President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said there will be no further talks or compromise with the administration of Lal Masjid and the two clerics that run the mosque and its madrassas must surrender, Online reports.Chairing a meeting on Wednesday that reviewed the situation at the mosque, Gen Musharraf said the government would use all its resources to maintain its writ. He expressed satisfaction that several hundred madrassa students had surrendered, and directed the government departments concerned to pay for the education of the students who surrendered in other schools.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz briefed the president on his talks with Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is trying to mediate between the Lal Masjid clerics and the government.
Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani, State Minister for Interior Zafar Iqbal Warraich and senior military officers also attended the meeting.
Staff report adds: The prime minister also chaired a federal cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Lal Masjid issue. He said at the meeting that the government had tried its best to resolve the issue through dialogue, but the Lal Masjid clerics had taken this as a weakness and now the time for talks was over.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said no timeframe for the Lal Masjid operation could be given as “the situation is changing rapidly with every passing moment”. He said use of force was still an option to free the children’s library occupied by madrassa students.
He said no major breakthrough was made in the talks between Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly (NA), and Lal Masjid mullahs.
He said the forces involved in the operation against Lal Masjid would decide when and if to relax the curfew.
The cabinet also approved a set of new initiatives to combat extremism and militancy in FATA, PATA and adjoining districts.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (r) Javed Iqbal Cheema told reporters that government had not launched a full-fledged operation against Lal Masjid students to save lives and give them a chance to surrender. “We are trying to minimise the loss of lives. We are trying to facilitate all those who want to surrender,” he said.
State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem said the government would grant amnesty to all Lal Masjid students who surrender and leave the mosque peacefully, including all women and children. However, he added that there would be no amnesty for the two cleric leaders of the mosque.
He said that Rs 5,000 would be given to each student who surrendered so they could return home.