Drone strike hits Pakistan peace bid

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-01-041113.html


Drone strike hits Pakistan peace bid
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider
Nov 4, '13

KARACHI - The militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Sunday appointed Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, the head of its supreme shura, as temporary leader after the killing of its commander Hakimullah Mehsud in a suspected US drone strike. Five militants, including Abdullah Bahar Mehsud and Tariq Mehsud, both key militant commanders, were also killed with two others injured in the drone attack on Friday in North Waziristan.

The killing of 38-year-old Mehsud - after TTP leaders had met at a mosque near the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan in Miranshah to discuss peace talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's administration - sparked condemnation from the Pakistani government, right-wing political parties and Islamist parties and groups.

Pakistan has summoned the US Ambassador Richard Olson to protest against the drone strike, saying the attack has destroyed the country's nascent peace process. Washington brushed that claim aside. A State Department official said that talks with the militants were an "internal matter for Pakistan".

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has attempted to open talks with the TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, to try to end a violent campaign that has left thousands of people dead in bombings and shootings and marred general elections this year. Some political parties demanded the administration of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to block US military supply lines into Afghanistan. The restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of two routes that international forces use to supply personnel in Afghanistan.