2007年VOA标准英语-Pakistan Police Continue to Battle Religious Mi
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By Benjamin SandIslamabad
04 July 2007
Pakistani officials warned heavily armed militants1 holed up inside a radical2 mosque3 in central Islamabad to lay down their weapons or face attack. After a deadline for 1100 local time passed, several hundred students left the mosque, but hundreds of others remained inside. As VOA correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from the capital, at least 11 people died in a day of clashes on Tuesday.
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| A religious student takes a drink during a clash outside the Lal mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, 04 July 2007 |
Power to the mosque was cut off Tuesday night, and Pakistani troops used armored vehicles and barbed wire to seal of the neighborhood.
More than a hundred mostly female students surrendered Wednesday after the government ordered the militants to lay down their arms or face further attacks.
Hundreds more remain inside, however, and mediators continue to push for a peaceful settlement.
Information Minister Tariq Azim says the government hopes to avoid an all-out confrontation5.
"We still hope that common sense will prevail and that they will surrender, realizing that they have no other option left to them now," he said.
Clashes at the mosque on Tuesday left at least 11 people dead and much of the city under virtual martial6 law.
Tuesday's clashes erupted after students, many armed with bamboo clubs and handguns, rushed toward a government security post.
Officials say the police were firing tear gas into the crowd when several students opened fire, killing7 at least one officer.
Witnesses say the mosque also broadcast calls for suicide bomb attacks over its loudspeakers.
The bloody8 confrontation follows a standoff over the past several months between the mosque's pro-Taleban supporters and the Pakistani government.
Lal Masjid's leaders want to impose strict Islamic law, like that implemented9 by the Taleban government in Afghanistan a decade ago.
Its students have led a series of provocative10 raids into the city, including several kidnappings of local police and a number of alleged11 prostitutes.
The government has repeatedly threatened to retaliate12 but until Tuesday it always backed down in favor of negotiated settlements.
The conflict comes as Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf faces mounting political opposition13 ahead of elections expected later this year.
Many of his critics used the Lal Masjid standoff to highlight concerns that the government has failed to control religious extremists.
