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ShareMullah Omar shows the door to Baitullah Mehsud for fighting the Pak army instead of NATO troops
LAHORE: Mullah Mohammad Omar, the fugitive Taliban chief, has sacked the commander of the Pakistani chapter of the Taliban, Commander Baitullah Mehsud.
Mullah Omar has maintained while sacking Baitullah that all the Taliban commanders should turn their venom against the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces stationed in Afghanistan. According to well-placed Pakistani intelligence sources, Mullah Omar sacked the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan and the main architect of the ongoing battle against the Pakistani security forces at a time when the Musharraf regime has launched an intense military operation against Baitullah in South Waziristan. Mehsud was appointed by Mullah Omar himself.
Mehsud has been sacked at a time when the Taliban's spring offensive is just months away. The Afghan front has been quiet because the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants are heavily engaged in fighting the Pakistani security forces in the Waziristan region on the Pak-Afghan tribal belt. Therefore, Mullah Omar has put his foot down to reset the goals for the Taliban: their primary task is the struggle in Afghanistan, not against the Pakistani state, as was being done by Baitullah Mehsud.
The intelligence sources say having sacked Baitullah Mehsud, Mullah Omar has appointed Moulvi Faqir Mohammed, a commander from the Bajaur Agency. However, he has refused to accept the command of the Pakistani Taliban. Since then, the sources say, the Pakistani Taliban are holding meetings, but have not yet appointed a replacement to Mehsud. Sources say that Baitullah was sacked amidst reports that the embattled commander was about to offer an olive branch to the Pakistani Taliban.
The sources said with Baitullah replaced, Mullah Omar would use all the Taliban assets in the tribal areas to dislodge the NATO troops from Afghanistan. However, this leaves Mehsud and his loyalists completely isolated to fight against Pakistani forces. Mehsud is already named by the Pakistan government as the main accused in the assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto.
