Musharraf rules out raid against The Lal Masjid

Musharraf rules out mosque raid

Lal Masjid students are openly defying the authorities
Pakistan's President Musharraf has ruled out military action against a rebellious radical mosque in the heart of the capital, Islamabad.
Gen Musharraf told the BBC that the authorities could not send forces in for fear of reprisal suicide attacks.

The Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) has been openly defying the government for months, resulting in a tense stand-off.

In recent days, thousands of armed police have been surrounding it after students kidnapped a number of police.

They have weapons and are also prepared to carry out suicide attacks

President Musharraf

The kidnappings were the latest in a series of bold challenges to the authority of President Musharraf by the mosque and male and female students in seminaries attached to it.

Officials have tried to appease the mosque and its students with talks and concessions, saying they do not want to use force against the women and in a holy place.

But critics have attacked the government for failing to enforce its authority in the capital city.

'Last resort'

President Musharraf made his remarks in an exclusive interview with the BBC's Urdu service.

Asked what the government planned to do about the mosque, he said: "How can we take any action? They have weapons and are also prepared to carry out suicide attacks."

He accused the mosque's students of being indoctrinated to defend it at all costs.

Earlier, Pakistan's interior ministry had also made clear there were no plans to launch an operation against the mosque.

"Everything will be resolved peacefully through dialogue, and we will use force only as an absolute last resort," Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema told a news conference.

The mosque and its seminaries hit the news when its students launched a morality drive in Islamabad.

Tensions escalated sharply after a number of policemen were kidnapped in recent days.

Three policemen were taken hostage on Monday, but released shortly afterwards. Two others are still being held after being kidnapped last week.

The mosque's cleric says the policemen will be freed when the government releases students detained in recent weeks

I expected him to take a tough stance against these misguided people but he seems to be taking the easy option.

I think the issue is being prolonged to drown the CJ out,
It was always going to be a tough decission anyway.

Not sure why anyone sane would think this is a easy choice and everything shouldn't be connected to CJ unless you have some proof. I am not defending him nor am I supporting him anymore in that case however please lets look at the issues in a proper manner.

You might not agree but where are the Mullahs who are hoping to run the country one day. They would have far more say in this matter than any PM or President. Why can't they least side with the government? Perhaps because they would want something out of this situation when a Masjid is attacked.

Masjid being Allah's house to millions...can you imagine the horror when it is fired upon and people are killed let alone if it is blown up? We can sit here and talk all we want but the truth is people of Pakistan would want his blood and the opposition Mullah's be the front runners causing more problems.

I mean aren't you the one who accusses the President of killing his own people? Just because they wouldn't stop supporting terrorists?

No one did......



I think the only proof we can have for this is if we found a recording of Musharraf planning this out. As that is not an acceptable demand we can only postulate. This issue is not as difficult to resolve as it sounds, Shujaat's dialogue seemed to have ended the problem and another dialogue can do so again, it seems to be being dragged on for some reason and I have stated which reason I think it is.



If you are speaking of the MMA, then they have already explained that they cannot offer the Lal masjid or Jamia Hafza any of their demands as they don't have the power to do so.
These people are a result of social and administerial neglect. MMA agree with their demands but not their actions. How can they break the deadlock when they don't have the power to fulfil anything or promise anything?



Like I said in my first post which you misread it isn't an easy decission but we don't need to fire bullets to break the deadlock.

this is the proof that the government is behind all this nonsense.

Our distinguished Generals have a history of creating and fostering goons who they use for distractions or executing their dirty work, or both. (Taliban, Mujahideen, Drug-dealers, the unlikely politician MNS, and so on)

Unfortunately, history also shows they eventually lose control of the rambos/ frankensteins - largely because they don't bother to close the files properly - and then the nation gets stuck with yet another set of nutjobs and rebels without a rational cause.

But take a step back, repeating history is what Pakistan is best at. Cooperative scams, land scams, corrupt PMs being relected, forming best friendships with the US only to be kicked in the face after a few years, not catering to approaching power shortages, the list is pervasive and grows daily.