| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Police raid two seminaries for anti-Army clerics |
| 2004-08-18 |
| Police on Wednesday raided two seminaries in the federal capital to arrest Maulana Abdul Aziz and other clerics who are critical of the military operation to flush out foreign terrorists from the tribal ares. A large police force accompanied by senior officials raided Jamia Faridia located in Sector E-7 in Kohsar Police Station precincts to search for Aziz who fled a police raid on Lal Mosque on Tuesday. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sultan Azam Taimuri and Additional Deputy Commissioner General Zafar Iqbal had to negotiate with Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, the custodian of the seminary, before conducting the raid. The police scoured students' rooms and records for clues in their search for the elusive Maulana. They took published material and snapped photos of the building. The police also raided Farooqia Mosque in Sector G-9. They were present in large numbers outside Lal Mosque on Wednesday too. Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the Jamiat Ahle-Sunnat was held in Lal Mosque to discuss the situation. The meeting resolved to protest the government's action on Friday. A 10-member coordination committee was formed to confer with religious leaders on the matter. It was decided that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal would raise the issue in parliament. The meeting was attended among others by Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Mian Muhammad Aslam, Qari Saeed-ur-Rehman and Zahoor Alvi. Agencies add: Clerics gave the government until Thursday to withdraw cases against Maulana Abdul Aziz and Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and threatened to start countrywide protests if their demands were not met, at a meeting with Maulana Samiul Haq in the chair. The police confiscated a Kalashnikov during the raid on Jamia Faridia. |
| Posted by:Fred |