ISLAMABAD, 25 May 2007 — The hard-line administration of the Red Mosque freed two policemen here yesterday after holding them hostage for almost a week, an AFP reporter witnessed.
The Red Mosque seized four officers last Friday in retaliation for the detention of 11 students. Two of the policemen were freed the next day while the others were kept on.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the firebrand prayer leader at the mosque, summoned reporters to witness the release of the two officers.
The two policemen, wearing plain clothes, walked out accompanied by Ghazi, one of two brothers running the mosque, and were driven away in a white car.
“We have released the two policemen on Islamic and humanitarian grounds because their relatives came to us with requests to free them,” said Ghazi.
“We are not cruel people like the government. None of them contacted us for negotiations, nor did they release our remaining students,” the cleric added.
“There is no fear,” the cleric said, adding that his followers could abduct more police if the confrontation with authorities continues.
The policemen said they had been well treated by their captors but were happy to go home.
“Both of us are very happy because we are going back home and will be able to spend time with our families,” said officer Aurangzeb Awan.
“The attitude of the students was excellent. They did not misbehave with us during our stay at the mosque. They gave us good food and they provided us with a good environment.” He said they had been in touch with their families and with senior officers every day on their mobile phones.
Ghazi warned President Pervez Musharraf that a Taleban-style opposition movement is emerging to challenge his already crisis-hit regime.
Ghazi said his followers backed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and predicted the political upheaval would further the students’ goal of a pure Islamic state.
“If the government tries to suppress the change that our movement is demanding, then there is a likelihood of Talebanization,” Ghazi said. “I can see it happening.”
The Red Mosque’s defiance in recent months has put pressure on Musharraf to live up to his vow to tackle rising militancy in the country.
Students from a separate religious school affiliated to the mosque briefly kidnapped three more policemen on Monday. They released them hours later.
Last month the mosque set up a self-styled Islamic court, which issued a fatwa, or religious decree, against Pakistan’s female tourism minister for hugging a French paragliding instructor after a charity jump.
They also held briefly hostage a brothel owner and two other women.
