Man who directed Malala attack now leads Taliban

Maulana Fazlullah.

A ruthless terrorist leader best known for ordering the assassination of the teenage activist Malala Yousafzai has been chosen as the new head of the Pakistan Taliban, says the movement's spokesman.

Maulana Fazlullah replaces Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a CIA drone strike last Friday.

Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio for his chilling propaganda broadcasts, led a two-year occupation of the Swat Valley which was ended in 2009 by an army offensive. He is believed to have been selected for offering the most anti-Pakistan credentials of all the rumoured candidates for the post.

"Fazlullah is the new leader," said spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, by phone from an undisclosed location. "It was decided by the central shura and the decision is finalised."

Shahid said the Pakistan Taliban would not now participate in peace talks with the Government.

The announcement was greeted by gunfire in Taliban-controlled areas of North Waziristan, one of the lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Fazlullah, a school dropout, is thought to be 39 and is the head of the Swat Taliban. He ordered the closure of girls' schools during his occupation of the valley, when his forces came within striking distance of the capital Islamabad. They were eventually pushed back by the Pakistan army and he is now based across the border in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. He was given his nickname by setting up a radio station to broadcast propaganda.

In her recently published memoir, Malala described listening to his increasingly angry rhetoric. "At Eid, we usually sacrifice animals like goats or sheep. But Fazlullah said, 'On this Eid two-legged animals will be sacrificed'. We soon saw what he meant," she wrote, detailing a wave of murders that followed.

He sent two assassins from his base in Kunar province, Afghanistan, to kill the 15-year-old schoolgirl last year, but in doing so attracted a wave of criticism and turned Malala into a globally recognised peace campaigner.

Last year, his men kidnapped and beheaded 17 Pakistani soldiers in one of several cross border raids. Last month he claimed credit for the assassination of a senior Pakistani army general in a roadside bombing.

Saifullah Mahsud, of the Fata Research Centre, said: "We were hoping a less controversial leader would replace Hakimullah, someone who would have made it easier for peace talks to happen, but that opportunity is lost."