 |
| Abdul Rashid Ghazi: The deputy chief cleric at the Lal Majid spoke during an interview in Islamabad February 9. Pakistani security forces killed
Ghazi Tuesday during an assault on his mosque complex. Mian Khursheed/Reuters/file |
Pakistani leader's bold move
Musharraf's risky raid on the extremist Red Mosque may pay political dividends.
By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorand Behroz Khan | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
from the July 11, 2007 edition
Page 1 of 3
NEW DELHI and PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN - Tuesday morning, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf made one of the most dramatic decisions of his six-year participation in the war on terror.
By authorizing a raid against a rebel mosque in the capital city of Islamabad, he took decisive action against Pakistani extremists – something critics charge that he has so far been loath to do. The leaders of the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, had taken hostages, preached anti-Western rhetoric, and for six months defied government orders to close.
The raid has already sparked outrage and violence in Pakistan's hinterlands, where the roots of Islamist extremism are deepest. But it has also accomplished something almost unheard of in recent months: an outpouring of support for the embattled president.
With most Pakistanis as weary of terrorism as the international community, the operation is seen by many as a decision long overdue. Yet despite intimations that this strike will herald a new offensive against growing extremism in Pakistan, there is broad skepticism that Mr. Musharraf has the will to maintain such momentum.
The brazen defiance by the leaders of the Red Mosque in Islamabad "forced [Musharraf's] hand," says Dennis Kux, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington. "But if he went all-out, he would have a lot more trouble on his hands."
The situation at the Red Mosque simmered for months until it finally burst into full-scale violence last Tuesday.
Leaders of the mosque and students from an affiliated madrassah, or religious school, had barricaded themselves into the complex, protesting an order to destroy the mosque, which the government claimed was illegally built.
Government authorities say the assault began at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, when troops stormed the compound and were met with machine-gun fire and grenade attacks.
 |
|
RSS feed
