Maulana Fazalur Rehman Khalil, erstwhile chief of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen (HM), said on Friday that he feared a backlash from militants over the Lal Masjid operation. “The military operation in the mosque-madrassa complex has serious repercussions and it could have been avoided,” Khalil said, adding that Islamist militants could severely react to it. Khalil, once Osama Bin Laden’s
He denounced the killing of “innocent” people trapped inside the complex and said the operation could have been avoided with a little patience from the government. He said he did not support Lal Masjid’s “Shariah”. He praised Shujaat and Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq for doing their “best to avoid the operation”. He said the Wafaqul Madaris Al Arabia (WMA) delegates had refused to accompany him into Lal Masjid to talk with Ghazi and that the delegates left the surrender point at around 12:30am.