Here are some key facts about the mosque, where hardline Islamist students have been involved in a standoff with the government since January:
# Lal Masjid is regarded as a symbol of radical Islam in Pakistan. It was established in 1965 by Maulana Muhammad Abdullah, a cleric believed to have had close ties to dictator General Zia-ul-Haq.
# About 5,000 students study at the two madrasas (seminaries) attached to the mosque.
# The mosque is well known for its criticism of the government and anti-U.S. and pro-Taliban sentiments. Maulana Abdul Aziz took over as the chief cleric after the assassination of his father, Maulana Abdullah, in 1998.
# He issued a fatwa, or religious decree, in 2005 declaring that Pakistani soldiers killed fighting militants in the northern tribal areas could not be given Muslim funeral rites.
# After the July 2005 bombings in London, police attempted to raid the mosque and the adjoining seminary to investigate its link with one of the bombers. Security forces were prevented from entering the compound by baton-wielding women.
# The mosque has been at odds with the authorities since January when female students occupied a library next door to protest against the destruction of mosques illegally built on state land. The students have also pressured owners of music and video shops to close.
Bureau Report
About Lalmasjid and its issue
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Top cleric of Lal Masjid arrested
Islamabad, July 04: Pakistan military personnel surrounding the Lal Masjid here arrested Maulana Abdul Aziz, one of the two radical clerics of the mosque, when he tried to escape wearing a burqa today, Dawnnews TV said.
Aziz, along with his younger brother Abdul Rashid Ghazi, was leading the militant students of the madrasas run by the Lal Masjid in their standoff with the government.
Chief Police Commissioner of Islamabad, Tariq Pervez, confirmed Aziz's arrest, saying that he was captured when he came out along with several burqa-clad women.
His identity was established during the screening, he told reporters here.
Aziz tried to sneak out in burqa when the troops guarding the area permitted 50 odd parents of students holed up in the mosque to go in to persuade their wards to surrender.
His arrest could perhaps help the government to end the stand-off as he could be effectively used to negotiate the surrender of the rest of the several hundred heavily armed militants headed by his brother Ghazi and holed up in the mosque.
Bureau Report
Islamabad, July 04: Pakistan military personnel surrounding the Lal Masjid here arrested Maulana Abdul Aziz, one of the two radical clerics of the mosque, when he tried to escape wearing a burqa today, Dawnnews TV said.
Aziz, along with his younger brother Abdul Rashid Ghazi, was leading the militant students of the madrasas run by the Lal Masjid in their standoff with the government.
Chief Police Commissioner of Islamabad, Tariq Pervez, confirmed Aziz's arrest, saying that he was captured when he came out along with several burqa-clad women.
His identity was established during the screening, he told reporters here.
Aziz tried to sneak out in burqa when the troops guarding the area permitted 50 odd parents of students holed up in the mosque to go in to persuade their wards to surrender.
His arrest could perhaps help the government to end the stand-off as he could be effectively used to negotiate the surrender of the rest of the several hundred heavily armed militants headed by his brother Ghazi and holed up in the mosque.
Bureau Report
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Lal Masjid a state within a state: Nilofar
Islamabad, July 04: Pakistans former Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar has said that extremism was on the rise in the country with the radical Lal Masjid here becoming a "state within a state."
Urging the Pakistan Supreme Court to take suo motu action against the Lal Masjid administration for issuing a "false fatwa" against her, Bakhtiar said the radical mosque in central Islamabad had become a "state within a state."
Expressing alarm at the rapid rise of extremism in Pakistan, the former minister said that if no action was taken by the apex court, she would initiate civil and criminal proceedings against the mosque for damaging her reputation and her political career.
She pointed out that she had already served a legal notice on the so-called "Sharia court" established by the Lal Masjid administration, but the radical clerics had not apologized to her.
In regard to the government's reluctance to order crackdown on the radical Madrassa students and clerics over the last few months, Bakhtiar said this query should be put to president Pervez Musharraf.
Senator Bakhtiar regretted that neither the government nor her Pakistan Muslim League (PNL-Q) party supported her, leaving her with no option but to resign from the cabinet, the Dawn daily said in a report from New York.
While in office, the senator said, she had courageously advocated the cause of women's rights, something which no one in the present government appreciated.
She told media persons that Pakistan's system could not be changed with big landlords running the show.
Bakhtiar had served a legal notice on the Lal Masjid "Sharia court" last month for issuing a fatwa, alleging that the decree had damaged her reputation, family honour and political career.
Bureau Report
Islamabad, July 04: Pakistans former Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar has said that extremism was on the rise in the country with the radical Lal Masjid here becoming a "state within a state."
Urging the Pakistan Supreme Court to take suo motu action against the Lal Masjid administration for issuing a "false fatwa" against her, Bakhtiar said the radical mosque in central Islamabad had become a "state within a state."
Expressing alarm at the rapid rise of extremism in Pakistan, the former minister said that if no action was taken by the apex court, she would initiate civil and criminal proceedings against the mosque for damaging her reputation and her political career.
She pointed out that she had already served a legal notice on the so-called "Sharia court" established by the Lal Masjid administration, but the radical clerics had not apologized to her.
In regard to the government's reluctance to order crackdown on the radical Madrassa students and clerics over the last few months, Bakhtiar said this query should be put to president Pervez Musharraf.
Senator Bakhtiar regretted that neither the government nor her Pakistan Muslim League (PNL-Q) party supported her, leaving her with no option but to resign from the cabinet, the Dawn daily said in a report from New York.
While in office, the senator said, she had courageously advocated the cause of women's rights, something which no one in the present government appreciated.
She told media persons that Pakistan's system could not be changed with big landlords running the show.
Bakhtiar had served a legal notice on the Lal Masjid "Sharia court" last month for issuing a fatwa, alleging that the decree had damaged her reputation, family honour and political career.
Bureau Report
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China backs military crackdown on Pakistan mosque
Beijing, July 05: China, which had demanded "severe punishment" to criminals who had recently abducted seven Chinese citizens in Islamabad for alleged "un-Islamic acts," today firmly backed Pakistan's violent crackdown on militant madrassa students of Lal Masjid.
"China and Pakistan are friendly countries. China supports the measures taken by Pakistan government to safeguard social stability and economic development," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters when asked to comment on the clashes between students of Lal Masjid and Pakistani security personnel that has claimed at least 16 lives so far.
China had expressed serious concern to Pakistan over frequent terrorist attacks on Chinese nationals in the country and demanded "active measures" to prevent such incidents and "severe punishment" to the criminals when Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao visited Beijing last week.
"We hope Pakistan will look into the terrorist attacks aiming at Chinese people and organisations as soon as possible and severely punish the criminals," the Chinese Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang Zhou had told Sherpao on June 26 here.
