ISLAMABAD, 26 April 2007 — The leader of Pakistan’s ruling party declared yesterday that a standoff involving extremists at a mosque in Islamabad had been “amicably resolved,” though the situation on the ground appeared unchanged.
The compound belonging to Lal Masjid, and an adjoining girls’ madrasa still looked like an armed rebel camp — as it has been for the past few months.
Students armed with Kalashnikovs guarded the passage through the compound to a public library that burqa-clad girl students have been occupying since January in protest against the city authorities’ demolition of illegally-built mosques.
Boy students carrying staves patrolled the walls, and kept watch from elevated vantage points.
Yet, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, head of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, told journalists at the National Assembly that all issues had been settled amicably during his talks with prayer leaders at the mosque in the heart of the capital.
“They had two main demands; reconstruction of mosques and enforcement of Shariah,” Shujaat told reporters.
“We have agreed to rebuild the mosques and as far as Shariah is concerned, Pakistan is an Islamic republic and measures can be taken to improve the laws,” Shujaat said.
A senior leader at Lal Masjid, otherwise known as Red Mosque, appeared unmoved by Shujaat’s soothing words.
“There is no such agreement,” Abdul Rashid Ghazi, deputy leader at the mosque, said. “There has been an understanding from the beginning that they will rebuild our mosques and enforce Islamic laws and in return students will vacate the library.
“We will hand over the library to an Islamic government.” People were shocked earlier this month when Lal Masjid’s top prayer leader threatened to unleash suicide bombers if the government used force to stop a movement intent on implementing Shariah law in the capital.
Ghazi and his fellow extremist leaders lead about 3,000 followers, mostly girl students, holed up inside the compound.
Three Shot Dead
Gunmen shot and killed three people including a Shiite lawyer and his brother in an apparent sectarian violence in northwestern Pakistan yesterday.
Sayed Ali Shah, his brother Najaf Ali Shah and their servant Azizullah were ambushed by unidentified attackers on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan, a town in North West Frontier Province.
The victims were going to their village when the gunmen targeted their car, killing them on the spot before fleeing, said Kauser Khan, an area police chief.
A former deputy from Dera Ismail Khan, Omar Farooq Miankhail, told Arab News the two brothers were prominent Shiite leaders and had been on the hit list of Sipah-e-Sahaba, a rival sectarian outfit.
Saeedullah Khan, a journalist, told Arab News the two brothers had been receiving threats from the rival organization for the past few months.
