Free Republic

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A radical cleric whose besieged mosque sought to impose strict Islamic morality on the Pakistani capital was killed Tuesday after refusing to respond to troops who demanded his surrender, officials said. About 50 militants and eight soldiers died when the military stormed the sprawling Red Mosque compound. Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the public face of the pro-Taliban mosque that challenged the government's writ in Islamabad, had vowed to die rather than give himself up. An army official said Ghazi had received bullet wounds and when he was told to surrender, he gave no reply. Commandos then fired another...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will expel around 300 foreign students from Islamic seminaries in the country if they failed to get permission from their governments to stay, a senior official said on Tuesday. The move is part of a drive to counter religious extremism and terrorism launched by President Pervez Musharraf in the wake of the July 7, 2005 attacks in London when at least one of the suicide bombers was believed to have spent time at a Pakistani madrasa. Syed Kamal Shah, permanent secretary at the Interior Ministry, said 600 to 700 foreign students were currently enrolled with seminaries...

A Muslim leader has said child abuse in Islamic religious schools in Britain is "widespread", and called for tougher regulation to tackle the problem. Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, head of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, said the 700 or so madrasas in this country were "outside the law". He is co-author of a report into the dangers facing some of the 100,000 youngsters who attend the institutions - usually attached to mosques. Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, he said: "Our understanding is that physical abuse is widespread. "We would like to see mosques and madrasas come into...

In the madrasas and on the streets of Pakistan, students learn to hate in the name of love, and whoever has a gun is a warlord. ___ Around Pakistan’s Independence Day, last August 14, billboards sprang up on roundabouts in the city of Karachi offering three different Kentucky Fried Chicken meals. Against the green and white flag of Pakistan, they bore the words “A free nation free to choose.” That morning in the Abdul Baqi madrasa, or religious seminary, 350 students were gathered for a special Independence Day assembly. Fifteen-year-old Rafi Udin spoke to the rows of boys, all wearing...

As a close U.S. ally in the war against terror, Pakistan has been designated a "major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally," allowing the Islamic Republic to join an elite group of nations, which are granted significant benefits in the area of foreign aid and defense co-operation. But when it comes to the U.S. war on Islamist Terror, this alliance, on close examination, does not translate into a  fruitful relationship. Terrorism in Afghanistan does not show any signs of going away, anti-American sentiments are on the rise in Pakistan, and religious extremism continues to gain new ground. Many tribal leaders from Peshawar in N.W.F.P.,...

KARACHI - Pakistani authorities are preparing to send home 648 foreign students studying at Islamic religious schools in the southern Sindh province, says a senior Government official. "There are some 648 foreign students studying in madrasas in the province, of which 591 are in Karachi," Ghulam Mohtaram, Home Secretary of Sindh, told reporters in Karachi. President Pervez Musharraf banned foreign students coming to Pakistan for religious education after the July 7 London bombings and because of reports some Islamic religious schools, or madrasas, were militant recruiting grounds. He said all the foreign students in Pakistani madrasas would be asked to...

Madrasas are Islamic colleges accused by the US of incubating terrorism and the attacks of 9/11. From Pakistan, William Dalrymple investigates the threat Halfway along the dangerous road to Kohat - deep in the lawless tribal belt between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and where Osama Bin Laden is widely believed to be sheltering - we passed a small whitewashed shrine that had recently been erected by the side of the road: "That is where the army ambushed and killed two al-Qaeda men escaping from Afghanistan," said Javed Paracha. "Local people soon began to see the two martyrs in their dreams. Now...

[India News]: Kolkata, Jan 20 : A Bangladeshi human rights group today claimed that 31 Islamic militant outfits were operating in the country now, targetting non-Muslims and seeking to establish a "greater Islamic nation" including parts of some adjacent Indian states. "As per our findings, 31 Islamic militant groups are now operating in Bangladesh. They are mainly targetting non-Muslim people. They also want to set up a greater Islamic nation with parts of some adjacent states of India," Rosalyn Costa, who heads the rights group 'Hotline Bangladesh', said here. Costa was speaking at a press conference to announce a two-day...

For those of you in the “vast right wing conspiracy” who seem to believe that the liberal establishment in America bears some resemblance to the muslim fascist terrorists, let me point out just a few differences between the training of young people in America's public schools and the Saudi Madrasas where muslim fascism is part and parcel of the school agenda. Subject: America Liberal Madrasas (formerly referred to as the American Public School System): America is the root of all evil in the world today. Saudi Madrasas: America is the root of all evil in the world today. Subject: 9/11...

10 May, 2004 PAKISTAN Forced conversion to Islam fatal for Christian boy New incident reveals frightening trend Lahore (AsiaNews/Ucan) – Outrage at the death of a Catholic boy forced to convert to Islam at the hands of torturous abductors has prompted the Pakistan Catholic Bishop’s Commission of Justice and Peace, to take up the legal case. The Christian youth died of injuries inflicted by a teacher and students at an Islamic school. The National Commission for Justice and Peace declared May 4th that the incident reflects a worrying trend of forced conversions. Javed Anjum, an 18-year-old commerce student was seized...

WASHINGTON : The US should focus on reforming radical madrasas, like those in Pakistan, that are a hotbed of Islamic militants, an Indian counter-terrorism expert said at a congressional hearing. B Raman, former head of counter-terrorism at the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India 's external intelligence agency, said this while testifying before a joint hearing of the subcommittees on Asia and the Pacific and International Terrorism, Non-proliferation and Human Rights. The committees were chaired by Representative Jim Leach and Representative Elton Gallegly, both Republican. Stressing the need to counter madrasa-style education, Raman said young students studying in the Islamic...

<p>The senior minister issued his warning Monday while answering questions at the World Economic Forum in Singapore, ChannelnewsAsia reported.</p> <p>Lee said tight security checks such as those at the forum will be a fact of life because terrorism is a long term problem.</p>

<p>May 30, 2002 -- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Local police, aided by FBI agents, yesterday nabbed a man believed to be an important member of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. The arrest was the latest in a government crackdown on Islamic militants that has raised the ire of extremist groups.</p>