Sherpao had visited Beijing soon after seven Chinese, a couple and five of their women employees, were abducted and subsequently released in Islamabad.
Bureau Report
Beijing, July 05: China, which had demanded "severe punishment" to criminals who had recently abducted seven Chinese citizens in Islamabad for alleged "un-Islamic acts," today firmly backed Pakistan's violent crackdown on militant madrassa students of Lal Masjid.
"China and Pakistan are friendly countries. China supports the measures taken by Pakistan government to safeguard social stability and economic development," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters when asked to comment on the clashes between students of Lal Masjid and Pakistani security personnel that has claimed at least 16 lives so far.
China had expressed serious concern to Pakistan over frequent terrorist attacks on Chinese nationals in the country and demanded "active measures" to prevent such incidents and "severe punishment" to the criminals when Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao visited Beijing last week.
"We hope Pakistan will look into the terrorist attacks aiming at Chinese people and organisations as soon as possible and severely punish the criminals," the Chinese Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang Zhou had told Sherpao on June 26 here.
Sherpao had visited Beijing soon after seven Chinese, a couple and five of their women employees, were abducted and subsequently released in Islamabad.
Bureau Report
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Pak Islamic scholars flay radical Lal Masjid clerics
Islamabad, July 05: Islamic scholars in Pakistan have flayed the radical clerics of the Lal Masjid for using innocent students for their ulterior "objectives" and defaming Islam by trying to impose their own brand of religion.
The religious scholars rejected a claim made by Maulana Abdul Aziz, who was caught trying to sneak out wearing a burqa when hundreds of students holed up inside the radical Lal Masjid complex surrendered to the police yesterday, that he had an indication from god to launch jihad and impose Sharia in the country.
Such claims had no religious standings and they could not be used to legitimise "illegal and un-Islamic" actions, Maulana Javed Ahmad Ghamidi was quoted telling private channel Geo News.
"Only the Quran, Sunnah and Hadith are the sources to understand and interpret Islam," he said, adding that the Lal Masjid mullahs were misguiding people and using innocent students for their "objectives".
Maulana Rafi Usmai said the Lal Masjid clerics were not serving Islam and instead they were defaming it. He said Aziz’s claim had no importance, the Daily Times reported.
Majority of local clerics in Karachi were against the attitude and activities of the Jamia Hafsa and the Lal Masjid administration as they believed that their "unwise activities" were resulting in the defamation of Islam and madrassas in Pakistan.
"People like Ghazi have rendered irreparable loss to madaris as their activities would not only put seminaries under more internal and external pressures but would also create dissent among common people," Mufti Abuzar of Karachi was quoted as saying by the news daily.
Bureau Report
Islamabad, July 05: Islamic scholars in Pakistan have flayed the radical clerics of the Lal Masjid for using innocent students for their ulterior "objectives" and defaming Islam by trying to impose their own brand of religion.
The religious scholars rejected a claim made by Maulana Abdul Aziz, who was caught trying to sneak out wearing a burqa when hundreds of students holed up inside the radical Lal Masjid complex surrendered to the police yesterday, that he had an indication from god to launch jihad and impose Sharia in the country.
Such claims had no religious standings and they could not be used to legitimise "illegal and un-Islamic" actions, Maulana Javed Ahmad Ghamidi was quoted telling private channel Geo News.
"Only the Quran, Sunnah and Hadith are the sources to understand and interpret Islam," he said, adding that the Lal Masjid mullahs were misguiding people and using innocent students for their "objectives".
Maulana Rafi Usmai said the Lal Masjid clerics were not serving Islam and instead they were defaming it. He said Aziz’s claim had no importance, the Daily Times reported.
Majority of local clerics in Karachi were against the attitude and activities of the Jamia Hafsa and the Lal Masjid administration as they believed that their "unwise activities" were resulting in the defamation of Islam and madrassas in Pakistan.
"People like Ghazi have rendered irreparable loss to madaris as their activities would not only put seminaries under more internal and external pressures but would also create dissent among common people," Mufti Abuzar of Karachi was quoted as saying by the news daily.
Bureau Report
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Eight ultras held while escaping from Lal Masjid
Islamabad, July 05: Eight hardcore militants were arrested today while trying to escape from the besieged Lal Masjid as Pakistan army stepped up offensive to flush them out from the seminary by resorting to selective bombardment using helicopter gunships damaging its gates and walls.
As the authorities made frequent appeals to those holed up in the mosque-cum-seminary to surrender and extended deadlines, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said about 50 to 60 heavily armed militants were keeping women and children as human shields.
"They have AK-47s, grenades and petrol bombs. They are keeping women and children who want to come out of the mosque," he said.
While the Army resorted to selective bombardment of the Masjid and its madrassas damaging their walls and gates by firing mortar shells, US-made three Cobra helicopter gunships made repeated sorties for surveillance and firing teargas into the complex to flush the militants out.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, brother of head cleric Abdul Aziz arrested last night while trying to flee donning a burqa, was said to be in command of the seminary.
Interior Ministery spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said Ghazi and other militants had no option but to unconditionally surrender before the law enforcing agencies.
With their hands tied behind their backs, the blindfolded militants were moved to a van near a government building.
Aziz was today slapped with charges of terrorism, abduction of six Chinese women and possession of illegal arms and was remanded to seven days police custody. His daughter arrested with him last night, was also sent to police custody for a week.
Cheema said that 1,146 students have come out and surrendered before the law enforcing agencies so far -- 745 male and 401 females. He said that females are being sent to Haji Camp.
He said the government would take responsibility of widows and orphans and bear their expenses, adding the Prime Minister has also issued special directives in this regard.
Bureau Report
Islamabad, July 05: Eight hardcore militants were arrested today while trying to escape from the besieged Lal Masjid as Pakistan army stepped up offensive to flush them out from the seminary by resorting to selective bombardment using helicopter gunships damaging its gates and walls.
As the authorities made frequent appeals to those holed up in the mosque-cum-seminary to surrender and extended deadlines, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said about 50 to 60 heavily armed militants were keeping women and children as human shields.
"They have AK-47s, grenades and petrol bombs. They are keeping women and children who want to come out of the mosque," he said.
While the Army resorted to selective bombardment of the Masjid and its madrassas damaging their walls and gates by firing mortar shells, US-made three Cobra helicopter gunships made repeated sorties for surveillance and firing teargas into the complex to flush the militants out.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, brother of head cleric Abdul Aziz arrested last night while trying to flee donning a burqa, was said to be in command of the seminary.
Interior Ministery spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said Ghazi and other militants had no option but to unconditionally surrender before the law enforcing agencies.
With their hands tied behind their backs, the blindfolded militants were moved to a van near a government building.
Aziz was today slapped with charges of terrorism, abduction of six Chinese women and possession of illegal arms and was remanded to seven days police custody. His daughter arrested with him last night, was also sent to police custody for a week.
