"Students" seize Red Mosque again

Washington Post:

Radical students retook the Red Mosque in this normally sleepy capital city on Friday, forcing a government-appointed cleric to flee and demanding the release of their pro-Taliban leader, who was arrested earlier this month during a showdown that ultimately claimed more than 100 lives.

The action raised the possibility of another siege at the mosque, just weeks after the government dispatched hundreds of elite commandos in a successful but bloody effort to take control of the building.

A chaotic situation unfolded on the streets outside the mosque complex Friday, with an angry crowd of hundreds watching as young men climbed onto the roof to chant jihadist slogans and repaint parts of the building red, after the government had painted it a soft yellow. The men also hung the Red Mosque's old, signature black flags from the building's minarets, and threatened to take over a nearby market.

Earlier, a group of extremist activists had blocked a cleric recently appointed by the government to lead the mosque from delivering his Friday sermon--traditionally the focal point of the Muslim holy day.

Instead, the group demanded the return of Maulana Abdul Aziz, the mosque's former leader, who was arrested while trying to flee the compound dressed in a burqa in the first days of the siege. Aziz's younger brother Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was the mosque's deputy leader, was killed during the commando raid.

...


Musharraf needs to quickly retake the mosque and make clear that the inmates are not running the asylum in Pakistan. This is an opportunity for him to demonstrate leadership in the fight with the Islamic religious bigots. If he dithers again the situation will only get worse. He also needs to determine if al Qaeda's Zawahiri is behind the latest lawlessness as he was during the first siege.

CNN reports that 11 were killed in a bomb attack that is apparently connected with the Red Mosque mess. The bombing was at a hotel a short distance from the Mosque and came after tear gas was fired on the mob at the mosque. The story indicates that security was retightened prior to the reopening of the mosque. Apparently, it was not tight enough.

Gateway Pundit has more on the mosque mess with graphic photos.

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