Lal Masjid brigade kidnaps 4 policemen(My friends are back)

[Cheetah786]

ISLAMABAD, May 18: The Lal Masjid ‘brigade’ on Friday made four policemen hostage, accusing them of ‘spying’ for the government and raising the fear of a possible crackdown.

Later in the night, police registered an FIR against the two Lal Masjid clerics and 72 of their followers, citing terrorism and other charges. More details of the FIR were not available.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah and senior security officials held a meeting with the clercis late on Friday night and put all security agencies on high alert.

There was a likelihood that security forces might mount an assault on the mosque but no action was taken till the filing of this report.

Local administration moved to increase the number of security personnel deployed around the mosque following the kidnapping incident and tried to negotiate the release of the kidnapped policemen.

But talks, conducted by Magistrate Farasat Ali and Assistant Superintendent of Police Kamran Adil, broke down when Maulana Abdul Aziz and his brother Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi refused to wait until Saturday morning for the release of 11 of their colleagues earlier detained by security agencies.

This is the second time that the Lal Masjid militants have humiliated the government by taking policemen hostage.

The detained policemen were identified as ASI Aurangzeb and constables Jehangir, Yasin Shal and Arshad Ahmed. They all belong to the Barakahu police station.

In his Friday sermon, the in-charge of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz again threatened the government of suicide attacks all over the county if any operation was conducted against the mosque administration.

Condemning Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq’s statement that an operation was likely against the hard-line clerics, the Maulana said the mosque’s supporters were ready to carry out ‘Fidai’ (suicide) attacks.

“I invite the government to conduct the operation and see what will happen in the country,” he threatened.

He also warned that government officials would be ‘kidnapped’ if 11 of their colleagues, picked up by security agencies in earlier operations, were not released immediately.

He also asked the government to curtail the perks and privileges of parliamentarians, equalising them with the salary of the common man.

According to Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the mosque’s deputy in-charge, the policemen, who were in plain clothes, were outside the mosque on a ‘spying mission’.

“We had already advised the local administration not to carry out such acts which could aggravate the situation but it chose to ignore our warnings,” he said.

 

[Awesome]

FREE THE POLICEMEN!!!

 

[HAIDER]

this is insane....govt is builiding case against them. And do the final shot.


Pakistan frees extremists over police hostage drama ISLAMABAD, May 19 (AFP) - Hardline clerics holding four Pakistani police at Islamabad’s Lal Masjid won the release of four extremists after a tense day-long stand-off between armed police and baton-wielding students. The clerics said they would release two of the policemen, snatched late on Friday, after authorities partially bowed to their demands. “We are releasing two policemen after negotiations but will continue to hold the other two until all our 11 men arrested by the intelligence agency are freed,” the mosque's deputy leader Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi told reporters. He said the negotiations were now over and would be resumed when the administration is willing to release the seven others in detention. No comment was available from the interior ministry or the local administration over the deal. The four are expected to be freed after formalities. Dozens of students from a madrassa, or seminary, attached to the mosque late Friday seized the four policemen and took them inside, demanding the release of 11 colleagues picked up by intelligence agencies recently. Armed police took up positions on Saturday close to the mosque, while students armed with batons blocked some nearby roads. Ghazi earlier threatened reprisals nationwide if any operation were launched against the mosque or the seminary. (First Posted @ 18:44 PST Updated @ 13:01 PST)

 

[EagleEyes]

Your friends?

 

[Awesome]

What crap! They should not release anyone! Shoot em all and try to save the police officers.

 

[Cheetah786]

Your friends?

off course my friends.iam a business man.i need all the people that can influence the politicians.this seems to be working out just fine.
i mean where else in the world would this garbage be allowed but Pakistan.

Friend of mine bought some land in Islamabad cost close to 4 Million us dollars.mullahs get it for free.there friend ship Price less.

 

[Cheetah786]

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad administration sources Sunday said that operation is likely against the Lal Masjid administration. The capital has been sealed and bearded people traveling in vehicles being taken out for body search .

Meanwhile, students of the religious school attached with Lal Masjid have dugout at the mosque and Jamia Hafsa .

The main Melody road leading to the mosque from Abpara and the service road in front of Jamia Hafsa building have been sealed.

The Rangers and Police have been declared red alert, while emergency has been announced in the hospitals.

The traffic police have diverted vehicular traffic to the alternate route, while traffic policemen have been posted in all streets of the area.

Rangers and Punjab Police at G-6 quarters have also been made alert and two trucks with barbed wire were reached in the area.

Rangers’ men are also patrolling at some key roads of the capital. The police have ordered closure of all markets in Islamabad by 09:00 PM.

Islamabad administration sources have indicated probable action against the Lal Masjid administration.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/updates.asp?id=22805

 

[Cheetah786]

NEW YORK, May 19 (Online): Federal minister for Religious Affairs Ijaz ul Haq has accused administration of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa for playing into the hands of anti-state elements.

“But despite the fact we are trying to resolve the issue amicably and our negotiations with Lal Masjid and Jami aHafsa administration over the matter are underway,” he observed this while talking to a private TV channel here Saturday.

And if Lal Masjid administration will not change its attitude then we can’t rule out the chance of an operation against them, he said and added no body can allowed to challenge the writ of the government.

