Islamabad, July 24: Branding Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud as “one of the most dangerous and odious people in the region,” US special envoy Richard Holbrooke has said that his elimination was “without a doubt” of strategic importance to Washington.
Holbrooke asked Pakistani security forces to go after Mehsud and his key aide Maulana Fazlullah because they pose a serious threat to this country.
The Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan said that Mehsud, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief, was “one of the most dangerous and odious people in the region” and acknowledged the US had “paid insufficient attention to him until recently.”
Though the US has been slow in recognising Mehsud’s importance, his elimination was “without a doubt” of strategic importance to Washington, Holbrooke told reporters here yesterday before leaving for Afghanistan at the end of a two-day visit to Pakistan.
–PTI