The Waco of Pakistan Unfolds

President Musharraf has laid down the line down in the sand. "Surrender or die!" Kudos to his courage and conviction to stamp out the radical islamo-fascist elements in his country and those that have been spilling over from Afghanistan Taliban tribes. The world now watches and waits for the Waco of Pakistan to unfold.

(ISLAMABAD) - A rebel cleric said he and his fighters hoped their deaths would spark an Islamic revolution in Pakistan, as commandos blew holes in the walls of their besieged mosque compound to help women and children inside escape.

Troops have surrounded the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in Islamabad since Tuesday when clashes between armed student radicals and government forces erupted after months of tension.

The death toll from the conflict rose to at least 21 after a lieutenant-colonel died when commandos came under fire from the compound that houses a girls' madrasa (Islamic religious school) as well as the mosque.

Government and military officials say rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi has between 50-60 hard core militants -- some from al Qaeda-linked Pakistani groups -- leading the fighting.

President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday gave the militants a 'surrender-or-die' ultimatum.

Ghazi has said he preferred "martyrdom." In a statement carried by Sunday newspapers the cleric said he and his followers hoped their deaths would spark an Islamic revolution.

"We have firm belief in God that our blood will lead to a revolution," wrote Ghazi. "God willing, Islamic revolution will be the destiny of this nation."

His Taliban-style movement is symptomatic of the militancy and extremism seeping into Pakistani cities from tribal areas near the Afghan border. -- Reuters News

The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan, who is in Islamabad, says there are reports that militants from an outlawed radical Muslim organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammad, are in actual control inside the mosque.

Members of the group have been involved in several failed attempts on the life of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and it has also been linked to al-Qaeda.

On Saturday, President Musharraf told the students they had no option but to surrender.

"We have been patient. I want to say to the ones who have been left inside: they should come out and surrender, and if they don't, I am saying this here and now: they will be killed," he said.

More than 1,000 supporters left last week under mounting pressure from security forces, although only about 20 have left since Friday. --- BBC

The world watches as President Musharraf shows that he means business when he says he wants to eradicate radical islamo-fascist influences within Pakistan. Hopefully he will overpower the militants and bring them to justice in this world or face justice in the next while destroying their quest to create yet another oppressive Islamic state in the region. If they have chosen death over surrender, then we say, send them on their way.

Tags: middle east, politics, terrorism, world news, zz