At the time, at least some US analysts expressed scepticism. Surely, Mehsud would not have risked meeting face-to-face with an unproved American recruit, analysts told The Washington Post. Surely, Shahzad was just boasting. Turns out, he wasn’t.
Flashpoint Global Partners, a global security and terrorism consultancy, has released a previously unpublished video excerpt of a meeting between Shahzad and Mehsud. In the video, the two are shown shaking hands and hugging.
Last month, Shahzad pleaded guilty to 10 terrorism and weapons counts. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 5. He faces life in prison.
Meanwhile, a newly-released video of what appeared to be fugitive radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah shows him firing gunshots and addressing a group of suicide bombers.
The 40-minute video, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, shows Fazlullah, who has a government bounty on his head, talking with a group of people whom he called suicide bombers and firing shots with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
“The government and the military are against us and you should target them,” Fazlullah, who looked quite healthy in the video, told his followers.
He ridiculed the government’s claim that it had restored peace in Swat, saying, “the army committed worst terrorism by killing innocent people in Swat”.
“We do not concede defeat... it was our tactical retreat and part of our strategy,” he said, adding: “We are still active.”
Meanwhile, a special court of the Malakand Division Anti-Terrorism Court has declared Maulana Fazlullah and 49 other militants most wanted outlaws.
Other 49 militants of the banned TTP include Shah Dawaran and Muslim Khan. The court directed them to appear before it within seven days, failing which would result in severe action against them.
(agencies With additional reporting by Fazal Khaliq in Swat)
Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2010.
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