Can’t vouch for Debka (an understatement), but I do recall that in the final hours of the Red Mosque seige, there were several mentions that the only people remaining alive in inside were non-Pakistani Arabs. Some kids who were being held hostage said the Arabs were with them in the basement, then they were suddenly gone, apparently through a tunnel to an adjacent property.
So the notion that these guys were mostly al Qaeda (which I heard and read being expressed by Pakistanis) is likely to be true.
The only people supporting and celebrating the actions of the Red Mosque terrorists were the (primitive and barbaric) Waziris, who were being roundly criticized by other Pakistanis (my news sources that day had been FR, the realtime forum at paktribune.com, and a couple English-language realtime news feeds from Pakistani TV).
Bottom line is that AQ has probably lost a great deal of sympathy in Pakistan, at least among thinking people.
Thanks.
YOu are very informed.