Lal Masjid: 700 students surrender; clerics charged
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
21:33 IST
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Islamabad: More than 700 radical Islamic students who had fortified the Lal Masjid complex here surrendered Wednesday to the authorities a day after clashes with police and paramilitary forces left 21 people dead and over 200 wounded.
Pakistani authorities had set a deadline for the hundreds of students at the heavily fortified Lal Majid to surrender and continued to extend that deadline as more students gave themselves up, officials said.
The extremist administration of the mosque has been in a standoff with the authorities for the past five months over its attempts to impose a strict, Taliban-style way of life on people in the Pakistani capital.
"We are continuously extending the deadline for surrender," Javid Cheema, Interior Ministry spokesman, said. "More than 700 male and female students have so far given themselves up to the authorities."
Earlier, the government had ordered students entrenched in the mosque to lay down their arms by 11 am, but the deadline was extended several times.
"We do not want bloodshed. We want to resolve the issue peacefully," State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem told reporters, adding that immunity had been offered to all those who had surrendered.
Meanwhile, police Wednesday charged the Ghazi brothers - Abdur Rashid Ghazi and Maulana Abdul Aziz - who control the mosque with murder and terrorism, with the government declaring they would be tried under the law of the land. Police have registered cases of murder, attempt to murder, terrorism, firing at security personnel, damaging public property and other charges against the two brothers, who remain at large.
In another development, State Minister for Religious Affairs Amir Liaquat Hussain resigned from National Assembly seat and ministerial office, citing "personal reasons" for his decision. It was not clear whether his action was related to the Lal Masjid shootout. His ministry, headed by Ejaz-ul-Haq has been directly involved in negotiations with the Lal Masjid clerics over the last few weeks.
Hundreds of military and paramilitary troops are standing ready to storm the mosque. The surrounding area is cordoned off and all the roads leading to Islamabad are also sealed. During their campaign, Lal Masjid students were accused of abducting several Chinese women last month from a massage centre over allegations that they were involved in prostitution.
The students had also issued warnings to the owners of audio and video stores to stop selling "un-Islamic" goods and had ordered women not to drive. Tuesday's clashes began when stick-wielding students seized four policemen from a checkpoint and snatched their rifles and a radio set.
Security personnel barricaded all roads around the mosque complex and took up positions on the rooftops of surrounding buildings, while armed students holed up in bunker-like structures made of sandbags.
Amid gunfire, masked students rampaged toward paramilitary force positions, occupied and set fire to two of them, forcing them to retreat. The markets and streets around the mosque turned into a battlefield when hundreds of local residents joined the students in their rebellion and threw stones at the building where the security forces were positioned.
During the clash, clerics used loudspeakers to exhort the students to defend the mosque and prepare to carry out suicide attacks.
another development, State Minister for Religious Affairs Amir Liaquat Hussain resigned from National Assembly seat and ministerial office, citing "personal reasons" for his decision. It was not clear whether his action was related to the Lal Masjid shootout. His ministry, headed by Ejaz-ul-Haq has been directly involved in negotiations with the Lal Masjid clerics over the last few weeks.
Hundreds of military and paramilitary troops are standing ready to storm the mosque. The surrounding area is cordoned off and all the roads leading to Islamabad are also sealed. During their campaign, Lal Masjid students were accused of abducting several Chinese women last month from a massage centre over allegations that they were involved in prostitution.
The students had also issued warnings to the owners of audio and video stores to stop selling "un-Islamic" goods and had ordered women not to drive. Tuesday's clashes began when stick-wielding students seized four policemen from a checkpoint and snatched their rifles and a radio set.
Security personnel barricaded all roads around the mosque complex and took up positions on the rooftops of surrounding buildings, while armed students holed up in bunker-like structures made of sandbags.
Amid gunfire, masked students rampaged toward paramilitary force positions, occupied and set fire to two of them, forcing them to retreat. The markets and streets around the mosque turned into a battlefield when hundreds of local residents joined the students in their rebellion and threw stones at the building where the security forces were positioned.
During the clash, clerics used loudspeakers to exhort the students to defend the mosque and prepare to carry out suicide attacks.
