Should be interesting to watch, and I hope ol’ Qari sticks it to Hairball. –Matt
Edit on 6/22/09: Hairball won, and Qari was just killed.
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Baitullah ‘Hairball’ Mehsud.
The challenger, Qari Zainuddin.
Pakistan Taliban leader faces threat from fellow tribesman
Saeed Shah | McClatchy Newspapers
June 14, 2009
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — A new Islamic militia leader has emerged in Pakistan to openly challenge al Qaida-affiliated warlord Baitullah Mehsud for the first time from within his own tribe, marking the start of a bloody confrontation in the wild Waziristan region that could have profound consequences for both Pakistan and the West.
In his first interview with a Western news organization, Qari Zainuddin told McClatchy this week that he’d wipe out Mehsud and rescue Pakistan from a reign of terror that has pushed the nuclear-armed U.S. ally toward collapse.
Zainuddin charged that Mehsud, who is the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, had betrayed both his Muslim religion and the Mehsud tribe of his native South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.