DAR AL ISLAM - PAKISTAN: WE WANT SHARI'AH FOR ALL, REGARDLESS WHAT THEY MAY WANT

Muslim cleric threatens to resist government action with jihad
dpa German Press Agency

Islamabad- A mosque leader in the Pakistani capital Fridaythreatened jihad and suicide attacks if the government of President Pervez Musharraf used force against the militant students of themadrassas, or Islamic schools, located in his Lal Masjid compound.

"We don't want a clash. But if a crackdown is the last option for the government, our last option will be to lay down our lives in resisting it to establish Sharia rule in the country," declared Maulana Abdul Aziz in his Friday sermon.

Aziz gave the government one month to eliminate purveyors of what they considers immorality, like music and video shops keepers and prostitutes, or else seminary students would take the task upon themselves and take the alleged evil doers to an Islamic court established by the clerics.

Riot police stood close to the mosque but did not obstruct thecongregation.

Male and females students of the two seminaries have been on the warpath since they occupied a public library adjacent to the Lal Masjid on January 21 to force the government to take back its decision to demolish mosques built illegally on state land in Islamabad.

Emboldened by their success, the Islamic militants in subsequent weeks seized three women alleging that they were running a brothel and took two policemen hostage to secure the release of the vigilantes arrested for the acts.

President Musharraf and government officials have fumed and fretted but not acted against the militants entrenched in Lal Masjid, arguing that use of force against madrassa girls would not be taken well by the Muslim nation.

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