Posted on 07/06/2007 8:27:30 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's government says talks are over in a tense standoff with radical Islamic students who are locked inside the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque.
A Pakistani army soldier escorts a blindfolded militant who was holed up in the mosque.
"There will be no more dialogue," said Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim. "It has to be an absolutely total surrender, unconditional total surrender."
Pakistani forces and the students exchanged periodic gunfire early Friday that was punctuated by heavy explosions.
The Pakistani government refused to meet a demand by those inside the controversial mosque that they be allowed to surrender without facing arrest. 
Watch as the mosque standoff continues »
Intelligence sources say the nearly 1,000 people who remain holed up inside the mosque are facing a food and water shortage that is making living conditions inside miserable.
At least 50 of those people are well-armed hard-liners, according to Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao.
Maulana Abdul Aziz, the top cleric of the Red Mosque, joined the government's call for the students to surrender, a day after he was arrested trying to slip out of the mosque disguised in a burqa -- the head-to-toe covering worn by some Muslim women.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Level it!
And put a Burger King in it’s place.
Stop playing with these people...
If only Janet Reno and the Clinton era BTAF could organize a grand re-union tour of the hot-spots of Islam and level this place Waco-style as they traveled through.
Take em down, No Quarter , Play “the Deguello” for them.
MY thought exactly.
What sweet irony that the “Deguello” means throat-cutting and is of Muslim origin.
hadjis - Please let us melt away into the populace
mushy - uh, no.
They really are ugly people. Could that be why they are angry at everybody and ready to blow themselves into bits?
Better yet, a ribs and beer eating establishment. Even better, bring in the girls from the Bada Bing Club.
I was thinking of Steaks, lager and the girls from the pussycat club. Not that I’ve ever been there, mind you.
**************************************EXCERPT from your link*************************
Over the last few days Pervez Musharraf has found himself under increasing pressure from pro-taliban sympathizers in his own government and the military who have strongly objected to Musharraf's heavy-handed approach in dealing with the pro-taliban militants. That message would be made abundantly clear to Pervez Musharraf this morning at 10:15 am Pakistan time when anti-aircraft guns fixed on the rooftop of house adjacent to the Chaklala military air base in Rawalpindi fired rounds in the flight path of Musharraf's plane as it took off.
Cojones. Rare in the West.
Isn’t it right after an attempt is made on Mushy that a big attack is carried out? /bygone correlation
Better yet, put in a Fire Fresh BBQ. They have some of the best ribs you can get at a restaurant.
See link at #12 and excerpt at #13....
Guns fired near Pakistani president's plane
**************************EXCERPT************************
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Police seized munitions on Friday at a house near Islamabad's airport after receiving reports of rooftop gunfire around the same time President Pervez Musharraf's plane was taking off, authorities told CNN.
Security officials examine a long barrelled anti-aircraft gun after gunmen fired at President Musharraf's plane.
Police raided a vacant house in Rawalpindi, near the Islamabad airport, where they seized two machine guns situated on the rooftop and other weapons in the house.
Intelligence sources said they received reports that the guns were being set up and fire was heard. This was around the same time the president's plane was taking off.
Sources earlier described the weapons as anti-aircraft guns, but they are now being described as 7.62 mm improvised machine guns -- the kind used by Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
The people who heard the fire called police, who rushed to the house, set up a cordon, and began a search.
The distance between the house and the runway is around 6.5 to 7 kilometers, and the weapons are said to lack the power and the accuracy to effectively strike a target from such a distance.
The army denied a link between an attempt on Musharraf and the weaponry, but police are pursuing the reports.
Pakistani forces and radical Islamic students in Islamabad -- Pakistan's capital -- remained locked in a tense standoff at the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, punctuated by heavy explosions and periodic exchanges of gunfire, a four day siege that has resulted in at least 24 deaths.
The violence began Tuesday when about 150 militant students attacked a police checkpoint close to the mosque. Police fired tear gas and the students fought back with sticks and guns and took refuge in the mosque.
In the latest developments on Friday, a rocket was fired at an armored police vehicle from inside the mosque, and a group of parents were fired upon when they tried to enter the mosque to retrieve their children. A father was injured in that incident.
Now is 2330 in Pakistan and from what I hear they are attempting to convince the remaining militants of the amnesty and have asked to enter the mosque. They are having a hard time however convincing the remaining militants of the amnesty.
details are also now up on Pakistan newspapers - and so the CNN report is false
Pakistan News Amnesty offer for all who lay down arms
My post was at 1730 Pakistan Time
Thanks for the updates!!
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