* The brave mujaheddin, those who preach martyrdom for Allah and poison the minds of impressionable young women and men, are not at all brave when it comes to practicing what they preach. Some try to flee in a burka, others through a hole in the wall. This is one who did not get away:
ISLAMABAD • Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the deputy prayer leader of Lal Masjid, was killed when he was trying to escape through a breach in the wall of Jamia Hafsa with his three foreign guards, reports said here yesterday.
Quoting unnamed intelligence source, Daily Times reported that army commandoes spotted Ghazi and his three guards trying to escape from a breach in the wall created by the army to rescue the women and children held hostage in the Jamia Hafsa compound.
Ghazi and his guards were heading towards the stream behind the Jamia Hafsa.
“The commandoes chased Ghazi and his guards and the latter took refuge in a room near the breach in the wall. One of Ghazi’s guards, an Uzbek, fired on a commando who was trying to take a look inside the room. The militant’s bullet missed the commando, who retaliated, killing all the four men inside,” said the source.
It is learnt that the security forces also found a partially burnt passport of a neighbouring country during the combing operation of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid.
The passport has become the focus of attention for the intelligence agencies since the neighbouring country has a history of targetting militant organisations, the source added.
The source said the foreign passport was found from Ghazi’s belongings and has been sent to an intelligence agency for further investigation. The presence of the foreign passport at residence of the late cleric had left senior intelligence officials wondering if secret agents of another country had penetrated into militant organisations.
The security forces found that some parts of Ghazi’s residence had been burnt, suggesting Ghazi and his guards tried to burn their belongings before trying to escape.
The security forces also found a large number of partially burnt local and foreign currency notes in some boxes. One of the boxes contained undamaged local money amounting to Rs1.5 million.
The security personnel also spotted partially burnt foreign passports, which supports the information on presence of foreign militants in the mosque complex, said the source.
Apparently negotiations between Pakistan Muslim League President Shujaat Hussain and Ghazi for a peaceful solution to the standoff failed due to the issue of foreign militants.
“Once all the issues were settled, Ghazi told Shujaat there were some ‘foreign friends’ who should also be given amnesty and safe passage with him. Ghazi repeated this demand thrice,” another source privy to the negotiations told the daily.
He added that the entire conversation was recorded on the mobile phone used in the talks and the government had secured the evidence.
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Congrats to the Pakistanis for killing this bastard. They seldom do the right thing but when they do they should get a little applause.
Or horrid media here in Finland described his demise in a more sympathetic way…
http://tundratabloid.blogspot.com/2007/07/pakistani-red-mosque-ring-leader-dead.html
“Johtaja kuoli yrittäessään antautua / Leader dies in attempt to surrender” Reuters”
Un-flipping-believable.