Taliban kill Pakistani tribesman accused of spying

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, June 9 (Reuters) Pro-Taliban militants shot dead a tribesman who confessed on video to being a US informer, a witness and officials in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region said today.

Militants in Waziristan have killed dozens of people suspected of collaborating with the Pakistani government or spying for US forces fighting a Taliban insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.

''I have seen the CD and the man, identified as Rahim Khan, admitting that he was spying for the Americans,'' said Gul Mahroof Shah, a resident of Alikhel village, where Gul's bullet-riddled body was found yesterday night.

Officials in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, confirmed the killing but had no details of a video confession.

Killers often leave handwritten notes attached to bodies of victims to warn others against collaborating, but CDs have been circulated showing executions too.

The Waziristan region is a hotbed of support for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who fled into Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal lands after US-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in late 2001.

REUTERS SV KN1348