The government summoned the American ambassador, Richard G. Olson, and according to Mr. Khan, warned him: “Ambassador, take this government seriously. If drone attacks don’t cease there will be a standoff.”

The political temperature was set in large part by Imran Khan, the former cricket star whose party runs Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, and who has threatened to cut NATO supply lines running through the province into Afghanistan as early as Monday.

He painted the drone strike as a defining moment for Pakistan’s political parties. “The nation is asking who does not want peace in the country,” he said at a news conference in Lahore.The ostensible basis of the criticism, in addition to the usual argument over sovereignty, was that the Taliban had been on the verge of peace talks when the American drones struck. Analysts, however, said such talks were far from certain.

In Waziristan, the perspective was complex. Some tribesmen condemned the strike, others quietly applauded it and many lamented that in death, Mr. Mehsud — a flamboyant figure with a reputation for both joking and ruthless violence — would be transformed into a hero. “One thing is clear: Anyone who is killed in a drone strike becomes a true Muslim holy warrior, no matter how sinful he is,” said a tribal elder, speaking by phone on condition of anonymity.

Few Pakistanis dared voice public support for the killing. The main exception were retired military officials, some of whom spoke of their delight at the demise of a hated figure, which highlighted an apparent divide between military and civilian thinking over the virtues of peace negotiations.

The military has bitter experience of talks with the Taliban, having entered into several controversial agreements from 2005 to 2007 that eventually crumbled and which ultimately only gave the militants time to consolidate their strength.

If it seemed odd that Pakistanis were equivocating over the death of a figure who orchestrated attacks that killed thousands of Pakistanis, the explanation was rooted in a complex mix of politics and psychology. Anti-Americanism is rife in Pakistan, and the drones are widely despised across the country — with the exception, paradoxically, of some corners of the tribal belt, where some tribesmen quietly say they support any measure to oust militants from their area.