Washington, Aug 8 - Even as Islamabad was 'pretty certain' that Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US missile attack, Washington declined to confirm his death, but said if correct it would undoubtedly make Pakistani people safer.

'We have obviously seen reports - even by members of the Taliban - that Baitullah Mehsud is dead. We can't, with a hundred percent certainty, verify that,' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday when asked about Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's remark that 'It is pretty certain now that he is dead.'

'What I will say is this: If the reports of Baitullah Mehsud's death are correct, there is no doubt that the Pakistani people are safer as a result of it,' Gibbs said when asked what would Mehsud's death mean for the President Barack Obama's strategy of stabilising Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

'This is an individual whose title as a murderous thug was well-deserved. He is somebody who helped plan and execute the deaths of scores of individuals, innocent civilians .