|
Ultimatum for mosque leaders
04/07/2007 10:30 - (SA)
Islamabad - Pakistan's government set a deadline of 11:00 (06:00 GMT) on Wednesday for the leaders of a hardline mosque to surrender after clashes that have left 16 people dead, the information secretary said.
Anwar Mehmood told a news conference in Islamabad that the deadline was for the "mosque administration to surrender, hand over their weapons" to troops outside the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque.
"At the moment law enforcement agencies are exercising restraint... they are not going to fire until they are fired at," he said. "The men who surrender will be ensured safety."
Troops were enforcing a shoot-on-sight curfew imposed early on Wednesday on the area around the mosque.
Mehmood said that some women and children had left one of the two religious schools attached to the controversial mosque "and they are being treated with refreshments".
Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said that the departure of the women and children was a "positive development".
"Efforts are under way to force (the men in the mosque) to surrender without any confrontation," he told AFP.
"Law enforcement agencies are there around the mosque and the seminary to face any eventuality."
- AFP
|
News
