'Zalzala' unable to get Tailban chief ideologist

Islamabad, May 26 : Qari Hussain, the Taliban chief ideologist and suicide bombing trainer, who survived 'Operation Zalzala' earlier this year in South Waziristan, said on Sunday that he was "born to live and to serve the Taliban".

In a media briefing at Speenkay Raghzai on May 18, the army had said that they had intercepted militants' wireless communication and Hussain had been killed in the several weeks long operation launched on January 24.

"I am alive, don't you see me?" the influential Taliban trainer said in a news conference that was addressed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud.

The Kotkai mud-house of Hussain was destroyed in the operation. Tanks were used for the first time in South Waziristan, said military commander Brigadier Ali Abbas.

Asked if he still trained suicide bombers, Hussain did not respond directly. Instead he looked at the Taliban standing by.

Hussain also evaded a question on whether he was affiliated to the banned militant sectarian organisation. His answer was, "I am with every Muslim."

ANI