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| India-Pakistan |
| No deadline for action against Lal Masjid: Durrani |
| 2007-07-08 |
| Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said on Saturday no deadline had been fixed for an operation against the Lal Masjid administration. “The main hurdle to the operation is the precious lives of children and female students who have been taken hostage inside the mosque,” Durrani told reporters after inspecting a surrender point and a media camp set up near the mosque. “Conducting an operation against the militants is not a problem, but we have been taking all measures to save the lives of the innocent,” he said. He said the government was not politicising the Lal Masjid issue, adding that it wanted to safely take out the besieged children and female students from Lal Masjid. It is not lawful to hold the besieged people hostage, the minister said, adding that the students were escaping from the mosque through breaches in the outer walls made by the shelling of security forces. He said the militants inside Jamia Hafsa were equipped with the latest weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, hand grenades and mines etc. “According to the students who fled the mosque, the militants have put the children and female students under siege in several rooms and a basement. This is deplorable,” the minister said. Durrani said parliamentarians of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal were not allowed to enter the mosque for security reasons. The government will not use force relentlessly, he added. The minister also took note of the difficulties being faced by the media personnel while covering the mosque standoff. He also specified a proper place for the journalists near the mosque to cover the events. |
| Posted by:Fred |