Top Pakistan Taliban commanders 'at each other's throats'

Top Pakistan Taliban commanders 'at each other's throats' Reuters Published: January 3, 2012 Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda's struggle in Afghanistan against the US. PHOTO: AFP/FILE ISLAMABAD: Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani militants have held a series of meetings aimed at containing what could soon be open warfare between the two most powerful Pakistani Taliban leaders, militant sources have said. Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP), and his deputy, Waliur Rehman, were at each other’s throats, the sources said. “You will soon hear that one of them has eliminated the other, though hectic efforts are going on by other commanders and common friends to resolve differences between the two,” one TTP commander said. Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda’s struggle in Afghanistan against the United States and its allies, making it more difficult to recruit young fighters and disrupting safe havens in Pakistan used by the Afghan militants. Despite multiple reports of the Rehman-Mehsud split, Rehman told Reuters on Tuesday there was no problem between the two. “There are no differences between us,” Rehman said. The TTP, formed in 2007, is an umbrella group of various Pakistani militant factions operating in Pakistan’s unruly northwestern tribal areas along the porous border with Afghanistan. It has long struggled with its choice of targets. Some factions are at war with the Pakistani state while others concentrate on the fight against the United States and its allies in Afghanistan. There has been a noticeable decrease in militant attacks in Pakistan, but there continue to be random acts of violence across the country. Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban commanders are asking the TTP to provide more men for the fight in Afghanistan and are looking to smooth over the dispute between Mehsud and Rehman. Long-standing feuds Taliban sources said Rehman had ordered his fighters to kill Mehsud because of his increasing closeness with al Qaeda and its Arab contingent. Mehsud’s former deputy has also alleged the TTP chief received money from Pakistan’s arch-rival, India, to kill a former Pakistan spy agency official acting as a mediator between the Pakistani Taliban, Afghan insurgents and the Pakistani government. The reported enmity between Mehsud and Rehman is not the only conflict within the TTP ranks. Mehsud has a long-standing feud with militant commanders Maulvi Nazeer in South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, both of whom have non-aggression agreements with the Pakistani military. Mehsud’s men have also fought with the militia under the control of Fazal Saeed Haqqani, the former TTP head in the Kurram tribal region. He has accused Mehsud of killing his commanders and innocent people and kidnapping for ransom. Haqqani, who is close to the militant Afghan Haqqani network, broke away from the TTP last year. A pamphlet distributed by militants in North Waziristan this week announced the formation of a council to try to resolve the conflicts. “All jihadi forces have jointly, on the recommendation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, formed a five-member commission which will be known as the Shura Muraqba,” the pamphlet said, using the term by which the Afghan Taliban describe themselves. “The Shura Muraqba will be working to resolve differences and problems between mujahideen.” It said that any “mujahideen” found to have committed an “unlawful” killing or kidnapping would be punished under Islamic law. It is likely any attack on a fellow “mujahideen” commander would be considered “unlawful”. “All mujahideen should respect the decisions of the council that has been set up,” a senior commander of the Haqqani faction in Kurram said. “If people continue to do as they like, the situation will not improve. Things will instead get much worse.” =============== From the caves of Tora Bora to an office in Qatar: is the Taliban going mainstream? JEROME TAYLOR WEDNESDAY 04 JANUARY 2012 inShare PRINT A A A EMAIL Latest in Asia Indian tiger fights to regain its bite Chinese manufacturing delivers new year bounce From the caves of Tora Bora to an office in Qatar: is the Taliban going mainstream? 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MoneyMorning.com/Euro_Defaults From the blogs New year, new home Our Online House Hunter, Alan Cleaver, begins at the beginning with a series of articles for those w... Scandal, surprise and soap opera – a year of the Bundesliga With 2011 now over, followers of the Bundesliga are looking back on what has been a year full of sca... The 2011 “Questions to Which the Answer is No” Awards Here are my favourites in the series of Questions to Which the Answer is No from the past 12 months. The potential British sports stars of 2012 2012 will see the Olympics come to London and the Euros take place in Poland and Ukraine in what pro... Suggested Topics Cults And Sects Taliban Afghanistan The Afghan Taliban announced yesterday that it had reached a landmark deal to open a political office in Qatar in what could be its first concrete step to sue for peace after a decade of insurgency warfare. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, released a statement stating that a “preliminary deal” had been reached for “negotiations with the international community”. The statement added that it would depend on key commanders being released from US military custody at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The idea of opening up an office has long been sought by American officials who are desperate to find a political exit strategy for Afghanistan after 10 years of bitter warfare. Secret talks between the Americans, intermediaries and the Taliban have been held for months, but with limited success. Until now, Taliban commanders had been reluctant to ever admit publicly that they might be willing to sit down to peace talks. Opening up a legitimate political office would allow Taliban commanders to negotiate with America and international diplomats without fear of assassination or arrest. Western officials have also been keen to promote Qatar as a suitable venue because it would take the talks outside the influence of the ISI – Pakistan’s powerful spy agency which has long been suspected of harbouring and nurturing the Taliban’s insurgency. According to a report in The Hindu newspaper, the influential Qatar-based Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi has played a key role in the talks aimed at setting up an office. Western officials believe prisoner exchanges and ceasefire zones will be an essential part of building up confidence between the two sides. However Washington is determined that the Taliban must abandon any ideological or practical allegiance to Al-Qa’ida. In return the Taliban will likely seek a significant political role within the southern Pashtun regions of Afghanistan where its insurgency blossomed, as well as the release of its leaders. Key Taliban officials currently held in Guantanamo include Muhammad Fazl, the Taliban’s former deputy defence minister, Muhammad Nabi, a key financier, and two former provincial governors Khairullah Khairkhwa of Herat and Noorullah Nori of Balkh. The Taliban, meanwhile, is still holding Bowe Bergdahl, a 25-year-old U.S. Army sergeant from Hailey, Idaho, who was taken prisoner in June 2009. Attempts to negotiate with the Taliban have repeatedly hit stumbling blocks. In 2010 British and American intelligence officials were duped by a market stall holder from Quetta who made them believe he was a senior Taliban commander. He then disappeared after pocketing large sums of cash. Former Afghan president Burhannuddin Rabani, who was tasked with negotiating with the Taliban, was killed by a suicide bomber last year whilst Afghan president Hamid Karzai ordered his ambassador to Qatar to be withdrawn late last year when it emerged attempted talks with the Taliban had been taking place. He has since relented under US pressure and signed up to the plan. It is not yet clear whether hardline Taliban commanders, including its spiritual chief Mullah Omar, would countenance any negotiations with Nato or the Afghan government in Kabul. ======================