Pakistan Police Battle Religious Militants in Capital
Islamabad
04 July 2007
A standoff between Pakistani troops and students at a radical mosque has headed into a second night, with more than 1,000 people still holed up in the mosque in Islamabad. Witnesses say loud explosions were heard early Thursday at the besieged mosque. The blasts were followed by gunfire and an announcement from security forces for all people holed up in the mosque to surrender. VOA correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from the capital that the mosque's chief cleric has been arrested trying to escape disguised as a woman.
After two days of sometimes tense and frequently violent clashes, the situation outside the Lal Masjid, or red mosque, took an unexpected turn Wednesday evening.
Information Minister Tariq Azim says police have captured the mosque's chief cleric, Abdul Aziz, who was apparently trying to sneak out hidden among a group of women. "We expected that there was somebody whose movements were not exactly woman-like. So when we checked, he was trying to escape…he was trying to escape in a Burka," he said.
He says the pro-Taleban and notoriously uncompromising cleric was arrested at the scene.
Around 700 people, including men and women, surrendered earlier Wednesday after the government ordered the militants to lay down their arms or face further attacks.
But officials say more than 1,000 hardcore militants are still inside and troops are standing by for a possible assault.
Despite a 24-hour curfew in the mosque area and reported cease-fire, sporadic gunfire could still be heard Wednesday near the Mosque.
Power to the entire area was cut off and Pakistani troops used armored vehicles and barbed wire to seal off the neighborhood.
Azim says the government still hopes to avoid an all-out confrontation. "We still hope that common sense will prevail and that they will surrender, realizing that they have no other option left to them now," he said.
Clashes at the mosque on Tuesday left at least 11 people dead and much of the city under virtual martial law.
The fighting broke out after students, many armed with bamboo clubs and handguns, rushed toward a government security post.
Officials say the police were firing tear gas into the crowd when several students opened fire, killing at least one officer.
The bloody confrontation follows a standoff over the past several months between the mosque's pro-Taleban supporters and the Pakistani government.
Lal Masjid's leaders want to impose strict Islamic law, like that implemented by the Taleban government in Afghanistan a decade ago.
Its students have led a series of provocative raids into the city, including several kidnappings of local police and a number of alleged prostitutes.
The government has repeatedly threatened to retaliate, but until Tuesday it always backed down in favor of negotiated settlements.
The conflict comes as Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf faces mounting political opposition ahead of elections expected later this year.
Many of his critics have used the Lal Masjid stand-off to highlight concerns that the government has failed to control religious extremists.
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