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A rift between the Talib/AQ/tribal elements in Waziristan about the
accord reached with the Pakistani government recently. A short bio of the deceased follows. Taliban behead ‘US spy’ in Pak Miranshah (Pakistan), November 3 Pakistani Taliban fighters beheaded a tribal cleric accused of being a U.S. spy in the Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan, a security official in the restive tribal region said. The body of Maulana Salahuddin, (45) was found on Friday on a road between North and South Waziristan, two semi-autonomous regions regarded as hotbeds of support for Al Qaida and the Taliban fighting NATO, US and Afghan forces across the border. A note pinned to the cleric's body described him as an American spy. The corpse was sprayed with bullets after the beheading. Pakistan's government signed a pact with tribal leaders in North Waziristan on September 5 to end clashes between pro-Taliban militants and Pakistani security forces. Since the deal was reached, US military officials say, attacks against US-led NATO troops and Afghan government forces have tripled. Pro-Taliban tribesmen appear to be violating the pact also by setting up a parallel administration in North Waziristan, just as they did after a similar treaty in South Waziristan. Taliban commanders in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, on Friday addressed a jirga, or tribal council, attended by about 300 tribal elders to issue new rules on punishing collaborators and criminals, as well as for collecting funds to finance their operations. Collaborators' families would be warned first, and the suspect would be executed unless they desisted. Seven men convicted of banditry by the Taliban were paraded in a Wana bazaar after having had their hair torn out in fistfuls as a punishment. — Reuters <http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061104/world.htm#1> Maulana Salahuddin Associate: al-Qaida **RF1** Salahuddin is the leader of the Hezb ul-Mujahadeen guerilla group based in Muzaffarbad, Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, a strong ally of the Taliban and bin Laden’s cause. He is also the supreme commander of the United Jihad Council, an umbrella organization for 14 Kashmiri militant groups. **RF2** REFERENCES: **RF1** United States v. Usama bin Laden et al., S (7) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS), p. 34. **RF2** Zahid Hussain, "Dozen Rebel Groups Wage Unrelenting War Against India," The Times (UK), December 28, 2000. SOURCE: Excerpted from Usama Bin Laden's al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network, by Yonah Alexander and Michael S. Swetnam. NY: Transnational Publishers, 2001. |
