New Taliban leader says no to peace talks

Maulana Fazlullah, the fiery cleric from the Swat Valley named new head of the Pakistani Taliban, says there won't be any peace talks with the government. Instead, a Taliban spokesman told the BBC Fazlullah and his group, locally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, would target the Pakistani military and the ruling party to avenge the Nov. 1 death of his predecessor, Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike. Fazlullah, whose militants shot and almost killed schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in October of last year for advocating education for women and girls, was known as "Mullah Radio" for his radio broadcasts to preach Sharia laws during his days in the Swat Valley in Northwest Pakistan. His group later occupied the Swat Valley before being driven out by the Pakistani military. He had fled to Afghanistan following that. Nawaz Sharif, who was elected Pakistan prime minister in May, has been seeking to open peace talks with the TTP to end the militant violence that has plagued the country for years, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people. The Dawn newspaper reported it appeared Fazlullah has recently returned to Pakistan from Afghanistan. China's Xinhua News Agency quoted Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid as telling reporters by telephone that Fazlullah was appointed TTP leader at a meeting of senior commanders who met at a secret location in North Waziristan. Xinhua said the Pakistani government had been asking Afghanistan to hand over Fazlullah but that the Afghan government has never officially confirmed his presence in the country. The drone attack that killed Mehsud was widely condemned in Pakistan, with some officials saying it had sabotaged the peace talks. Sharif's government, however, has said it will pursue the dialogue process with the Taliban to stop more bloodshed in the country. Source: UPI