DAR AL ISLAM - PAKISTAN: MUSHARAFFS GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN THE RADIO STATIONS THAT CALLS FOR JIHAD, AFTER THE STORY HITS THEW NEWS

Pakistan shuts Islamist radio station
By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have shut down an illegal FM radio station set up by pro-Taliban clerics in Islamabad during growing concern about the spread of Islamist influence.

President Pervez Musharraf, an important ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, has long warned against the spread of what he calls extremism although critics say his government has done little to tackle religious hardliners.

Concern about the spread of militancy, or Talibanisation, intensified this week as militants battled police in a previously peaceful northwestern town and hardline students of an Islamabad madrasa launched a Taliban-style drive against vice.

Burqa-clad female students of the madrasa abducted three women on Tuesday after accusing them of running a brothel. The women were later released but one said they had been tortured into confessing.

Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and its religious school, or madrasa, are well known for their pro-Taliban and anti-U.S. and anti-government stand.

Earlier in the week, the students roamed through several Islamabad markets, urging music shop owners to stop selling discs. The Taliban banned music in Afghanistan before they were driven from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

The Taliban sprang from Pakistani madrasas, near the Afghan border, in 1990s and their influence quickly spread. The militant movement took control of much of Afghanistan in 1996 and they imposed severe restrictions on women, banned all music, television, movies and virtually eradicated the drugs trade.

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The original post concerning the radio station can be found here: (link)


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