Cheema said that 1,146 students have come out and surrendered before the law enforcing agencies so far -- 745 male and 401 females. He said that females are being sent to Haji Camp.
He said the government would take responsibility of widows and orphans and bear their expenses, adding the Prime Minister has also issued special directives in this regard.
Bureau Report
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Talks on anvil as gunfire, explosions rock Islamabad
Islamabad July 07: Members of Pakistani religious parties hoped to hold talks on Saturday with a radical cleric holed up in an Islamabad mosque and persuade him to send out children among his hundreds of besieged militant followers.
Heavy gunfire and explosions rocked the city early on Saturday as the militant students in the fortified mosque and Islamic school compound battled security forces after their Taliban-supporting leader defied government orders to surrender.
The fortified Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, has been under siege by hundreds of troops and police since Tuesday when months of tension boiled over into clashes between the militants and security forces. At least 20 people have been killed.
"We want the government to end this action. We also want the Lal Masjid authorities to stop being so stubborn and hand over the children," said member of parliament Samia Raheel Qazi.
The cleric leading the militants, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, rejects government accusations he is holding women and children as human shields. But said he would meet the delegation in his mosque.
Ghazi said he and the followers would lay down guns but would never accept arrest. "I fully stand by my position, there`s no question of arrests," Ghazi told Reuters early on Saturday, speaking over the crack of rifle fire.
He said three students were killed on Friday.
Smoke and the orange glow of fire rose from the mosque early on Saturday during a heavy exchange of fire. One member of the security forces was killed, said witnesses who saw the body, although authorities denied any casualties.
Water, gas and power to the mosque have been cut and food was said to be getting scarce.
About 1,200 students left the mosque after the clashes began but only a trickle of about 20 came out on Friday, among them a boy who said older students were forcing young ones to stay.
Authorities say they have blasted holes in the compound`s walls to enable people to flee. Security forces have also occupied another city madrasa affiliated with the Lal Masjid.
Tension between authorities and clerics at the mosque had been rising since January when students, most of whom in their 20s and 30s, launched a campaign to impose strict Islam and stamp out what they see as vice.
They kidnapped people they accused of involvement in prostitution, intimidated shopkeepers selling Western videos, abducted policemen and threatened to unleash suicide bombers if they were suppressed.
Moderate politicians and the media had urged President Pervez Musharraf to intervene to end the standoff. Musharraf has not commented publicly on the siege but has urged security agencies to allow time for parents to take children out.
On Friday, gunmen fired from a roof-top under the flight path from Islamabad`s military airport as Musharraf was flying off to inspect flood damage in the south.
An intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the shots were an unsuccessful attempt on the president`s life. But the government said there appeared to be no link between the shooting and Musharraf`s flight.
US ally Musharraf survived two assassination attempts by al Qaeda-linked militants in 2003.
Adding to a sense of foreboding over risks posed to stability by militants in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a suicide bomber killed six soldiers on Friday in a northwestern region.
Many Pakistanis have welcomed the government`s move against a movement reminiscent of the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, and symptomatic of the religious extremism seeping into cities from tribal border areas.
Ghazi`s elder brother and chief cleric, Abdul Aziz, was caught trying to flee disguised in a burqa and later called on followers to give up. Aziz said there were 850 students inside, Ghazi said 1,900.
Bureau Repor
Islamabad July 07: Members of Pakistani religious parties hoped to hold talks on Saturday with a radical cleric holed up in an Islamabad mosque and persuade him to send out children among his hundreds of besieged militant followers.
Heavy gunfire and explosions rocked the city early on Saturday as the militant students in the fortified mosque and Islamic school compound battled security forces after their Taliban-supporting leader defied government orders to surrender.
The fortified Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, has been under siege by hundreds of troops and police since Tuesday when months of tension boiled over into clashes between the militants and security forces. At least 20 people have been killed.
"We want the government to end this action. We also want the Lal Masjid authorities to stop being so stubborn and hand over the children," said member of parliament Samia Raheel Qazi.
The cleric leading the militants, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, rejects government accusations he is holding women and children as human shields. But said he would meet the delegation in his mosque.
Ghazi said he and the followers would lay down guns but would never accept arrest. "I fully stand by my position, there`s no question of arrests," Ghazi told Reuters early on Saturday, speaking over the crack of rifle fire.
He said three students were killed on Friday.
Smoke and the orange glow of fire rose from the mosque early on Saturday during a heavy exchange of fire. One member of the security forces was killed, said witnesses who saw the body, although authorities denied any casualties.
Water, gas and power to the mosque have been cut and food was said to be getting scarce.
About 1,200 students left the mosque after the clashes began but only a trickle of about 20 came out on Friday, among them a boy who said older students were forcing young ones to stay.
Authorities say they have blasted holes in the compound`s walls to enable people to flee. Security forces have also occupied another city madrasa affiliated with the Lal Masjid.
Tension between authorities and clerics at the mosque had been rising since January when students, most of whom in their 20s and 30s, launched a campaign to impose strict Islam and stamp out what they see as vice.
They kidnapped people they accused of involvement in prostitution, intimidated shopkeepers selling Western videos, abducted policemen and threatened to unleash suicide bombers if they were suppressed.
Moderate politicians and the media had urged President Pervez Musharraf to intervene to end the standoff. Musharraf has not commented publicly on the siege but has urged security agencies to allow time for parents to take children out.
On Friday, gunmen fired from a roof-top under the flight path from Islamabad`s military airport as Musharraf was flying off to inspect flood damage in the south.
An intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the shots were an unsuccessful attempt on the president`s life. But the government said there appeared to be no link between the shooting and Musharraf`s flight.
US ally Musharraf survived two assassination attempts by al Qaeda-linked militants in 2003.
Adding to a sense of foreboding over risks posed to stability by militants in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a suicide bomber killed six soldiers on Friday in a northwestern region.
Many Pakistanis have welcomed the government`s move against a movement reminiscent of the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, and symptomatic of the religious extremism seeping into cities from tribal border areas.
Ghazi`s elder brother and chief cleric, Abdul Aziz, was caught trying to flee disguised in a burqa and later called on followers to give up. Aziz said there were 850 students inside, Ghazi said 1,900.
Bureau Repor
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Pak Army seizes seminary linked to mosque
Islamabad, July 07: Pakistani police Saturday arrested dozens of Islamic students in a pre-dawn raid on a seminary affiliated with the besieged Lal Masjid where holed up militants have said they would seek martyrdom rather than surrender, official said.
`Some fifty students of Jamia Faridia have been taken into custody in an advanced movement in the wake of the Lal Majid stand off,` Zafar Iqbal, senior police superintendent, told a news agency.
Jamia Faridia, a male seminary, is located in Islamabad`s posh E-7 neighbourhood, some four km from the red mosque complex where hundreds of rebellious students have been holed up for the last five days.
