Musharraf defends military raid

Islamabad: President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday a military operation against miltants entrenched in a mosque complex in Islambad had become "inevitable" for Paksitan's security.

In a televised address to the nation, the president rejected the view that the operation was ordered without exhausting options for a peaceful solution, pointing out that all efforts up to the last minute to negotiate and secure surrender by militants failed.

Musharraf said the patience and restraint shown by the government saved 3,300 men, women and children including 1,300 who came out from the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) and Jamia Hafsa female seminary complex after the siege began on July 3.

Safe passage

He said the deceased cleric Abdul Rashid Gazi first demanded safe passage and amnesty for himself and his companions, but the deadlock arose when he sought safe passage for foreigners with him.

The president said 75 terrorists, who had links in North West Frontier Province and in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, were killed in the operation. Asserting that he was "sad" over what happened, he emphasised the operation had become "inevitable for Pakistan and its security".

The president vowed that terrorism and extremism would be eliminated form "every nook and corner of the country" and the federal government would extend support to law-enforcing agencies in the frontier province and tribal areas.

"It is our unwavering resolve to root out terrorism and we shall not let any madrassa in the country to become a centre of militancy like Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa," Musharraf said.

He appealed to the people, religious scholars and all segments of the society to strengthen the hands of the government and extend help in changing the "mindset of the misguided."

True values

The president appealed to the ulema to teach true values of Islam and remove hatred and militancy from the hearts and minds of those who led astray.

Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz warned religious seminaries that are involved in promoting militancy and extremism will face the same sort of action taken against the militants of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.

Talking to journalists yesterday, Aziz said the government would take "stern action" against any seminary involved in illegal activities, as it had done against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.

"The madrassas which were functioning according to the law need not worry, but those promoting militancy and extremism would not be tolerated," he warned.

The prime minister said the exact number of casualties among the militants in Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa would be ascertained after security forces sweep the mosque and madrassa compound.

Women and children

He said no bodies of women and children had been found inside the complex and the probability such bodies would be found during the clearing operation was low. Most women were together and they came out together, he said.

"Saving the lives of maximum people was the centre-point of the government's strategy and with the safe retrieval of 1,300 children, women and men from Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa, we have been successful in our objective."

In reply to a question the prime minister said the government had credible information that a "certain category of people who were not really students" (hardcore militants] had been holed up inside the mosque before the operation began.