Pakistani Taliban deny report of Mehsud's death

Islamabad: Questions swirled on Wednesday over the fate of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, with a Pakistani television channel reporting he had died of illness but Taliban spokesmen dismissed the report.

Mehsud is the militant commander Pakistani authorities accuse of being behind a wave of suicide attacks across the country, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December.

Mehsud, an ethnic Pashtun tribesman in his mid-thirties, has denied involvement in the attack on Bhutto as she left an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on December 27.

The Geo television channel reported late on Tuesday that Mehsud, based in the lawless Waziristan region on the Afghan border, had died of kidney failure after a long illness.

But Taliban spokesmen denied the report of his death, or even that he was seriously ill.

"I just spoke to a close aide of Baitullah Mehsud and he did not mention any such thing," said militant spokesman Muslim Khan, based in northwest Pakistan's Swat Valley.

"It could be government propaganda," Khan said of the Mehsud death report.

In the United States, a Pentagon official said he could not confirm the reports Mehsud was dead.

The media-shy Mehsud is known to be a diabetic but another Taliban spokesman rejected recent media reports Mehsud had been seriously ill.

"Our leadership is fine and healthy. There's no serious illness," said the second spokesman, Maulvi Omar.

A round-faced man with a trim black beard, Mehsud rose to prominence over the last couple of years after more senior commanders were killed.

Analysts say in the event of his death he would quickly be replaced by a new leader rising through the ranks.

Mehsud heads the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, a loose umbrella group of factions based in northwest Pakistan formed in late 2007.

A close aide to Mehsud, Ibrahim Burqi, said Mehsud had been sick some time ago but was fine.

"Rumours about his death are being spread to weaken the Tehrik-e-Taliban," Burqi told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"He is a diabetic and had typhoid a few months ago, but he is all right now," Burqi said.

He also denied reports Mehsud had any kidney ailment. Burqi said Mehsud was due to marry his second wife this weekend. Badaruddin Haqqani, a son of veteran Taliban commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, said by telephone he had spoken to Mehsud's driver on Wednesday who had also denied the report he was dead.