Posted on 08/14/2005 12:43:55 PM PDT by WmShirerAdmirer
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 leave the country.
A Pakistani official earlier said around 1400 overseas students, mostly from Southeast Asia, Europe, North America and Africa, were enrolled in Pakistani madrasas and would be sent home.
Mohtaram, however, said the authorities had set no time-limit for sending back the students as a lot of logistics were involved in the deportation process.
- REUTERS
Will "crash course" madrasas be implimented in light of this new development?
They'll just move somewhere else.
> ... all the foreign students in Pakistani madrasas
> would be asked to leave the country.
Will the destination countries be warned?
Certainly some will, but some will find something better to do. It will take awhile to gear up replacement sites for those that want to continue. At least it will disrupt them and thus do us some good. Plus if they really are kept out of Pakistan whatever ones we want to grab won't be sheltered by Pakistan's nukes. Also the Pakistani students may turn out less radical by the foreign radicals absence. Musharraf may not be perfect, but he's probably the best we're going to get there right now. If he falls we could well have a nuclear Pakistan and a newly nuclear Iran both actively against us. Don't totally dismiss what good Musharraf has been able to do. Certainly apply the "trust, but verify" standard, but try to keep our demands within what is presently possible there. All the while trying to nudge the whole of Pakistani possibilities in our direction.
Congressman Billybob
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