`Jamia Faridia is in our total control, and we did not face any resistance from the students,` Iqbal said.
The seminary was recently abandoned by more than 2,500 students after security forces with heavy military presence laid siege to the fortified compound of the Lal Masjid early Wednesday.
Meanwhile, fighting between militants and security forces continued early Saturday at the Lal Masjid and several blasts were heard.
Paramilitary forces fired several mortar shells into the seminary, where strong resistance was being offered by around several hundred warriors, many believed to be trained by Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
Authorities feared a backlash from Islamic students of several madrassas - religious schools - overseen by the two radical clerics of the Lal Masjid, Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Abdul Aziz.
Security forces arrested Aziz Wednesday night as he tried to escape in the guise of a burqa-clad woman, while Ghazi along with his hardcore supporters is still offering stiff resistance inside the mosque.
Bureau Report
Islamabad, July 07: Pakistani police Saturday arrested dozens of Islamic students in a pre-dawn raid on a seminary affiliated with the besieged Lal Masjid where holed up militants have said they would seek martyrdom rather than surrender, official said.
`Some fifty students of Jamia Faridia have been taken into custody in an advanced movement in the wake of the Lal Majid stand off,` Zafar Iqbal, senior police superintendent, told a news agency.
Jamia Faridia, a male seminary, is located in Islamabad`s posh E-7 neighbourhood, some four km from the red mosque complex where hundreds of rebellious students have been holed up for the last five days.
`Jamia Faridia is in our total control, and we did not face any resistance from the students,` Iqbal said.
The seminary was recently abandoned by more than 2,500 students after security forces with heavy military presence laid siege to the fortified compound of the Lal Masjid early Wednesday.
Meanwhile, fighting between militants and security forces continued early Saturday at the Lal Masjid and several blasts were heard.
Paramilitary forces fired several mortar shells into the seminary, where strong resistance was being offered by around several hundred warriors, many believed to be trained by Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
Authorities feared a backlash from Islamic students of several madrassas - religious schools - overseen by the two radical clerics of the Lal Masjid, Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Abdul Aziz.
Security forces arrested Aziz Wednesday night as he tried to escape in the guise of a burqa-clad woman, while Ghazi along with his hardcore supporters is still offering stiff resistance inside the mosque.
Bureau Report
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Lal Masjid, a drama to beat all dramas: Dawn
Islamabad, July 08: To the hidden hands of this dispensation must fall the glory of staging and directing from behind the scenes a brilliant piece of theatre which at least temporarily has drawn attention away from other problems.
Although, as this drama reached its climax it dissolved into outright ridicule -- when one of its central characters, Maulana Abdul Aziz, was caught while trying to flee from the scene in a burqa -- it has still managed to upstage other issues like the on-going saga in the Supreme Court and the All Parties Conference set to begin in London on Saturday.
Two relatively unknown maulvis -- Aziz and his smooth-talking younger brother, Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi -- catapulted to international stardom while this drama lasted goes to show the sure touch and directorial ability of our backstage players.
Hand it to them though for turning out to be superb comic actors. Vowing martyrdom and suicide bombings and God knows what, their rhetoric and threats were so effective that it was generally believed that short of a pitched battle they would not be evicted from their mosque and seminary (transformed over the last couple of years into a fortress, under the benign eye of the Musharraf administration).
When the end came it was a tragedy turning to farce as Maulana Aziz, the head cleric, surrounded by a crowd of girl students, disguised himself in a burqa in an attempt to get out. Even the best of Hollywood directors would have been hard put to round off this drama with such an ending.
Although Pakistan has never been short of jokers (both military and civilian), when it comes to the comic arts, secular politicians are no match for their religious brethren. Consider Maulana Fazlur Rahman. Can any secular politician come close to matching his antics? Now this bravura performance in burqa by Maulana Aziz of Lal Masjid.
What to make of Maulana Aziz’s questioning, or rather grilling, on Pakistan Television after his arrest? He looked tired and done in as if deprived of sleep. He accepted many things (such as the possession of illicit arms) and his humiliation was plain to see because he was still wearing the burqa in which he had attempted to flee. (At the time of writing these lines, his brother, Maulana Rashid, was still holed up in the Lal Masjid).
It can be safely assumed that the government will milk this ‘triumph’ for all it is worth, portraying it as another victory against ‘extremism’. Gen Musharraf receives a shot in the arm. The image he has cultivated in the West of being the last bulwark in Pakistan against the rising tide of Talibanisation will be further strengthened. On CNN on Wednesday evening this was the line being peddled -- that Musharraf was performing an important role against extremism.
If more blood had been spilt, if Lal Masjid had turned into a nightmare, something like Mrs Gandhi’s assault on the Golden Temple, it would have been a different matter. But the maulvis, their strings pulled by God alone knows whom, saw to it that their valour did not match their thunder. As such, they have played into the government’s hands. After six months of unadulterated disaster (in Islamabad disaster going by the name of ‘mishandling’), finally some good news for Pakistan’s embattled general. He badly needed a triumph, no matter what the cost. He has got one. Other problems -- the judicial crisis, plans for a phony election -- will not disappear. But for the time being they have been pushed on to the backburner. Unless I am seeing ghosts in the shadows and blowing things out of proportion, this episode, and its denouement, could even have an effect on the proceedings in the Supreme Court.
For, let us not forget that of all the buildings in Islamabad, the Supreme Court is the most sensitive to the weather outside. If the lawyers of Pakistan had not been up in arms, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohamad Chaudhry would have been history long ago. Like Maulana Aziz now, and Dr A. Q. Khan some time ago, he might even have had to appear on television to confess to his ‘sins’. (To all appearances, in the Musharraf republic one of the conditions of mercy is an abject appearance on television.) But if this hasn’t happened, it’s only because of the weather outside.
But the basic question is somewhat different. It is not enough to ask why the Lal Masjid brothers were trying to run a state within a state, or why they were taking the law into their hands. They had no business to do either but that’s hardly the point. Why were they allowed to take the law into their hands? Who set them up as moral vigilantes? Who allowed them, or facilitated them, to carry on their charade for so long?
We have seen how when the government made its intent clear: Maulana Aziz was transformed almost immediately from a leader of jihad to a comic star. Why did the government get serious only now? Why was it biding its time since January when girl students from the Jamia Hafsa seized the Children’s Library?
Granted that the Red Mosque brigade went a step too far when they raided a purported massage parlour and took several Chinese nationals into custody. But how did these vigilantes arrive at that point of confidence where they could contemplate such a step? The Musharraf government has moved heaven and earth, and in the process made a fool of itself, to take care of a troublesome Chief Justice. But for six months it allowed a bunch of bearded vigilantes to run amok and make a mockery of the state. Why?
