Eideard

Hakeemullah Mehsud (L) poses for the media – last November

The Pakistani Taliban announced a successor to slain commander Baitullah Mehsud, but intelligence officials said it was probably a smokescreen meant to hold together a movement left leaderless for almost three weeks.

Taliban officials rang journalists…to say Hakeemullah Mehsud, a young militant who commands fighters in the Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram tribal regions, had been chosen as the new chief by a leadership council, or shura…

A BBC report quoted Faqir Mohammad, head of the Taliban in the Bajaur tribal region, as saying Hakeemullah was selected…

Two days ago, Fariq Mohammad claimed he’s acting chief and now he says Hakeemullah is,’ one senior intelligence officer in northwest Pakistan said. ‘It’s a trick.’

Intelligence officials insisted Hakeemullah was killed or gravely wounded in a shootout with a rival days after Baitullah Mehsud was killed by a US missile strike on Aug. 5.

‘The announcement is real, but the man isn’t,’ the officer said. ‘The real Hakeemullah is dead.’

Another senior officer, who requested anonymity, speculated that the Taliban leadership was trying to buy time until one of Hakeemullah’s brothers returned from fighting in the Afghan insurgency to take command of his men.

Sounds like some leftover hack from Bush’s 2004 campaign is leading the disinformation campaign on behalf of the Pak Taliban. Same style. Same sort of lies.

Next, they’ll be claiming they have WMD’s.

UPDATED: A big “oops!” from DAWN, this morning – because Hakeemullah is alive and showed up at a press conference.