U.S. offers $5 million reward for Pakistani Taliban leaders

[Turborama]

Source: CNN

By the CNN Wire Staff -

September 2, 2010 -

Hakimullah Mehsud, a key leader of the Pakistani Taliban, has been charged for his alleged involvement in the killings of seven U.S. citizens at an American military base in Afghanistan in 2009, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday.

A $5 million reward is being offered for information leading to the capture of Mehsud and another top Pakistani Taliban leader, Wali Ur Rehman, U.S. officials announced.

A complaint listed two criminal charges against Mehsud.

"We support any lawful means to hold this terrorist accountable for what he's done," CIA spokesman George Little said Wednesday. "The announcement today is part of that."

A U.S. official said the criminal charges are meant to deal with Hakimullah if he's captured, and added, "He can face justice in other ways, too. That hasn't changed." The "in other ways" comment was a backhanded reference to CIA Predator missile strikes in Pakistan, which have killed a number of suspected al Qaeda terrorists and other extremists.

Read more: http://cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/01/pakistani.taliban.charged/?hpt=T2#fbid=5tFS21of5oJ&wom=false

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U.S. designates Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, two of its leaders as global terrorist threats

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The U.S. State Department on Wednesday designated Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and two of its leaders as a Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

The Secretary of State designated Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of TTP since August 2009, and Wali Ur Rehman, the TTP Emir in South Waziristan, who has participated in cross-border attacks in Afghanistan against U.S. and NATO personnel, as well as attacks against Pakistani security forces, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

TTP, a Pakistan-based terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist acts against Pakistani and U.S. interests, draws ideological guidance from al-Qa’ida, while al-Qa’ida relies on TTP for safe haven in the Pashtun areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

This mutual cooperation gives the Pakistani group access to both al-Qa’ida’s global terrorist network and the operational experience of its members.

Read more: http://wireupdate.com/wires/9320/u-s-designates-tehrik-e-taliban-pakistan-two-of-its-leaders-as-global-terrorist-threats/

Designations of Tehrik-E-Taliban Pakistan and Two Senior Leaders

Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
September 1, 2010

The Secretary of State has designated Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The Secretary also designated TTP as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under E.O. 13224. Furthermore, the Secretary designated two senior TTP leaders, Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali Ur Rehman, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under E.O. 13224. Secretary Clinton took these actions in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury. These actions will help stem the flow of finances to TTP and provide the Department of Justice with a critical tool to prosecute those who knowingly provide material support to TTP and its senior leaders.

The Rewards for Justice Program has announced a five million dollar reward for any information leading to the arrest of Mehsud or Rehman. Additionally, the Department of Justice has filed an arrest warrant for Hakimullah Mehsud and charged him with conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens abroad and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.

TTP is a Pakistan-based terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist acts against Pakistani and U.S. interests. Hakimullah Mehsud has been the leader of TTP since August 2009 and Wali Ur Rehman is the TTP Emir in South Waziristan. Rehman has participated in cross-border attacks in Afghanistan against U.S. and NATO personnel, as well as attacks against Pakistani security forces.

TTP has carried out numerous attacks against U.S. interests under Mehsud and Rehman’s leadership. Such instances include a December 2009 suicide attack on a U.S. military base in Khowst, Afghanistan, which killed seven U.S. citizens, and an April 2010 suicide bombing against the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, which killed six Pakistani citizens.

TTP and al-Qa’ida have a symbiotic relationship; TTP draws ideological guidance from al-Qa’ida, while al-Qa’ida relies on TTP for safe haven in the Pashtun areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border. This mutual cooperation gives TTP access to both al-Qa’ida’s global terrorist network and the operational experience of its members. Given the proximity of the two groups and the nature of their relationship, TTP is a force multiplier for al-Qa’ida.

TTP is suspected of being behind the 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Most recently, TTP claimed involvement in the failed attempt by Faisal Shahzad to detonate an explosive device in New York City’s Times Square on May 1, 2010. TTP’s claim has been validated by investigations which revealed that TTP directed and facilitated the plot.

The various actions taken today against TTP support the U.S. effort to degrade the capabilities of this group. We are determined to eliminate TTP’s ability to carry out terrorist attacks and to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat their networks. “Faisal Shahzad’s attempted attack on U.S. soil highlights the direct threat posed by the Pakistani Taliban,” said the Department of State’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Daniel Benjamin. “Today’s actions put the TTP and its sympathizers on notice that the United States will not tolerate support to this organization, which has inflicted great harm to U.S. and Pakistani interests. TTP’s destabilizing effect in Pakistan’s tribal areas has resulted in innumerable civilian deaths and considerable property losses. It has greatly, indeed unacceptably, complicated the efforts to counter the threat posed by al-Qa’ida.”

From: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/09/146545.htm

[Turborama]

1. Al Jazeera English: US charges Pakistani Taliban leader

The United States has offered a reward of up to $5 million for information about Mehsud (EPA)

US prosecutors charge Hakimullah Mehsud with the killing of seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan last December. US military forces have attempted to assassinate Mehsud numerous times using unmanned aerial drones, and the US state department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information about his whereabouts.

=snip=

The United States also formally added the Pakistani Taliban to its list of so-called foreign terrorist organisations on Wednesday, imposing financial and travel sanctions on the group, which claimed responsibility for a failed bombing in New York's Times Square in May.

=snip=

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said in a statement that the TTP met the criteria to be included on the list, which bars any material support to and freezes the financial assets of groups deemed involved in terrorism.

The TTP was formed in December 2007 as an alliance of Pakistani armed groups to attack the Pakistani state. It believes the government is illegitimate because it is helping the US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan. The TTP hit the US headlines following the Times Square bomb attempt, which saw a naturalised US citizen of Pakistani origin arrested after a sport utility vehicle rigged with a crude explosive device that included firecrackers and propane gas tanks was found in New York's main tourist hub.


Full article: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/09/201091175454957546.html

[OhioChick]

2. K&R n/t

[bemildred]

3. A last desperate ploy. nt

[Turborama]

4. Another vague response with no substance. n/t

[bemildred]

5. I was observing that they have nothing better to use.

We've had quite a few of these bounties publicized over the last decade, they are always to some degree an admission that the offerers have no better weapons to use. It's an appeal to the public to help them out with information they can't get themselves, an attempt to buy what they don't have.