Islamabad, July 08: To the hidden hands of this dispensation must fall the glory of staging and directing from behind the scenes a brilliant piece of theatre which at least temporarily has drawn attention away from other problems.
Although, as this drama reached its climax it dissolved into outright ridicule -- when one of its central characters, Maulana Abdul Aziz, was caught while trying to flee from the scene in a burqa -- it has still managed to upstage other issues like the on-going saga in the Supreme Court and the All Parties Conference set to begin in London on Saturday.
Two relatively unknown maulvis -- Aziz and his smooth-talking younger brother, Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi -- catapulted to international stardom while this drama lasted goes to show the sure touch and directorial ability of our backstage players.
Hand it to them though for turning out to be superb comic actors. Vowing martyrdom and suicide bombings and God knows what, their rhetoric and threats were so effective that it was generally believed that short of a pitched battle they would not be evicted from their mosque and seminary (transformed over the last couple of years into a fortress, under the benign eye of the Musharraf administration).
When the end came it was a tragedy turning to farce as Maulana Aziz, the head cleric, surrounded by a crowd of girl students, disguised himself in a burqa in an attempt to get out. Even the best of Hollywood directors would have been hard put to round off this drama with such an ending.
Although Pakistan has never been short of jokers (both military and civilian), when it comes to the comic arts, secular politicians are no match for their religious brethren. Consider Maulana Fazlur Rahman. Can any secular politician come close to matching his antics? Now this bravura performance in burqa by Maulana Aziz of Lal Masjid.
What to make of Maulana Aziz’s questioning, or rather grilling, on Pakistan Television after his arrest? He looked tired and done in as if deprived of sleep. He accepted many things (such as the possession of illicit arms) and his humiliation was plain to see because he was still wearing the burqa in which he had attempted to flee. (At the time of writing these lines, his brother, Maulana Rashid, was still holed up in the Lal Masjid).
It can be safely assumed that the government will milk this ‘triumph’ for all it is worth, portraying it as another victory against ‘extremism’. Gen Musharraf receives a shot in the arm. The image he has cultivated in the West of being the last bulwark in Pakistan against the rising tide of Talibanisation will be further strengthened. On CNN on Wednesday evening this was the line being peddled -- that Musharraf was performing an important role against extremism.
If more blood had been spilt, if Lal Masjid had turned into a nightmare, something like Mrs Gandhi’s assault on the Golden Temple, it would have been a different matter. But the maulvis, their strings pulled by God alone knows whom, saw to it that their valour did not match their thunder. As such, they have played into the government’s hands. After six months of unadulterated disaster (in Islamabad disaster going by the name of ‘mishandling’), finally some good news for Pakistan’s embattled general. He badly needed a triumph, no matter what the cost. He has got one. Other problems -- the judicial crisis, plans for a phony election -- will not disappear. But for the time being they have been pushed on to the backburner. Unless I am seeing ghosts in the shadows and blowing things out of proportion, this episode, and its denouement, could even have an effect on the proceedings in the Supreme Court.
For, let us not forget that of all the buildings in Islamabad, the Supreme Court is the most sensitive to the weather outside. If the lawyers of Pakistan had not been up in arms, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohamad Chaudhry would have been history long ago. Like Maulana Aziz now, and Dr A. Q. Khan some time ago, he might even have had to appear on television to confess to his ‘sins’. (To all appearances, in the Musharraf republic one of the conditions of mercy is an abject appearance on television.) But if this hasn’t happened, it’s only because of the weather outside.
But the basic question is somewhat different. It is not enough to ask why the Lal Masjid brothers were trying to run a state within a state, or why they were taking the law into their hands. They had no business to do either but that’s hardly the point. Why were they allowed to take the law into their hands? Who set them up as moral vigilantes? Who allowed them, or facilitated them, to carry on their charade for so long?
We have seen how when the government made its intent clear: Maulana Aziz was transformed almost immediately from a leader of jihad to a comic star. Why did the government get serious only now? Why was it biding its time since January when girl students from the Jamia Hafsa seized the Children’s Library?
Granted that the Red Mosque brigade went a step too far when they raided a purported massage parlour and took several Chinese nationals into custody. But how did these vigilantes arrive at that point of confidence where they could contemplate such a step? The Musharraf government has moved heaven and earth, and in the process made a fool of itself, to take care of a troublesome Chief Justice. But for six months it allowed a bunch of bearded vigilantes to run amok and make a mockery of the state. Why?
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Dead bodies everywhere inside Lal Masjid: Witness
Islamabad, July 10: Dead bodies are "everywhere" inside a radical Pakistani mosque raided by troops on Tuesday, a source inside the complex said by telephone.
A man who picked up one of top mosque cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi's mobile phones said those inside were under "massive bombing and gunfire. This is indiscriminate killing".
"There is no contact with each other because no one can leave the rooms and basements. There are dead bodies everywhere," the witness added, declining to give his name as explosions and gunfire echoed in the background.
One of those killed was Ghazi's elderly mother, who died of suffocation from smoke caused by blasts, while Ghazi was still alive, the source added.
Bureau Report
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Lal Masjid stormed due to Ghazi`s "special terms"
Islamabad, July 10: Pakistan government on Tuesday said it decided to storm the Lal Masjid after its deputy head Abdul Rashid Ghazi insisted on negotiating "special terms" for foreign militants holed up in the complex even though an agreement had been reached over his own surrender.
After 11 hour-long talks last night, the 13-member committee headed by former premier Shujaat Hussain reached an agreement on the terms and conditions for Ghazi and his associates to give up their arms and come out of the besieged complex, Religious Affairs Minister Ijazul Haq said.
As per the "agreement", Ghazi and his family had agreed to be put up in a rest house under "house arrest" and face legal proceedings in the cases related to him.
The negotiations were conducted through a cellular phone given to Ghazi by the negotiators as both sides preferred not to meet directly due to security reasons.
The radical cleric had also agreed to face legal proceedings as the Supreme Court on Monday took suo moto notice of the incident and ordered that any surrender be done before the Sessions Judge of Islamabad, Haq told reporters.
An understanding had been reached with Ghazi that all militants, who were with him would be screened and released if they were not wanted by security forces.
For this ten buses were ordered and a place had been prepared for their stay, Haq, said.
However, after reaching an understanding on all issues, Ghazi sought to know the fate of foreign ultras. He was then told that they would have to face legal proceedings and no free passage would be given to them.
When the government insisted that foreign militants should surrender, Ghazi said he would call back but the call never came and he switched off the phone.
This prompted Hussain to declare failure of the talks and led the government to storm the complex to save women and children holed up there, the Minister said.
The two sides had also decided that the boys and girls madrassa administered by Lal Masjid would be given to Wakaful Madaris, an umbrella body of madrassas in Pakistan whose leader Hanif Julandhari was also part of the delegation that negotiated with Ghazi.
