Nearly a week after its leader was killed by a US drone raid, Pakistani Taliban chose a new commander, as they dismissed proposed peace talks with the government as a "waste of time".
Nearly a week after its leader was killed by a US drone raid, Pakistani Taliban chose a new commander, as they dismissed proposed peace talks with the government as a "waste of time".
Maulana Fazlullah, notorious for leading the militants' brutal two-year rule in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley, w
as elected to replace Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike last Friday.
The choice of Fazlullah by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ruling council appears to have sunk government plans for peace talks to try to end the militants' bloody six-year insurgency.
TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the new leader, nicknamed "Mullah Radio" for his fiery speeches over the airwaves, was "against peace talks".
"Holding of peace talks is not even an issue to discuss -- this government has no authority, it is not a sovereign government, it is a slave, a slave of America. Holding peace talks is a waste of time," Shahid told AFP.
