Blasts Heard at Mosque as Pakistan Moves to End Siege (Update3)
By Khalid Qayum and Khaleeq Ahmed
July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Explosions and gunfire were heard at the Red Mosque in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, early today, as security forces prepared to end a standoff after arresting the chief cleric.
The firing occurred at about 3:30 a.m. in Islamabad and lasted for about half an hour before police made loudspeaker announcements calling on students in the building to surrender, Sajid Khan, who lives in the neighborhood, said by telephone.
Maulana Mohammad Abdul Aziz was detained yesterday as more than 700 students surrendered following gun battles two days ago that left at least 16 people dead, the government said. About 2,000 students remain on the site, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the deputy cleric, told GEO television today.
President Pervez Musharraf's government has been trying to resolve the standoff at the Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid, since Aziz set up a religious court in the building in April to try to enforce Islamic law in the city. Pakistan couldn't tolerate a state within a state, Mohammad Ali Durrani, the minister for information and broadcasting, said yesterday, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan.
"The students made petrol bombs for their own defense and they have 13 or 14 Kalashnikovs,'' Aziz, who is in police custody, said in an interview with state-owned Pakistan Television today.
"I never asked any student to open fire. I have no personal agenda. I am working for Allah.''
Seminary Walls
Part of the outer walls of Jamia Hafsa, the seminary adjacent to the mosque where students are hiding, was brought down by security forces early today allowing armored vehicles to move closer to the building, GEO TV reported. About 1,200 students have surrendered so far, GEO said today.
Security forces fired mortars at the building early today, Ghazi said in an interview with GEO.
Ghazi said he spoke with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam party, late yesterday, and gave him "points'' on how to resolve the standoff. He didn't give any details of his proposals. The siege could end in the next few hours if the government agrees to the points, he said.
"We are not criminals that we should surrender,'' Ghazi told the network. "The government should talk to us.''
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[and]
Human shield fears at Pakistan mosque
By Kamran Haider
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Small groups of radical students trickled out from Islamabad's besieged Red Mosque on Thursday, despite warning blasts overnight, raising fears that hardcore militants were keeping some children as human shields.
The captured leader of the mosque's Taliban-style student movement, in an interview broadcast on state television, said 850 students remained inside, including 600 women and girls, but only 14 men were armed with Kalashnikovs.
Abdul Aziz, clad in a woman's all-enveloping garment like the one he was caught wearing the previous evening, began the interview by dramatically lifting the black veil to reveal a face dominated by a bushy grey beard.
Smiling through much of the interview Aziz said he had wanted to leave the mosque, and had urged others to do the same, but some women teachers had persuaded girls to stay behind.
"They are not being used as human shields, we only gave them passion for jihad (holy war)," Aziz said.
But he said it was time for all the students to leave.
"For students to stay put at the mosque will only be damaging ... they should either leave, if they can, or surrender."
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Pertinent Links:
1) Blasts Heard at Mosque as Pakistan Moves to End Siege (Update3)
2) Human shield fears at Pakistan mosque
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