Bureau Report However, some of the clerics, who accompanied Hussain later told reporters that differences arose because the draft of the agreement was altered after it was presented to President Pervez Musharraf. But Hussain dismissed it saying, it was only change of "legal terms" not the conditions. Ghazi had his own version to tell to the media. Minutes before the operation began, he used the mobile phone given to him and spoke to the local TV channels to say he has agreed to all terms but the talks broke down when he insisted that he would give up in front the media and a delegation of clerics. He said he wanted the media to visit the complex to prove his point there were no major weapons nor foreigners present with him as claimed by the government. But his proposal was shot down. He also vented his anger against Hussain and Haq, saying they should not be "spared" as they along with certain clerics played a "dirty role". Before he could continue his conversation, his phone was disconnected. Later he appeared again to say that his mother has been killed and he would fight till death.
Islamabad, July 10: Pakistan government on Tuesday said it decided to storm the Lal Masjid after its deputy head Abdul Rashid Ghazi insisted on negotiating "special terms" for foreign militants holed up in the complex even though an agreement had been reached over his own surrender.
After 11 hour-long talks last night, the 13-member committee headed by former premier Shujaat Hussain reached an agreement on the terms and conditions for Ghazi and his associates to give up their arms and come out of the besieged complex, Religious Affairs Minister Ijazul Haq said.
As per the "agreement", Ghazi and his family had agreed to be put up in a rest house under "house arrest" and face legal proceedings in the cases related to him.
The negotiations were conducted through a cellular phone given to Ghazi by the negotiators as both sides preferred not to meet directly due to security reasons.
The radical cleric had also agreed to face legal proceedings as the Supreme Court on Monday took suo moto notice of the incident and ordered that any surrender be done before the Sessions Judge of Islamabad, Haq told reporters.
An understanding had been reached with Ghazi that all militants, who were with him would be screened and released if they were not wanted by security forces.
For this ten buses were ordered and a place had been prepared for their stay, Haq, said.
However, after reaching an understanding on all issues, Ghazi sought to know the fate of foreign ultras. He was then told that they would have to face legal proceedings and no free passage would be given to them.
When the government insisted that foreign militants should surrender, Ghazi said he would call back but the call never came and he switched off the phone.
This prompted Hussain to declare failure of the talks and led the government to storm the complex to save women and children holed up there, the Minister said.
The two sides had also decided that the boys and girls madrassa administered by Lal Masjid would be given to Wakaful Madaris, an umbrella body of madrassas in Pakistan whose leader Hanif Julandhari was also part of the delegation that negotiated with Ghazi.
Bureau Report However, some of the clerics, who accompanied Hussain later told reporters that differences arose because the draft of the agreement was altered after it was presented to President Pervez Musharraf. But Hussain dismissed it saying, it was only change of "legal terms" not the conditions. Ghazi had his own version to tell to the media. Minutes before the operation began, he used the mobile phone given to him and spoke to the local TV channels to say he has agreed to all terms but the talks broke down when he insisted that he would give up in front the media and a delegation of clerics. He said he wanted the media to visit the complex to prove his point there were no major weapons nor foreigners present with him as claimed by the government. But his proposal was shot down. He also vented his anger against Hussain and Haq, saying they should not be "spared" as they along with certain clerics played a "dirty role". Before he could continue his conversation, his phone was disconnected. Later he appeared again to say that his mother has been killed and he would fight till death.
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Lal Masjid rebel cleric killed in Army operation
Islamabad, July 10: Radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who headed militants inside the pro-Taliban Lal Masjid in a tense week-long stand-off, was today killed along with 88 of his associates when Pakistan troops stormed the premises to flush out heavily-armed hardliners holding a large number of women and children as hostages.
Twelve commandos were also killed during the `Operation Silence`, launched at 0400 hrs after the talks with radicals to resolve the stand-off peacefully failed.
At least 88 militants, apart from Ghazi, were killed in the operation, DawnNews TV quoted defence officials as saying.
43-year-old Ghazi, the younger brother of the captured head of the Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz, was killed by the security forces in the basement after he refused to surrender, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig Iqbal Cheema told the media here, nearly 16 hours after the operation was launched.
There were reports that Ghazi was holding women and children as human shields, some of whom were said to have been killed.
Officials said Ghazi was shot in the leg and told to surrender but he refused to do so, prompting commandos to carry out the attack.
The death toll has crossed 100 as the operation continued with well-armed militants engaging troops in pitched battles, according to latest reports.
"Troops are involved in room-to-room fighting to take control of layers and layers of the sprawling complex stretching to several acres," in central Islamabad, Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said here.
Arshad had earlier said Ghazi was located hiding in a deep bunker and was given a warning to surrender.
Umme-e-Hassan, Ghazi`s sister-in-law and principal of girls` madrassa attached to the mosque, and her daughter Asma were taken into cutody by the troops, who also rescued about 134 people.
Earlier, Arshad said 50 militant students, including 34 children, surrendered this morning, while 50 ultras, who were injured, were admitted to hospitals.
Replying to a question why the operation took so long, Arshad said troops followed a step-by-step approach to minimise the casualties and avoid collateral damage to the mosque.
He said the complex has over 75 rooms besides vast courtyards and basements and all needed to be cleared one by one and there were still different bunkers to be cleared.
There are reports that more women and children were locked up in the basement and troops were trying to verify it.
Arshad denied reports that the Pakistan army planned to use nerve gas against militants.
Pakistan army had no stocks of the nerve gas, he said.
Umme-e-Hassan, who was taken into custody along with her daughter Asma, had earlier attempted to help her husband Maulana Aziz to flee from the mosque wearing a burqa but he was identified and arrested.
Army spokesman Arshad also accused Ghazi of using women and children as human shields.
Ghazi had not even allowed his ailing mother to come out and undergo treatment, he said referring to Ghazi`s claim that she was killed during the operation.
With today`s operation, curtains finally came down on the six-decade old Lal Masjid`s "red" brand of Islam as well as its six-month long moral brigade activities to impose Shariah law here.
The Army raid took place in a dramatic fashion after 11-hour "cell phone" talks between Ghazi and Shujaat Hussain, the former Premier and chief of ruling PML-Q, failed to end the stand-off.
"I have never been disappointed in my life, but I am leaving this place with extreme dejection," Hussain said in the nationally-televised press meet after the talks failed.
"I asked him (Ghazi) to give up his stubborn attitude for the sake of Allah, for the sake of children, for the sake of women, sisters and mothers, but in vain."
By the time the dazed newsmen, who till then perceived that a breakthrough was round the corner, absorbed Hussain`s statement, firing and explosions rocked many sides of the Lal Masjid and the Defence Ministry lost no time in announcing that `Operation Silence`, the code name for action against the mosque, had commenced.
