Hunting Wild Dogs

... at this very moment, scores of electronic eyes are scouring Pakistan for this thug ... any bets on how long he'll last?

Hakeemullah Mehsud has been appointed as the new leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Hakeemullah was unanimously chosen to lead the Pakistani Taliban after the group's shura, or executive council, met over the past several days. The shura reportedly met in the Arakzai tribal agency, which is under control of the Taliban.

Hakeemullah is an able Taliban leader who has led attacks on NATO convoys in Khyber and Peshawar. He leads Taliban forces in Arakzai, Khyber, Kurram, and in areas of Peshawar [see backgrounder on Hakeemullah below].

The appointment of Hakeemullah to replace feared South Waziristan leader Baitullah Mehsud was announced by Faqir Mohammed. Faqir, the leader of the Taliban in Bajaur and Baitullah's deputy, was appointed the interim leader of the Pakistani Taliban on Aug. 19.

Faqir claimed that Baitullah, who is believed to have been killed in a Predator airstrike on Aug. 5, is still alive but is too ill to lead the Pakistani Taliban. Faqir also announced that Azam Tariq is the new chief spokesman for the Taliban. Tariq replaces Muslim Khan, who was named spokesman just days ago after Maulvi Omar, the longtime spokesman of the group, was captured by Pakistani security forces.

"The new appointments of Taliban chief and spokesman were made unanimously by a Taliban Shura which met in Arakzai Agency recently", Faqir said, according to the Times of India.

... the details.