Cleric in drag says surrender, sorta
CNN:
Other reports indicate he suggested to those remaining that they try to slip away and if that failed they should surrender. He at least acknowledges that the current battle is one that his side cannot win. That is a dose of reality that seems to have evaded his conscience before confronted with the "facts on the ground." Religious zeal can carry one only so far as the crusaders found in the middle ages. Or, as Napoleon said, "God is on the sides with the most battalions."
Bill Roggio has more on the battle of the Red Mosque. The BBC report that the mosque battle has actually improved Musharraf's standing in Pakistan. The negotiations and the delay were not popular.
A radical cleric seized by security forces in Pakistan on Thursday urged armed militants still holed up inside a mosque besieged by government troops to end a two-day standoff.Now we know why Muslim religious bigots are so insistent on women wearing those ridiculous outfits. It turns out they are get away costumes for the perverts in charge. You have to wonder how much time they spend in that garb themselves or do they just save it for an exit strategy?
Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz made the appeal on state-run TV shortly after he was arrested while trying to slip out of the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, disguised in a burqa.
"For students to stay put at the mosque will only be damaging ... they should either leave, if they can, or surrender," he said according to Reuters.
More than 1,200 students have already surrendered, but the cleric said about 850 students remained -- including children, about 600 women and 14 men armed with Kalashnikov sub-machine guns. Video Watch as the mosque standoff continues »
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswman Tasnim Aslam said the government was concerned that the children were being used as human shields.
Earlier Thursday, Pakistani forces demolished the Red Mosque's front walls and warned students by loudspeaker they had one last chance to surrender before a full attack took place, intelligence and military sources told CNN.
Heavy gunfire, punctuated by loud explosions and the frequent firing of tear gas, erupted shortly before 4 a.m. Thursday (2300 GMT Wednesday).
At least 24 people, including two members of the security forces and one journalist, have been killed in the two days of battles.
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Other reports indicate he suggested to those remaining that they try to slip away and if that failed they should surrender. He at least acknowledges that the current battle is one that his side cannot win. That is a dose of reality that seems to have evaded his conscience before confronted with the "facts on the ground." Religious zeal can carry one only so far as the crusaders found in the middle ages. Or, as Napoleon said, "God is on the sides with the most battalions."
Bill Roggio has more on the battle of the Red Mosque. The BBC report that the mosque battle has actually improved Musharraf's standing in Pakistan. The negotiations and the delay were not popular.
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