Qaeda may install Mehsud ‘heir’

* Rehman Malik says China will provide $300m to help improve Pakistan's security capacity




LONDON: Al Qaeda is trying to install a new "chief terrorist" in the Tribal Areas following the alleged death of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday.




"Al Qaeda has been grouping in the same place (South Waziristan) and is trying to find somebody to install as the leader, as the chief terrorist in that area," he told BBC Radio. He said the Taliban were in disarray and fleeing the area following the apparent killing of their commander. He hoped this would result in the border regions being open to greater development.




"All the credible intelligence that I have received on the drone attack has led me to finally confirm it (Mehsud's death)," he said to questions on whether Mehsud was actually dead. "It's one of the achievements and I also feel that after the killing of Baitullah Mehsud, the whole TTP ... it will take some time for them to regroup," he added. "Information gathered in the past three days has revealed that most Taliban are running away from the area," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.




The Taliban, Malik said, should play their role to further develop the Tribal Areas, the Online news agency reported. To questions on leniency towards the Taliban who laid down their arms and renounced violence, he said that none of the Taliban involved in the murder of innocent people would be pardoned. However, he added, the people who had been fighting the government out of fear of the Taliban would be shown leniency.




Financial aid: Also on Monday, the interior minister told the National Assembly a biometric system was being installed along the Pak-Afghan border to check unwanted movement across the border. He informed the House that China would soon provide $300 million in financial assistance to help improve Pakistan's security capacity, the APP news agency reported. staff report/agencies