Aww, the Poor Guy: Suspected Mastermind in Bhutto Killing an Insomniac Diabetic

A heart-tugging story from the terrorist lovers at Reuters brings us an inside look at Baitullah Mehsud, who apparently is a very sympathetic, simple religious man.

We're supposed to feel sorry for this pipsqueak because he suffers from diabetes and as a result, has difficulties sleeping. Maybe his prescription for Ambien ran out.

Pakistani Taliban leader sleeps badly at night

Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, had just consoled the father of a 16-year-old suicide bomber when he spoke of his religious compulsion to drive American forces out of Pashtun tribal lands.

"I know very well the military might of America, and that fighting with America is like banging my head against a wall," said Mehsud, his dark eyes gleaming beneath a black turban.

"But my religion compels me to fight against the occupiers until the last drop of my blood," he said, according to a witness among the scores of kinsmen and fighters who had assembled to commemorate the boy's martyrdom for the cause.

That was in August, 2006, in the village of Khaisor in South Waziristan, just a few days after Shoaib, the son of a cleric, had rammed his truck into a convoy of Western troops in the Afghan village of Nawe Adda in Paktika province.

Two months ago, Mehsud was declared Emir of the Taliban in Pakistan. Yet in 2005 a Pakistani general had called him "a soldier of peace" for signing a peace deal that brought a short-lived lull in the conflict in South Waziristan.

Intelligence officials say he's been behind a wave of suicide attacks in Pakistani cities since the army stormed Islamabad's Red Mosque in July to crush a militant movement.

But it was when Pakistani officials named him as the prime suspect in the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on December 27 that Mehsud's notoriety rocketed.

And, clearly, made him a rock star to the folks at Reuters.

In a recent interview with al Jazeera, Mehsud said he had met Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader killed in Iraq.

Nice to see Al Jazeera, a favorite media outlet of U.S. Democrats, has such easy access to this monster.

According to the Friday Times magazine, Mehsud is financed by al Qaeda and Afghan and Pakistani businessmen in the United Emirates.

Despite this pedigree, Brigadier Mahmood Shah, former chief of security in the tribal areas, says he is unimpressive.

"He is not much of a man, inconsistent government policy has made him so important."

But Shah says Mehsud possesses qualities that have allowed him to assemble a heavily armed following.

"He is very clever, he is very cool-minded, he is very calculating. He is not a jumpy character."

Of course, Reuters must humanize the poor fellow.

Abdul Karim Mehsud, a lawyer in Peshawar who comes from the same tribe, said he hadn't seen his clansman for six years, but recalls a simple person, quite religious, but an avowed jihadi driven by desire to liberate Afghanistan, where he had fought.

"He's a diabetic and he doesn't sleep well because of the diabetes," the lawyer said.

Maybe a few Hellfire missiles could help cure his sleeping woes.

Meanwhile, another suspected potential suicide bomber has been nabbed in Pakistan. I hope this doesn't keep Mehsud awake with worry.

Police in Pakistan on Sunday arrested a suspected teenage suicide bomber from a restive northwestern town and were still searching for two alleged accomplices, officials said.

The arrest was made in the village of Abdul Khel in Dera Ismail Khan district, home to pro-Taliban opposition leader Maulana Fazalur Rehman, who is said to be on a militant hit list, the officials said.

"Police have arrested a young boy suspected of being a suicide bomber," senior police official Sarfraz Khan told AFP.

"Police are looking for two other suspects."

It also appears the poor guy who can't sleep may realize his days are numbered and is seeking a truce. If the Pakis are stupid enough to go for this, they're dumber than I though.

Baitullah Mehsud has offered to stop his anti-government activities if the government releases all the Taliban leaders arrested till date, reported a private TV channel on Saturday.

According to the report, Mehsud has signalled the possibility of talks with the government. The sources revealed that the government had received a message from Baitullah Mehsud through his close companions. The offer by Baitullah Mehsud has come at the time when the government is claiming that the security forces are planning another large-scale operation.