Faqir Mohammed, the commander from Bajaur region, who said a couple of days he had taken over the mantle as ‘interim arrangement’, called news media Saturday from an undisclosed location to announce Hakimullah Mehsud’s appointment by a 42-member council of Tehrik-e-Taliban leaders.

But Pakistan intelligence officials claim that Hakimullah is dead in the army operations in Swat belt. The government has not produced any evidence in support of the claim though. There is a view that Pak Taliban is trying to project a unified face just to gain time to sort out its internal mess.

Hakimullah isn’t related to Baitullah but he has a reputation for being just as ruthless but lacks his predecessor’s ability to keep rival factions unified. Far from being cohesive, the Taliban in Pakistan is a loose coalition of tribal militant groups that Baitullah Mehsud had pulled together under one banner in 2007.

While making the Hakimullah’s appointment, Faqir Mohammed said the Taliban was willing to open a dialogue with the Pakistani government.

‘I am stepping down as leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban in the larger interest of the movement’, Faqir told reporters on phone.

‘There were a few problems on certain issues last week, but they have been resolved now’, he acknowledged. ‘I am the most senior leader of the TTP after Baitullah and the sacrifices I rendered for it are no less. However, due to some unavoidable reasons, I am stepping down. There is no factionalism in the TTP now’.