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Pakistani Taliban Chief Believed to be Alive, Contrary to Reports

   29 April 2010
   Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud (File Photo - 04 Oct 2009)

Photo: AP

   Pakistani  Taliban  chief Hakimullah Mehsud arrives to meet with media
   in  Sararogha  of  Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the
   Afghanistan border (File Photo - 04 Oct 2009)

   Pakistan intelligence officials say Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah
   Mehsud is believed to be alive, despite claims he had been killed by a
   U.S. missile strike earlier this year.

   Senior officials, who did not want to be identified, said Thursday the
   latest  information  shows  Mehsud  was  wounded  in the January drone
   attack in Pakistan's tribal region, but survived.

   U.S.  officials  had  said  they were more than 90 percent certain the
   militant  leader had been killed. And in February, Pakistan's interior
   minister said there was "credible information" Mehsud was dead.

   The  Taliban  has  always  denied Mehsud was killed in the air strike.
   Several  days  after the attack, the group released an audio recording
   of the militant leader it said proved he was still alive.

   Pakistani  intelligence  officials say although Mehsud is alive, he is
   no longer a major force in the Pakistani Taliban movement.

   Officials say other Taliban commanders, such as Waliur Rehman, are now
   overshadowing him.

   Hakimullah  Mehsud's  predecessor,  Baitullah  Mehsud, was killed in a
   suspected U.S. drone attack in August 2009.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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