PAKISTAN: Residents of Islamabad anxious for Red Mosque standoff to end

As the stances of the two sides in the Red Mosque conflict stiffen, a two-hour break in the curfew does little to lift the gloom surrounding the locality. On Saturday, (July 07) explosions and heavy gunfire stopped Islamist politicians from entering a besieged Islamabad mosque to persuade a radical cleric to send out children among his hundreds of militant followers. Army soldiers were deployed in many places round the mosque, replacing paramilitary troops who have led the siege. Water, gas and power to the mosque have been cut and food was said to be getting scarce. The stiffening of standpoints between security forces and militant Islamic students of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) has given rise to grave concern all over the country, especially in the immediate vicinity of Red Mosque which is under a 24-hour curfew. Although there is a two-hour break every afternoon, it brings scant respite to the despondent neighbourhood of the besieged mosque. Under the watchful eyes of patrolling troopers, people hasten to buy groceries, fetch drinking water from the community taps and do other outdoor chores. Everyone wants the siege to end as soon as possible so that life can get back to normal. "I appeal to the government not to bother about the male students, nor about the female students. Just rid us of the whole lot," said white-haired widow, Lal Bibi. Mosque cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the leader of a Taliban-style movement, has said he and his followers would rather choose "martyrdom", and would lay down their weapons but would never accept arrest. There was a series of explosions in late afternoon, while there had been several exchanges of fire since early morning. "Security forces are not allowing us to go in and they have opened fire," said member of parliament Samia Raheel Qazi. Officials say they don't know how many are left inside, though they put the number of hard-core militants at 50 to 60. Ghazi has said there are 1,900 students in the compound, while his brother, who was captured trying to escape in a burqa on Wednesday (July 4) put the number at 850, including 600 females. Authorities say they have blasted holes in the compound's walls to enable people to flee. Security forces have also occupied another city madrasa affiliated with the Lal Masjid. At almost the other end of the country, visiting a flood-hit area in southwest Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf struck an uncompromising tone. "Those who are inside Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa should surrender, otherwise they will be responsible for the consequences of their attitude," he was quoted as saying by state-run Pakistan Television

ITN Source | July 7, 2007

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