Pakistan's President Defends Deadly Raid on Radical Mosque
12 July 2007
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says he launched a deadly raid on a radical mosque in Islamabad only after all efforts to negotiate the crisis failed.
During a televised address to the nation, General Musharraf said he was saddened about the loss of life. He said the government tried every means possible to defuse growing tensions without using force.
But he said the demands of the cleric who led the resistance were not acceptable.
General Musharraf also vowed to crush extremism in every corner of Pakistan during Thursday's speech.
Pakistani troops surrounded the radical the mosque compound last week after deadly clashes erupted between security forces and armed students. President Musharraf ordered a raid on the mosque early Tuesday after talks failed.
More than 80 people were killed during the eight day siege, including 75 militants and 10 Pakistani soldiers.
Clerics and students at the Red Mosque had challenged government authority for months using vigilante justice during their campaign to impose strict Islamic law in Pakistan.
Also Thursday, Pakistan's army conducted a media tour of the mosque compound. Journalists were shown an arsenal of weapons and a blackened room where the army says a suicide bomber died with at least half a dozen other people.
Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told reporters that of the bodies recovered from the compound so far, 19 were burned beyond recognition. He said women and children could be among those killed.
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