He said Lal Masjid Mohtamim (Rector), Maulana Abdul ul Rasheed Ghazi and Maulana Abdul Aziz were playing into the hands of anti-state elements. He said the major psychological problem of both brothers is of ‘land’. He said the students of Jamia Hafsa were innocent and were dragged into the situation.

Ijaz was of the view that any option can be used to resolve the issue, however government would not leave the path of negotiations to resolve the matter. But if necessary, operation option could be used.

No one will be allowed to challenge the writ of the government and nobody should reckon it as government’s weakness, he held.

He stressed upon Lal Masjid administration to change it attitude towards the issue and show some seriousness.
http://www.thepakistaninewspaper.com/

I wonder which foreign hands could that be.(Relax adux it isn't India for sure)friendly neighbor hood Arab country.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

A commando action in Lal masjid expected tonight

 

[EagleEyes]

On the note. Policemen have been freed.

 

[Contrarian]

In exchange for terrorists?

 

[EagleEyes]

In exchange for terrorists?

Link?

 

[Contrarian]

That was actually a question i asked, not a statement.Notice the question mark at the end of the line. However since you wanted a link.



Pakistan swaps militants for cops
20 May, 2007 l 0305 hrs ISTlAFP

ISLAMABAD: Hardline clerics holding four Pakistani police at a mosque here won the release of four extremists after a tense day-long stand-off between armed police and baton-wielding students.

The clerics of Lal Masjid said they would release two of the policemen, snatched late on Friday, after authorities partially bowed to their demands.

"We are releasing two policemen after negotiations but will continue to hold the other two until all our 11 men arrested by the intelligence agency are freed," the mosque's deputy leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi told reporters.

He said the negotiations were now over and would be resumed when the administration is willing to release the seven others in detention.

No comment was available from the interior ministry or the local administration over the deal. The four are expected to be freed after formalities.

Dozens of students from a madrassa, or seminary, attached to the Lal Masjid late Friday seized the four policemen and took them inside, demanding the release of 11 colleagues picked up by intelligence agencies recently.

The government's apparent concession came despite recent warnings by president Pervez Musharraf that militancy was on the increase and that "we need to strongly counter it".
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pakistan_swaps_militants_for_cops/articleshow/2062398.cms

 

[Neo]

What’s the Lal Masjid brigade up to?

KIDNAPPINGS and suicidal attacks — Lal Masjid clerics have decided that these are their weapons in their self-appointed mission to establish the rule of Sharia in Pakistan. It is not clear which precise Quranic verse or sayings of the Holy Prophet suggest this mode of jihad for “spreading good and suppressing evil”. On Friday, the followers of the Lal Masjid chiefs — the Lal Masjid ‘brigade’ — kidnapped four police officials. These hostages are in addition to the two cops they kidnapped on March 28. According to the mosque administration, 11 of the ‘brigade’ have been detained by the security agencies, and they will not free the kidnapped police officials unless the 11 followers of Maulanas Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rasheed Ghazi are released by the government. Later, inconclusive talks were held between Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao and the two maulanas, raising the possibility of a crackdown by the security agencies.

The two maulana brothers are a law unto themselves, as they have arrogated to themselves the right to enforce Sharia in Pakistan by means of coercion and blackmail they choose for themselves. Well versed they may be in Islamic doctrines, but their modus operandi seems to be no different from those of zealots in Fata or even in the NWFP’s settled areas who go about attacking video shops and bomb barbers’ salons. The former are attacked because they are supposed to promote immorality, while the latter are bombed because people go there to commit the crime of getting a shave. Depriving someone of his means of livelihood does not seem to be a crime to these fanatics, who tend to forget that kindness towards fellow human beings is Islam’s fundamental principle. More surprisingly, in his Friday sermon, Maulana Abdul Aziz threatened suicide attacks throughout the country if the government launched a crackdown as reportedly threatened by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq. It is quite possible, given the way the security agencies operate, that those detained were innocent and should have been released after questioning, if that was the purpose of the arrests. However, there are ways better than spilling blood through suicide attacks for getting the 11 released. Today the country is in the grip of a crusade movement by the legal community and the opposition for the supremacy of the judiciary. The two maulana brothers could have sought the help of the courts for the release of their followers, and even if they did not get it, they could have protested peacefully to express their grievance, and it goes without saying that all political parties, intellectuals and rights groups would have supported them. Instead, by resorting to kidnappings and threatening suicide attacks, they have forfeited the sympathy of all right-thinking people in the country. Besides, suicide attacks mostly kill and maim innocent people, deprive children of their parents, and render women widows, while families lose their bread-winners. Are suicide bombings directed from the sacred precincts of a mosque the Islamic way of registering a protest? It is true that the government gets a bad name, and news of suicide bombings hits world headlines. But must human beings be blown to pieces for scoring a propaganda point?

The government must act with firmness to have the kidnapped officials released. The kidnappings are a challenge to the government’s writ right in the federal capital. But any precipitate action with its concomitant quota of graphic TV images could play into the hands of the Taliban lobby and make the guilty appear victims.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/20/ed.htm#1

 

[EagleEyes]

I didn't know thats why i asked. It seems that is the case, but the terrorists probably not so potent.

But it seems you knew. Why ask?