Pakistan - Qari Zainuddin, Baitullah Mehsud

Pakistan plays dangerous double game
By Andrew Buncombe and Omar Waraich - The Independent

The assassin struck shortly after morning prayers, storming into a room at the compound where Qari Zainuddin was staying and opening up with a volley of fire. The militant leader was rushed to a nearby hospital but declared dead. Meanwhile, the gunman - apparently dispatched by Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud - escaped in a waiting car.

The following day, in a cemetery of Muslim and Christian graves encircled by fields of maize, the 26-year-old, who in recent months had pitched himself against Mr Mehsud, was buried.

Taleban leader Baitullah Mehsud finds allies — and enemies out for revenge
By Jeremy Page - The Times

Baitullah Mehsud is a former bodybuilder in his late thirties who declared himself leader of Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan — an alliance of a dozen militant groups — in 2007. Mehsud, below left, is blamed for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister, in December that year, but denies any role in her death. He has a $5 million (£3 million) US bounty on his head.

Pakistan tries to turn tribesmen against Taleban leader with trade blockade
By Jeremy Page and Rehmat Mehsud

Pakistan has imposed an economic blockade on the mountain stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taleban, in an effort to turn his tribesmen against him and encourage civilians to flee before a planned ground offensive, according to local officials.

Authorities are also arresting dozens of Mehsud tribesmen and shutting down the businesses of others on the fringes of South Waziristan — thought to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden — under a draconian “collective responsibility” law which was introduced in the British colonial era.

Pakistan Taliban leader faces threat from fellow tribesman
By Saeed Shah - McClatchy

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — A new Islamic militia leader has emerged in Pakistan to openly challenge al Qaida-affiliated warlord Baitullah Mehsud for the first time from within his own tribe, marking the start of a bloody confrontation in the wild Waziristan region that could have profound consequences for both Pakistan and the West.
In his first interview with a Western news organization, Qari Zainuddin told McClatchy this week that he'd wipe out Mehsud and rescue Pakistan from a reign of terror that has pushed the nuclear-armed U.S. ally toward collapse.