Radical Pakistan mosque warns Musharraf

PAKISTAN: A radical Pakistani mosque threatened forceful retaliation if the government launches an operation against it after President Pervez Musharraf said it housed suicide bombers.

“We have read the statement by Mr Musharraf and we want to warn him that in case of an operation against our mosque and the seminary we will put up a very forceful retaliation,” Abdul Rashid Ghazi, from Islamabad’s Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa seminary, told AFP.

The English-language Pakistani newspaper Dawn quoted military ruler Musharraf as saying many potential suicide bombers were inside the mosque, which is seen as a militant hub in the heart of the capital.

Militants linked to extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda, were hiding in the mosque with explosives and could cause havoc in the event of an armed operation against them, the president added.

“Let it be clear that action against Lal Masjid (the Red Mosque) and Jamia Hafsa Brigade was not withheld because of government weakness or cowardice,” Musharraf said in the report.

Islamabad, Sunday, AFP