general health.
Just hours after unconfirmed reports of his death surfaced late on Tuesday, a senior Pakistani security official told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari the Taliban branch inside his country was "scrambling to appoint two new deputies in a possible preparation for a succession."
"Unless someone produces a body, I can't confirm Baitullah Mehsud's death. But we are witnessing intelligence reports along the lines of the Taliban scrambling to appoint two new deputies," said a senior Pakistani security official. "Is this the Taliban preparation for a succession? That is the question we are asking but there are no answers as yet."
Mehsud's death was reported overnight by the privately owned GEO TV channel and pan-Arab satellite news channel Al Jazeera, citing unnamed security sources in Pakistan.
Wednesday, a senior Arab diplomat in Pakistan with access to intelligence information told Bokhari "we are no now hearing reports that he is ill but still alive."
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the earlier reports of Mehsud's death "may well have been premature."
A U.S. official told CBS News correspondent Bob Orr that Mehsud is known to have significant health problems, including diabetes, but confirmation of his death would come only when his body could be produced.
While the Taliban denies the reports of Mehsud's death, they do not argue that the leader's health is in a desperate state. Yousafzai reports Mehsud has been seriously ill for weeks, unable to carry out most of his regular duties as commander of the Islamic extremist movement.
Sources inside the group say a doctor who recently visited Mehsud advised him not to meet with other people, as his mental health was also deteriorating.
If Mehsud has died, or does soon, Bokhari reports his absence would mark a significant symbolic setback to the Taliban on the heels of a tactical defeat near Paksitan's border with Afghanistan.
After days of bloody clashes, the Pakistani military has declared success in an operation to rid the Bajur region of Taliban fighters.
However, opinion is divided on how much Mehsud's death would disrupt the Taliban, which has become increasingly bold in carrying out attacks on Pakistan's civil and military targets since the country's former ruler, Pervez Musharraf, ordered the military to attack a pro-Taliban mosque in the center of Islamabad during the summer of 2007.
Quote
"I am sure if he is about to die or has already died, there will be a succession and somebody else will take over from him and the Taliban movement will continue. But this will be a major morale booster for Pakistan," a second Pakistani security official told Bokhari. I am sure if he is about to die or has already died, there will be a succession and somebody else will take over from him and the Taliban movement will continue.
Pakistani security officialThe sources spoke to CBS News on customary condition of anonymity, as they were not permitted to share the information about such sensitive topics to the nation's security.
On Sept. 20, at least 57 people were killed and 266 injured in a devastating truck bomb blast at Islamabad’s Marriott hotel. The brazen attack was a powerful reminder to Pakistanis, and the rest of the world, of the instability within the country.
Investigators searched for any clues that might link Mehsud to the planning or supplying of explosives for the devastating attack, but, to date, no conclusive evidence has been made public.
On Monday night, the Pakistani government announced the appointment of a military general as the new leader of the country's powerful spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
The move was seen as a response to recent criticism by U.S. and other Western officials who have privately questioned the loyalties of some ISI operatives. The agency created has decades old links to the Taliban movement and it is widely suspected that there are still operatives sympathetic to Islamic militants, including the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Pakistan's government has always denied the allegations.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the new director general of the ISI, is an accomplished officer who recently oversaw the planning of the military's operation in Bajur, a former Taliban stronghold.
Western diplomats have said the top-level change at the ISI could mark a more aggressive push by Pakistan to go after Mehsud's fighters in the border region. The U.S. has repeatedly urged Pakistan to do more to prevent Taliban and al Qaeda militants from operating on its soil, and from crossing the border to launch attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
More From War On Terror
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
- 1
- 2
- 3
- next
See all 45 CommentsONLY BECAUSE OF PAKISTAN AMERICA IS SURVIVING. ONLY BECAUSE OF HELP AMERICA IS ALIVE AND ABLE TO BREATH.... OTHERWISE IF PAKISTAN WISH IT CAN FINISH AMERICA IN ONE SECOND !!! AND THAT IS THE ONLY REASON AMERICA NEVER EVER GO AGAINST PAKISTAN.....!!!
Posted by Good4Always
sorry dipsh1t the british are our best friends,and what the hell has pakistan done for us besides maybe make the rubber bottom of my shoe or was that china oh well they make something I wear and I''m sure it''s they did a crappy job at that.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, a Foreign Office heavyweight with a reputation for blunt speaking, delivered his bleak assessment of the seven-year Nato campaign in Afghanistan in a briefing with a French diplomat, according to French leaks. However sources in Whitehall said the account was a parody of the British Ambassador%u2019s remarks.
Another horrible Bush no-brain-error
Google Nirvana and se who is he.
Posted by TomFlint69 at 04:09 PM : Oct 01, 2008
Isn''t he also in "The Foo Fighters"?
http://a1259.g.akamai.net/f/1259/5586/1d/images.art.com/images/-/George-Harrison-Photograph-C10053225.jpeg
George freaking Harrison!!!
Google Nirvana and se who is he.
Posted by TomFlint69 at 04:09 PM : Oct 01, 2008
You''re right!
Doctor: please pass me that opium pipe, hammer and rusty saw.
Posted by easeup
OK.
That would be 84 months and 20 days.
Posted by mytoosense at 12:59 PM : Oct 01, 2008
Actually he''s been getting away with it since 1993, so if you''re going to blame Bush then blame Clinton equally.
I blame Bush for allowing Bin Ladin to get away with it.Posted by mytoosense at 12:42 PM : Oct 01, 2008
Yeah, I guess the 8 1/2 months in office was plenty of time to do what wasn''''t done the previous 6 years.
That makes sense.
Posted by easeup
It didnt make sense to you because you mis-read the point.
Bin Ladin has been GETTING AWAY WITH IT since 9/11.
That would be 84 months and 20 days.
I blame Bush for allowing Bin Ladin to get away with it.
Posted by mytoosense at 12:42 PM : Oct 01, 2008
Yeah, I guess the 8 1/2 months in office was plenty of time to do what wasn''t done the previous 6 years.
That makes sense.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- next
See all 45 Comments