Posted on 07/09/2007 5:26:04 PM PDT by mdittmar
Pakistani troops early Tuesday launched a massive operation against a cleric and his armed men in a besieged Islamabad mosque after negotiations failed, a top military official told AFP.
"The troops are now inside the mosque, they are at the roof top," top military spokesman Major General Arshad Waheed told AFP.
"It is a final push to clear the place of armed militants," he said, adding that the militants were putting up stiff resistance.
The talks between the Pakistani government and a cleric holed up with armed men at the mosque failed early Tuesday after he refused to release women and children allegedly held hostage, an official said.
Top government negotiator Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain announced the failure after 11 hours of talks, which was followed immediately by heavy firing and two massive blasts.
"After 11 hours of negotiations we are deeply disappointed that the talks did not succeed," he told a news conference near the Red Mosque.
Musarraf moves on mosque ping.
bttt
Wow, I thought they should have done this days ago.
Good.
And so it begins..
motions, they had to go through the motions.
DUH ABOUT TIME
Pakistan mosque talks fail
By ZARAR KHAN
The Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Gunfire and explosions shook Islamabad’s besieged Red Mosque Tuesday morning, minutes after government negotiators emerged empty handed from talks with militants accused of holding some 150 hostages inside.
At least 24 people have died since fighting erupted a week ago between security forces and supporters of hardline clerics who have tried to impose Taliban-style rule in the capital.
After a botched commando raid on the high-walled compound at the weekend, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Monday assigned ex-premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to try and negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff.
But Hussain and a delegation of Islamic clerics returned crestfallen from the mosque after about nine hours of talks with rebel leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi via loudspeakers and cell phones.
“We offered him a lot, but he wasn’t ready to come on our terms and finalize the modalities,” Hussain told reporters waiting at the edge of the army cordon shortly before dawn.
Hussain said he was still “hopeful” that talks could resume and prove fruitful.
However, several loud explosions boomed over the city just as the vexed looking delegates were getting into their cars and sporadic shooting was also heard.
Security forces have pushed reporters back several hundred yards from the scene.
This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Islamic scholars and a former prime minister started negotiating through cell phones and loudspeakers with militants holding a mosque in Pakistan’s capital Monday, hoping to end the standoff and protect women and children inside.
CONTINUED
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22048540-2,00.html
Pakistan troops storm besieged Red Mosque
PAKISTANI troops have launched a massive operation against a cleric and his armed men in a besieged Islamabad mosque after negotiations failed.
“The troops are now inside the mosque, they are at the roof top,” top military spokesman Major General Arshad Waheed said.
“It is a final push to clear the place of armed militants,” he said, adding that the militants were putting up stiff resistance.
Huge blasts rocked the Red Mosque compound and the sound of heavy gunfire could be heard.
“The troops have entered from three sides. The militants are firing at them. Our effort is to get hold of them as soon as possible and save the lives of unarmed people inside,” Gen Waheed said.
“Our effort is to finish the operation as quickly as possible with minimum loss of life.”
Ministers have accused cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his followers of holding women and children in the Red Mosque as human shields.
This is crunch time.
As much as I hate to say it, I hope he stays safe.
Negotiations to an end a bloody standoff at Pakistani’s Red Mosque have broken down and sustained gunfire and big explosions have been heard from the vicinity of the mosque.
A top military official has told AFP that troops are now inside the mosque.
Top military spokesman Major General Arshad Waheed says the troops are at the roof top.
He says it’s a final push to clear the place of armed militants.
But he added that the militants are putting up stiff resistance.
Troops surrounded the compound a week ago, when clashes between armed students and government forces erupted outside the the compound housing the Mosque, after months of tension.
The government says at least 21 people have already been killed in the week-long standoff, although those inside the mosque say the death toll is substantially higher.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1974371.htm
By Kamran Haider
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani forces launched an operation on Tuesday to clear militants from a mosque compound after talks to end a week-long standoff broke down, the military said.
“We launched an operation at 4 a.m. (midnight British time) to clear the madrasa of militants,” said military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad, referring to a religious school in the mosque compound.
A short while later he said troops had entered the compound of the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in Islamabad, and were coming under fire from the militants inside.
Troops have surrounded the compound since Tuesday last week when clashes between armed student radicals and government forces erupted outside the compound housing the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and a girl’s religious school after months of tension.
At least 21 people have been killed.
Earlier on Tuesday, government negotiators announced talks to end the siege had failed. Sustained gunfire and big explosions erupted from the vicinity of the mosque moments later.
“We tried to make him see sense but it seems he is trying to buy time,” Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan told reporters, referring to the radical cleric holed up in the mosque with militant fighters and hundreds of followers.
The government has been demanding that rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his 50 or 60 hardcore of fighters, who authorities say include wanted militants, surrender unconditionally or die.
Ghazi has refused, saying he would prefer martyrdom. He said he and the followers of his Taliban-style movement hoped their deaths would spark an Islamic revolution.
“They are not sincere ... they want bloodshed,” Ghazi told Geo TV after the announcement the talks had broken down, speaking by telephone from the compound.
HARDCORE
Security forces earlier said they had held back from mounting a full-scale assault because of fears for the women and children inside. The government says many of the 200 to 500 students inside had been forced to stay.
Ghazi said he had nearly 2,000 followers with him but no militants. No one was being forced to stay, he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani television channels reported that a deal was being worked out.
A delegation of religious scholars and ruling party politicians began talks on Monday with a radical cleric barricaded in an Islamabad mosque compound with militant gunmen and hundreds of followers.
Chief negotiator, former prime minister and ruling party leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain later went to see President Pervez Musharraf late on Monday.
Hussain returned to the mosque compound early on Tuesday for more talks.
About 1,200 students left the mosque early on the week-long siege but the numbers leaving later slowed to a trickle.
The Lal Masjid has been a centre of militancy for years, known for its support for Afghanistan’s Taliban and opposition to Musharraf’s backing for the United States.
Throughout the week, gunfire and explosions have rocked the leafy neighbourhood.
(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider)
Musarraf kills 150 innocent people or something similar.
Hmmm, a mosque being used as an armory, military training and recruiting center and as a fortress. What a surprise.
Ann (rightly) says we should bulldoze their mosques and convert them all to Christianity.
Yea, I’ll put on a cheerleader outfit and do a personal show in front of Musharraf if it means we don’t have radicals with nukes.
I have a feeling about this one - it's that contrary to our fears nobody's gonna miss this yahoo. And there will be, I suspect, sudden vacancies in the ISI ranks - Mushy knows he can't sit back and wait for the inevitable counterstroke. And the rules of engagement just shifted in the north such that we don't have to tiptoe around anymore. I'll be looking for the real action in the tribal areas. Soon.
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