Pakistan Taliban name Maulana Fazlullah new leader

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

7 November 2013 Last updated at 13:29 GMT

Pakistan Taliban name Maulana Fazlullah new leader

Pakistan's Taliban have named Maulana Fazlullah as their new leader, after the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack, a spokesman has said.

Mullah Fazlullah is a hardline chief from the Swat area whose men reportedly shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.

Mehsud was killed when missiles struck his vehicle in the North Waziristan region on 1 November.

Pakistan's government accused the US of destroying its attempts to start peace talks with the Taliban.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24854087

[Eugene]

1. No more peace talks, 'Mullah Radio' tells Pakistan

Source: Reuters

No more peace talks, 'Mullah Radio' tells Pakistan

By Haji Mujtaba and Jibran Ahmed
MIRANSHAH/PESHAWAR, Pakistan | Thu Nov 7, 2013 10:15am EST

(Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban rejected the idea of peace talks with the government after electing hardline commander Mullah Fazlullah, whose men shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai last year, as their new leader on Thursday.

The rise of Fazlullah, known for his fierce Islamist views, by the Taliban Shura council follows the Killing of Hakimullah Mehsud, the previous leader or ameer, in a U.S. drone strike on November 1.

Mehsud and his allies had been tentatively open to the concept of ceasefire talks with the government, but Fazlullah's emergence as the new chief changes that picture.

"There will be no more talks as Mullah Fazlullah is already against negotiations with the Pakistan government," Shahidullah Shahid, a Taliban spokesman, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location in neighboring Afghanistan.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/07/us-pakistan-taliban-idUSBRE9A60OR20131107