After Gitmo, Back to Terror

By Tim McGirk.

When Guantanamo prison officials decided last March to release Abdullah Mehsud, 29, a Pakistani hobbled by an artificial leg, they thought he was no security risk. But soon after he returned to the Pakistani borderlands, Mehsud was rallying fellow tribesmen against the U.S. and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. On Oct. 9, Mehsud masterminded the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers, demanding the release of several jailed Islamic militants. Mehsud was several miles away in a mountain hideout last week when Pakistani commandos stormed the mud house where the hostages were held. All five kidnappers and one Chinese hostage died; the other survived. Mehsud escaped. He's at least the third Gitmo detainee known to have rejoined his fellow Taliban fighters and sworn revenge against America. The other two were later killed by U.S. troops. Pakistani forces vow to hunt down Mehsud too. --By Tim McGirk. With reporting by Rahimullah Yusufzai

With reporting by Rahimullah Yusufzai