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Bill Roggio: Pakistan may capitulate to the Red Mosque
Click to his site to click on his links; his links in italic:Musharraf approves amnesty; update on latest news from the Lal Masjid and the Taliban's response Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who survived an assassination attempt earlier today, is prepared to pardon the Islamists and the leaders of the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, according to Pakistan's Daily Times. President Musharraf "approved a plan to extend a general amnesty to about 100 militants still holed up inside Lal Masjid, provided they lay down their weapons and surrender to the security forces," sources privy to a meeting in Rawalpindi told the Daily Times. "The sources said that the government had decided to withdraw all criminal cases filed since February against the 100 or so militants, including Lal Masjid deputy cleric Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, provided they surrender." There is no word if Abdul Aziz, Ghazi's brother who was captured attempting to escape the mosque in a burka, will also be pardoned. The impetus for this amnesty offer comes from within the military and intelligence establishment, "who suggested that the militants had taken Ghazi hostage." Rumors have persisted that both Ghazi and Aziz have been coerced by "militants" to take a radical position, however this ignores Ghazi and Aziz's long history of supporting radical endeavors. Most importantly, the clerics were behind the 2004 fatwa, or religious edict, which "stated that Pakistani soldiers fighting South Waziristan did not deserve a Muslim funeral or burial at Muslim cemeteries in the event that they were killed while fighting in the tribal region" against the Taliban and al Qaeda operating there. "The decree turned out to be a major reason why many officers and soldiers in the Pakistani army refused to fight militants in Waziristan." Both clerics have been instrumental in fomenting the current crisis in Islamabad. They have threatened suicide campaigns, and vowed to start the "Islamic revolution in Islamabad" at the beginning of April by implementing sharia law. Aziz and Ghazi have repeatedly supported the cause of both the Taliban and al Qaeda. "We have a relationship of love and sincerity with jihadi organisations," Aziz said in an interview on Pakistani television yesterday. He also called al Qaeda "our foreign friends." The battles at the mosque are still ongoing. Sporadic gunfire was reported throughout Friday, and "intense firing" was reported around midnight. The Pakistani Army has blown holes in sections of the wall, and continues to fire tear gas into the compound. Over 60 students fled the mosque and were captured, and a security official told Dawn a number of them were members of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is the new name of the banned terror group and al-Qaeda affiliate Lashkar-e-Taiba. Jamaat-ud-Dawa has been put on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list. Posted by: Sherry 2007-07-06 |
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