Taliban say chief is dead  A missile killed Baitullah Mehsud, a
commander reports, as Pakistan vows to demolish his network.
The Associated PressAugust 8, 2009   — Pakistan's Taliban chief
was killed by a CIA missile strike, a militant commander
confirmed Friday -- a severe blow to extremists threatening the
stability of this nuclear-armed nation, and a possible boost to
U.S.-Pakistani cooperation in fighting insurgents who wreak
havoc along the Afghan border.  Pakistani officials vowed to
dismantle the rest of the network run by Baitullah Mehsud
regardless of who takes over, a move seen as essential to
crippling the violent Islamists behind dozens of suicide attacks
and beheadings in the country.  Pakistan considered the al-
Qaida-linked Mehsud its No. 1 internal threat. He was suspected
in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and
many other assaults. He claimed responsibility for some,
including an audacious attack on a police academy in March that
killed 12 people.  His death would be