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.
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“...to try and negotiate...” Should be try TO negotiate. This AP writer never went to college, I suppose.
Don't you just love how the AP turns terrorist into victims, with a simple turn of a phrase?