Bureau Report
Islamabad, July 10: Radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who headed militants inside the pro-Taliban Lal Masjid in a tense week-long stand-off, was today killed along with 88 of his associates when Pakistan troops stormed the premises to flush out heavily-armed hardliners holding a large number of women and children as hostages.
Twelve commandos were also killed during the `Operation Silence`, launched at 0400 hrs after the talks with radicals to resolve the stand-off peacefully failed.
At least 88 militants, apart from Ghazi, were killed in the operation, DawnNews TV quoted defence officials as saying.
43-year-old Ghazi, the younger brother of the captured head of the Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz, was killed by the security forces in the basement after he refused to surrender, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig Iqbal Cheema told the media here, nearly 16 hours after the operation was launched.
There were reports that Ghazi was holding women and children as human shields, some of whom were said to have been killed.
Officials said Ghazi was shot in the leg and told to surrender but he refused to do so, prompting commandos to carry out the attack.
The death toll has crossed 100 as the operation continued with well-armed militants engaging troops in pitched battles, according to latest reports.
"Troops are involved in room-to-room fighting to take control of layers and layers of the sprawling complex stretching to several acres," in central Islamabad, Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said here.
Arshad had earlier said Ghazi was located hiding in a deep bunker and was given a warning to surrender.
Umme-e-Hassan, Ghazi`s sister-in-law and principal of girls` madrassa attached to the mosque, and her daughter Asma were taken into cutody by the troops, who also rescued about 134 people.
Earlier, Arshad said 50 militant students, including 34 children, surrendered this morning, while 50 ultras, who were injured, were admitted to hospitals.
Replying to a question why the operation took so long, Arshad said troops followed a step-by-step approach to minimise the casualties and avoid collateral damage to the mosque.
He said the complex has over 75 rooms besides vast courtyards and basements and all needed to be cleared one by one and there were still different bunkers to be cleared.
There are reports that more women and children were locked up in the basement and troops were trying to verify it.
Arshad denied reports that the Pakistan army planned to use nerve gas against militants.
Pakistan army had no stocks of the nerve gas, he said.
Umme-e-Hassan, who was taken into custody along with her daughter Asma, had earlier attempted to help her husband Maulana Aziz to flee from the mosque wearing a burqa but he was identified and arrested.
Army spokesman Arshad also accused Ghazi of using women and children as human shields.
Ghazi had not even allowed his ailing mother to come out and undergo treatment, he said referring to Ghazi`s claim that she was killed during the operation.
With today`s operation, curtains finally came down on the six-decade old Lal Masjid`s "red" brand of Islam as well as its six-month long moral brigade activities to impose Shariah law here.
The Army raid took place in a dramatic fashion after 11-hour "cell phone" talks between Ghazi and Shujaat Hussain, the former Premier and chief of ruling PML-Q, failed to end the stand-off.
"I have never been disappointed in my life, but I am leaving this place with extreme dejection," Hussain said in the nationally-televised press meet after the talks failed.
"I asked him (Ghazi) to give up his stubborn attitude for the sake of Allah, for the sake of children, for the sake of women, sisters and mothers, but in vain."
By the time the dazed newsmen, who till then perceived that a breakthrough was round the corner, absorbed Hussain`s statement, firing and explosions rocked many sides of the Lal Masjid and the Defence Ministry lost no time in announcing that `Operation Silence`, the code name for action against the mosque, had commenced.
Bureau Report
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Zawahri urges revenge over Pakistan mosque
Dubai, July 12: Al-Qaeda's second-in command Ayman al-Zawahri, in an Internet recording posted on Wednesday, called for revenge over a Pakistani government assault on an Islamabad mosque that killed more than 70 Islamists.
"This crime can only be washed by repentance or blood," Zawahri said in the tape posted on Web sites used by Islamists. "If you do not retaliate ... (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf will not spare any of you," he said, addressing Pakistani Muslims and their clerical leaders.
"Your salvation is only through jihad (holy war). You must now back the mujahideen in Afghanistan," said Zawahri in the recording, whose authenticity could not be verified, but which was posted on a Web site used by Islamists.
The recording, produced by al-Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab, carried a still photograph of the Egyptian-born cleric wearing a white robe and white turban and English subtitles of his remarks in Arabic.
It was the second taped message from Zawahri issued this week. In a similar video issued on Tuesday, Zawahri threatened to wage more attacks on Britain, two weeks after failed bombings in London and Glasgow, and criticised Britain's controversial decision to award author Salman Rushdie a knighthood.
Pakistani security forces secured the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and school complex in the Pakistani capital on Wednesday, snuffing out the last pockets of resistance a day after an assault that killed a rebel cleric and more than 70 supporters.
Many questions were unanswered including the final death toll and whether any women or children had been killed.
Bureau Report
Dubai, July 12: Al-Qaeda's second-in command Ayman al-Zawahri, in an Internet recording posted on Wednesday, called for revenge over a Pakistani government assault on an Islamabad mosque that killed more than 70 Islamists.
"This crime can only be washed by repentance or blood," Zawahri said in the tape posted on Web sites used by Islamists. "If you do not retaliate ... (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf will not spare any of you," he said, addressing Pakistani Muslims and their clerical leaders.
"Your salvation is only through jihad (holy war). You must now back the mujahideen in Afghanistan," said Zawahri in the recording, whose authenticity could not be verified, but which was posted on a Web site used by Islamists.
The recording, produced by al-Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab, carried a still photograph of the Egyptian-born cleric wearing a white robe and white turban and English subtitles of his remarks in Arabic.
It was the second taped message from Zawahri issued this week. In a similar video issued on Tuesday, Zawahri threatened to wage more attacks on Britain, two weeks after failed bombings in London and Glasgow, and criticised Britain's controversial decision to award author Salman Rushdie a knighthood.
Pakistani security forces secured the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and school complex in the Pakistani capital on Wednesday, snuffing out the last pockets of resistance a day after an assault that killed a rebel cleric and more than 70 supporters.
Many questions were unanswered including the final death toll and whether any women or children had been killed.
Bureau Report
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Fighting ends at Pakistan mosque
Islamabad, July 12: Pakistani commandos cleared the warren-like Red Mosque complex of all its die-hard defenders Wednesday, following an assault that ended a bloody eight-day siege and left more than 80 dead, including a pro-Taliban cleric.
Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said the compound was still being combed for mines, booby traps and other weaponry.
"The first phase of the operation is over. There are no more militants left inside," Arshad said in a telephone interview.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters that no bodies of women and children had been found inside the sprawling complex and said the probability such bodies would be found during the "mopping up" operation was low.
"The major group of women was all together and came out all together," he said, referring to 27 women and three children who emerged from the mosque Tuesday.
"I think it's already ended. Now it's mopping up," he said. "The operation is over. Everybody who was inside is out."
More than 50 militants and 10 soldiers were killed and 33 wounded in the final, 35-hour assault by the elite Special Services Group which began early Tuesday, the army said. The dead including the mosque's pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.
