Baitulla Mehsud escapes again

Although Pakistan officially objected to yesterday's killing by missiles fired from an unmanned US drone aircraft of 45 militants attending a funeral, the Americans were after the same man the Pakistani military want to capture or kill - the Taliban leader and friend of al Qaeda, Baitulla Mehsud.

The Americans failed to get him yesterday - he was in the area but was not one of those killed or injured, according to a Taliban official - but they will undoubtedly keep up the pressure. And if that means using drones and attacking people attending a funeral, then so be it.

Mehsud, 45, is Pakistan's public enemy number one. The United States has offered a reward of $5m for information leading to his location or arrest.

A ruthless warlord, he has led the Pakistani Taliban for four years. He is accused of plotting the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Recent atrocities believed to have been sanctioned or organised by Mehsud include a suicide-bomb attack on a mosque in which 33 people died.

His base is in south Waziristan, the lawless region on the border with Afghanistan where yesterday's missile attack was the latest in a wave of US drone-mounted operations conducted over the past year. The Pakistani military has also been pounding positions in the region ahead of an expected offensive against him.

The latest moves against Mehsud come along with bad news for the security services: Qari Zainuddin, a rival of Mehsud, who the military was hoping might eventually eradicate the Taliban leader, has been shot dead, apparently by a guard planted within his entourage by Mehsud.

Zainuddin, 30, who had repeatedly criticised Mehsud for targeting civilians, was shot in his compound in the town of Dera Ismail Khan. Baz Mohammad, one of Zainuddin's aides, said the guard, who had been employed four months ago, burst into Zainuddin's office after morning prayers and opened fire.

"It was definitely Baitullah's man who infiltrated our ranks, and he has done his job," Mohammad told the Associated Press.

Some observers say Mehsud feared Zainuddin more than the Pakistan army because of his intimate knowledge of his methods and personnel. He was considered to be one of the few men who might have rallied the Mehsud tribe - possibly the only way of eliminating Mehsud if the US drones keep failing to do the job. ·