Pakistan Edges Closer To Assault

Pakistani authorities appear to be getting ready to launch a full-scale assault on the extremists holed up inside the Red Mosque in Islamabad. Spokesmen are saying that there is a real fear that the "brave" jihadis will begin executing women and children in an effort to get the government to allow them to escape. It does not appear likely that the government will sit by and let that happen or give in to the demands.

Government forces tightened the noose on day six of the siege of the Red Mosque, after a top commando died in an operation to blast through the wall around the complex and allow the alleged "human shields" to escape.

Officials said some foreign rebels were barricaded in the building, along with Pakistani militants from a group linked to the beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl and attempts to kill President Pervez Musharraf.

Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul Haq said the government believed the mosque's firebrand deputy leader, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, had effectively been deposed by the extremists.

"The hardcore militants are in control of the mosque," Haq told AFP. "Our fear is that they may start killing the women and children to press for their demand for safe passage."

Haq said that one or two militants from Uzbekistan were among those believed to be in the mosque.

Uzbeks, Arabs and Chechens formed the backbone of an Al-Qaeda force that fled into Pakistan's troubled tribal areas after the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

Military ruler Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz spoke by telephone on Sunday to weigh up the government's options after so far delaying a raid on the mosque.

"They have discussed how to bring the crisis to a swift end, including possible assault on the compound," a top official familiar with the issue told AFP.

The "brave" jihadis think nothing of taking women and children hostage to use as human shields. Or bravely trying to disguise themselves as women to try to escape like "Auntie Aziz" did. (My son reminded me that Auntie Aziz was apparently acting out the "Lumberjack Song" from Monty Python's Flying Circus.) They also think nothing of killing Muslims in the name of their twisted political ambitions masquerading as religion. It really is time for the world to start denouncing these actions - especially the Muslim world.