DAR AL ISLAM - PAKISTAN: THE LAL MASJIC ASSAULT HAS BEEN COMPLETED

Pakistan mosque assault ends
By Jo Johnson and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad

Pakistan’s military chiefs on Wednesday declared an end to the assault on the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, but warned that they had not yet had time to count all the bodies, suggesting that the final tally of dead may well be significantly higher than the toll of 70 so far acknowledged.

Codenamed “Operation Silence”, the storming of the mosque marks a watershed in Pakistan’s approach to extremism. Tributes to General Pervez Musharraf’s resolve came in from George W. Bush and Afghan president Hamid Karzai, as well as Benazir Bhutto, exiled leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s party.

After a 36-hour operation, army sources said the last militants inside the complex had been either killed or captured. This brought to an end a traumatic power struggle that had pitted hundreds of religious radicals bent on fomenting an Islamic revolution against the might of a US-backed military regime.

Critics of Gen Musharraf, Pakistan’s military ruler, say he manipulated the six-month stand-off with the clerics of the Lal Masjid in order to distract public attention from his domestic political difficulties in an election year and to impress upon Washington his own centrality in the fight against extremism in Pakistan.

Religious affairs minister Ijaz ul-Haq said the government had estimated that there were between 250 and 500 militants inside the sprawling complex when the attack started just before 4am on Tuesday.

The Lal Masjid provocations began in January when female students associated with the mosque occupied a government library in protest against the demolition of illegally constructed religious buildings. In subsequent months, they also kidnapped alleged brothel workers and shut down music shops in a vigilante-style enforcement of sharia law.

The military said that 60 militants and 10 soldiers had died in the operation, with “dozens more injured”. Major General Waheed Arshad, army spokesman, said 87 people had left the compound alive.

Doubt surrounding the military’s estimate of fatalities has grown since Abdul Sattar Edhi, head of a private relief agency, revealed he had been asked by the government to provide at least 400 white funeral shrouds to bury those who died. The army on Wednesday denied making any such request.

Speaking in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday evening, Mr Bush congratulated Gen Musharraf, who has appeared increasingly beleaguered in recent months following a bruising encounter with an independent-minded judiciary.

“Mr Musharraf is a strong ally in the war against these extremists. I like him and I appreciate him,” Mr Bush said. “I’m, of course, constantly working with him to make sure that democracy continues to advance in Pakistan. He’s been a valuable ally in rejecting extremists. And that’s important, to cultivate those allies.”

...



Pertinent Links:

1) Pakistan mosque assault ends