DAR AL ISLAM - PAKISTAN: THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT HAS YET TO TAKE ANY OF THE OVERDUE & NECESSARY STEPS TO CONTROL RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

Pakistani Islamic Schools Are Rife With Extremism, Group Says
By Ed Johnson

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- President Pervez Musharraf has failed to tackle Islamic extremism in Pakistan's religious schools, which continue to promote a holy war against the West and foment terrorism, the International Crisis Group said.

Five years after the government pledged a crackdown on the schools, known as madrassas, many still preach a violent ideology and train and dispatch fighters to Afghanistan and Indian-administered Kashmir, the Brussels-based advocacy group, which aims to resolve conflicts, said in a report yesterday.

``The Pakistani government has yet to take any of the overdue and necessary steps to control religious extremism,'' the group said. ``Musharraf's periodic declarations of tough action, given in response to international events and pressure, are invariably followed by retreat.''

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1) Pakistani Islamic Schools Are Rife With Extremism, Group Says