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| 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.
from the July 11, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
At press time, officials claimed that government troops controlled 70 percent of the compound, and were fighting the students from room to room.
They estimated that 70 militants had been captured, while as many as 60 had been killed, along with eight soldiers and the leader of the mosque, Abdul Rashid Ghazi.
The condition of an unknown number of women and children trapped in the compound was not yet known, though officials said 50 had been rescued so far.
Despite the reports of bloodshed, the anger of most Pakistanis Tuesday appeared to be directed at the clerics of the Red Mosque, not the president.
"All those inside are terrorists and they have held innocent people and students hostage," says Bakht Rawan of Peshawar, whose relatives had sent their children to the seminary for studies. "Maulana [Abdul] Rashid Ghazi is responsible for all the killings and sufferings of parents and their children trapped inside the compound," he adds.
Even in Peshawar, about 100 miles west of Islamabad where the Taliban have exerted increasing influence, many agree with him. "We have earned a very bad name in the world because of some crazy people like [this]," says Naseeb Zada, a schoolteacher here. "What is happening should have happened much earlier."
For Musharraf, the positive reaction is an unusual bit of good news. Musharraf's attempts in March to throw the chief justice off the Supreme Court sparked daily nationwide protests against him and created the greatest threat to his rule since he seized power from a democratically elected government in 1999.
"Up until this happened, he looked to be on a slippery slope," says Dr. Kux, of the Woodrow Wilson Center. "This could be a big event."
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