Maulvi Faqir Muhammad said that the 42-member ‘Shura’ or council in a meeting unanimously elected Hakimullah Mehsood as the new leader.
The council also nominated Azam Tariq as the new chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Faqir told reporters on phone in Peshawar.
On August 19, Maulvi Faqir himself declared as the new chief of the TTP.
Faqir again denied reports that Baitullah Mehsood has been killed and said that Baitullah wanted that the new TTP chief be appointed in his life. He said Baitullah is sick and is hiding somewhere.
He said that Taliban leaders from tribal and settled regions attended the council meeting. He said that the Council members elected new chief in view of Baitullah’s illness.
Faqir said that the new spokesman has been appointed after the arrest of Maulvi Umar. He said that Muslim Khan from Swat valley had been appointed as new spokesman but the new spokesman has been appointed due to lack of telephone facility in Swat.
He said that Taliban are ready for dialogue but said that Pakistani government has no power to talk to Taliban and to maintain peace as ‘foreign forces control Pakistan’s powers’.
Faqir said that other Taliban senior leaders Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadar are also happy over the appointment of new TTP chief.
Hakimullah Mehsud, in his late twenties, had been one of the strong candidates for TTP leadership. He has served as spokesman for Baitulalh Mehsood and in-charge of TTP at Orakzai and Khyber tribal agencies. He is the cousin of Qari Hussain, the cold-blooded commander who is the trainer and sponsor of suicide bombers across the country.
He had been known as a mobile Taliban commander amongst the militants.
Hakimullah also has good contacts with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a fanatic Sunni outfit with anti-Shia ambitions and planes.
He has good contacts in Punjab and Sindh provinces and has trained a large number of Punjabi Taliban militants in South Waziristan.
Hakimullah uses these Punjabi Taliban militants whenever he needs to carry out a suicide attack in settled areas.
He belongs to Kotkey village in Ludha area inside South Waziristan. Pakistani army destroyed his house in an operation called Zilzala or thunder in January 2008.
He has come from Ishangai clan of Ballizai sub-tribe of Mehsud tribe—the largest of Pukhtoons in Pakistan.
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