HAIDER
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ISLAMABAD, July 27 (AFP) Hundreds occupied Islamabad's Lal Masjid Friday, painting the walls in their original colour and wrecking the official reopening of the complex after an army assault on militants. Protesters chased out a government-appointed religious elder who was meant to lead the first Friday prayers at the mosque since the military operation there earlier this month that left more than 100 people dead. The unarmed demonstrators, most of them former students of the mosque, flew flags from the minarets and pelted police vehicles with stones, an AFP reporter witnessed. Five or six people carrying buckets daubed red paint over the outer walls, which had been changed to a peach colour during government renovations, while dozens more unfurled flags and banners on the roof. It is true that rowdy students have overtaken the mosque, they are not letting the prayers be held, a senior security official told AFP requesting anonymity. Despite tight security, the students stopped prayer leader Imam Mohammad Ashfaq taking up his position at the mosque and used the microphone to deliver their own furious speeches against the government raid. I was told everything would be peaceful. I was never interested in taking up this job and after today I will never do it, Ashfaq told AFP as he left with a police escort. The students demanded the return of the mosque's chief cleric, Abdul Aziz, who is now in jail awaiting trial on terror charges, Ashfaq said. They chanted anti-government slogans adding that the blood of the mosque's leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who died in the assault, would bring an Islamic revolution. They also threw shoes at cameramen and reporters covering the event. It is an unfortunate situation, interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema told AFP. We worked day and night to open the mosque for people to offer prayers but some people, mainly former students, are trying to create mischief, he said. We are monitoring the situation and will take appropriate measures to restore order. Security forces have not gone inside, he added. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
http://dawn.com/2007/07/27/welcome.htm
http://dawn.com/2007/07/27/welcome.htm