Commandos went in after unsuccessful attempts to get the mosque's militants to surrender to a weeklong siege mounted by the government following deadly street clashes with armed supporters of the mosque July 3.
The extremists had been using the mosque as a base to send out radicalized students to enforce their version of Islamic morality, including abducting alleged prostitutes and trying to "re-educate" them at the compound.
An army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said troops moved from room to room in basements of the compound, blowing up foxholes where militants had been entrenched.
Ghazi's body was found in the basement of a women's religious school after a fierce gunbattle between government troops and militants, said Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, a senior Interior Ministry official.
Several security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Ghazi was wounded by two bullets and gave no response when ordered to surrender. Commandos then fired another volley and found him dead.
Arshad said Ghazi's body had been handed over to the Interior Ministry. The bodies of others would be taken away after the end of the operation, he said.
Cheema said the body has been taken for burial in Ghazi's native village of Rojhan in southwestern Pakistan. His brother, Abdul Aziz, the mosque's chief who was arrested trying to escape from the complex last week, would be allowed to attend the funeral.
The military announced that about 1,300 people had escaped or otherwise left the compound since July 3. Authorities took an unknown number into custody, while others, mostly young students, have returned to their homes.
The casualties at the Red Mosque could further turn public opinion against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who already faces a backlash for his bungled attempts to fire the country's chief justice.
Following several fiery anti-government protests Tuesday, about 500 people chanting "Death to Musharraf!" rallied for an hour Wednesday in the northwest frontier city of Peshawar.
"This (mosque attack) is part of our government's action against religious elements to please America," said Shabbir Khan, a lawmaker from an opposition Islamic party, at the demonstration.
About 15 other Islamic opposition lawmakers gathered in front of the Supreme Court in Islamabad, blaming Musharraf for Pakistan's troubles, including the mosque attack, and calling for his resignation.
In neighboring Afghanistan, a senior Taliban commander, Mansoor Dadullah, urged Muslims to launch suicide attacks on Pakistani security forces, calling the assault "a cruel act."
"I would have sent 10,000 mujahedeen to support the (Red Mosque) students but we are busy in Afghanistan and Islamabad is far from Afghanistan. I wished to go myself to support them," he told The Associated Press by telephone.
Several editorials in mainstream newspapers said Musharraf had no choice but to confront the militants.
"The decision to launch the final assault was not an easy one, but given the circumstances there was nothing else that the government could really do," said the English-language paper The News.
But it questioned how the militants had managed to find a haven "inside the heart of Islamabad."
"Surely this is a disturbing indictment of the failure of the law enforcement agencies to keep track of the movement of such elements," it said.
Another English-language daily, Dawn, said that "no tears will be shed over the death of the well-armed militants," praising the government for exercising "utmost restraint" in the standoff.
The State Department endorsed the Musharraf government's decision to storm the mosque, saying that the militants had been given many warnings, and President Bush reaffirmed his confidence in the Pakistani president in the fight against extremists.
Bureau Report
Islamabad, July 12: Pakistani commandos cleared the warren-like Red Mosque complex of all its die-hard defenders Wednesday, following an assault that ended a bloody eight-day siege and left more than 80 dead, including a pro-Taliban cleric.
Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said the compound was still being combed for mines, booby traps and other weaponry.
"The first phase of the operation is over. There are no more militants left inside," Arshad said in a telephone interview.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters that no bodies of women and children had been found inside the sprawling complex and said the probability such bodies would be found during the "mopping up" operation was low.
"The major group of women was all together and came out all together," he said, referring to 27 women and three children who emerged from the mosque Tuesday.
"I think it's already ended. Now it's mopping up," he said. "The operation is over. Everybody who was inside is out."
More than 50 militants and 10 soldiers were killed and 33 wounded in the final, 35-hour assault by the elite Special Services Group which began early Tuesday, the army said. The dead including the mosque's pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.
Commandos went in after unsuccessful attempts to get the mosque's militants to surrender to a weeklong siege mounted by the government following deadly street clashes with armed supporters of the mosque July 3.
The extremists had been using the mosque as a base to send out radicalized students to enforce their version of Islamic morality, including abducting alleged prostitutes and trying to "re-educate" them at the compound.
An army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said troops moved from room to room in basements of the compound, blowing up foxholes where militants had been entrenched.
Ghazi's body was found in the basement of a women's religious school after a fierce gunbattle between government troops and militants, said Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, a senior Interior Ministry official.
Several security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Ghazi was wounded by two bullets and gave no response when ordered to surrender. Commandos then fired another volley and found him dead.
Arshad said Ghazi's body had been handed over to the Interior Ministry. The bodies of others would be taken away after the end of the operation, he said.
Cheema said the body has been taken for burial in Ghazi's native village of Rojhan in southwestern Pakistan. His brother, Abdul Aziz, the mosque's chief who was arrested trying to escape from the complex last week, would be allowed to attend the funeral.
The military announced that about 1,300 people had escaped or otherwise left the compound since July 3. Authorities took an unknown number into custody, while others, mostly young students, have returned to their homes.
The casualties at the Red Mosque could further turn public opinion against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who already faces a backlash for his bungled attempts to fire the country's chief justice.
Following several fiery anti-government protests Tuesday, about 500 people chanting "Death to Musharraf!" rallied for an hour Wednesday in the northwest frontier city of Peshawar.
"This (mosque attack) is part of our government's action against religious elements to please America," said Shabbir Khan, a lawmaker from an opposition Islamic party, at the demonstration.
About 15 other Islamic opposition lawmakers gathered in front of the Supreme Court in Islamabad, blaming Musharraf for Pakistan's troubles, including the mosque attack, and calling for his resignation.
In neighboring Afghanistan, a senior Taliban commander, Mansoor Dadullah, urged Muslims to launch suicide attacks on Pakistani security forces, calling the assault "a cruel act."
"I would have sent 10,000 mujahedeen to support the (Red Mosque) students but we are busy in Afghanistan and Islamabad is far from Afghanistan. I wished to go myself to support them," he told The Associated Press by telephone.
Several editorials in mainstream newspapers said Musharraf had no choice but to confront the militants.
"The decision to launch the final assault was not an easy one, but given the circumstances there was nothing else that the government could really do," said the English-language paper The News.
But it questioned how the militants had managed to find a haven "inside the heart of Islamabad."
"Surely this is a disturbing indictment of the failure of the law enforcement agencies to keep track of the movement of such elements," it said.
Another English-language daily, Dawn, said that "no tears will be shed over the death of the well-armed militants," praising the government for exercising "utmost restraint" in the standoff.
The State Department endorsed the Musharraf government's decision to storm the mosque, saying that the militants had been given many warnings, and President Bush reaffirmed his confidence in the Pakistani president in the fight against extremists.
Bureau Report