US slammed for death of Taliban chief; Bolton native killed in 2009 bombing.

• Author: Santana, Rebecca
• Position: News

Byline: Rebecca Santana and Ishtiaq Mahsud

ISLAMABAD -- The Pakistani government Saturday accused the U.S. of sabotaging peace talks with domestic Taliban fighters by killing their leader in a drone strike, as the militants began the process of choosing a successor.

The rise in tension, even though the U.S. took out Pakistan's No. 1 enemy, shows just how complicated the relationship between the professed allies can be. The two repeatedly have clashed over issues such as drone strikes and Pakistan's alleged support for militants fighting U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban leader slain Friday, Hakimullah Mehsud, was a ruthless figure known for his role in a 2009 suicide bombing on a CIA base in Afghanistan that killed seven Americans, including Bolton native Harold Brown Jr., 27, and a bloody campaign that killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and security personnel.

The Pakistani army has launched numerous operations in the country's northwest in a failed attempt to subdue the group, which aims to topple Pakistan's democratic system and impose a harsh version of Islamic law. It also seeks an end to the country's unpopular alliance with the U.S.

Pakistan's government, which took office in June, has pushed peace talks with the Taliban as the best way to end the conflict, although many people are skeptical a deal is possible.

The drone strike that killed Mehsud in the North Waziristan tribal area came a day before the government was to send a three-member delegation of clerics to the region with a formal invitation to start peace talks, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said. It never ended up going.

Khan called the drone attack "murder'' to the peace effort, but hoped the process could continue. He said he warned the U.S. ambassador previously that American drone strikes should not be carried out while Pakistan was trying to hold peace talks and no Taliban leader should be targeted. The government later summoned the U.S. ambassador to complain.

When asked whether he thought the U.S. was trying to deliberately scuttle the peace process, the minister responded: ''Absolutely.''

''The efforts have been ambushed,'' the minister said.

Another prominent political leader, Imran Khan, whose party controls the government...