Sources: Man blamed for Bhutto killing is dead

[ProfJohn]

Sounds like he died of natural causes. But his death is still a step forward in the war against the Taliban.

The leader of Pakistan's Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, is dead from kidney failure, sources told CNN.

The Pakistan government blamed Mehsud for the December 27, 2007, assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

An unnamed Islamabad-based source with connections within the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan said Mehsud died about 1 a.m. Wednesday. Military officials in the field confirmed to CNN that Mehsud had died.

Geo Television of Pakistan and other local stations also reported his death.

But some reports also had the Taliban denying Mehsud's death.

Earlier reports said the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan was ill and was expected to die within a day. Mehsud is said to have succumbed to kidney failure and was believed to be about 34 years old.

Mehsud denied involvement in Bhutto's assassination.

"We don't strike women," he said through a spokesman.

In his first television interview, conducted by Al-Jazeera last year, Mehsud said his ultimate aim was to attack New York and London, England.

In January, Spanish police said a cell of Pakistanis -- allegedly dispatched by Mehsud -- arrested in Barcelona was planning suicide operations in Spain and possibly elsewhere in Europe.

He led thousands of militants in South Waziristan, the mountainous region of northwest Pakistan that borders Afghanistan and where the Taliban and al Qaeda are active.

Mehsud's death would leave a power vacuum within the Mehsud tribe and the Pakistani Taliban, analysts say. Since there was no second in command of the Mehsud tribe, tribal splits are expected.

Mehsud's death also is expected to spark a power struggle and the appointment of a new Taliban leader in Pakistan, but whoever replaces Mehsud is not expected to have as much influence and control in the region

 

[IronWing]

The head of the Pakistani secret police is dead? Otherwise, this is just propaganda issued so the Pakistani government can stop pretending to look for the killers.

 

[moks78]

Good news...

How abt Osama? When will he die of his reported kidney problem?

If we don't get him by bombs...dying of health problem is fine by me.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: ironwing
The head of the Pakistani secret police is dead? Otherwise, this is just propaganda issued so the Pakistani government can stop pretending to look for the killers.

Got anything to back that up?

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: moks78
Good news...

How abt Osama? When will he die of his reported kidney problem?

If we don't get him by bombs...dying of health problem is fine by me.

I'm pretty sure it was just a stone. Painful as fuck, but not likely to kill him.

 

[ElFenix]

how about that spanish report that ISI was funding and training the taliban?

 

[Dufusyte]

Originally posted by: moks78
How about Osama?

Bhutto stated as a matter of fact that Osama had already been assassinated:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnychOXj9Tg

 

[SAWYER]

What was so great about this woman, she wasn't exactly the best from what I have read online. Why is she put upon a pedestal?

 

[Lemon law]

Silly me, here I thought Mullah Omar was still the Taliban big cheese. This guy, was just one of many local power brokers, and only time will tell if the Taliban will be set back at the loss of one of its power brokers activists. Right now, IMHO, the real driving force in and around the tribal regions is in keeping both Nato and the Pakistani army out of the tribal regions. Any ideology sympathetic to that goal acceptable.

 

[StageLeft]

Progress...about as much progress as felling a tree and an entire forest is still remaining.

 

[robphelan]

hmm, he has kidney problems, too? must be something in the water over there.

 

[Lemon law]

Originally posted by: robphelan
hmm, he has kidney problems, too? must be something in the water over there.

Well there are hundreds of thousand of people in the USA who have Kidney problems too. Some of them are smucks also, but being a smuck does not cause kidney problems.