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Security stepped up in Pakistan Mosque protests across Pakistan
(about 5 hours later)
Security has been stepped up in Pakistan ahead of planned protests over the government's operation against Islamabad's radical Red Mosque. Protests have taken place across Pakistan against the government's military operation against radicals in Islamabad's radical Red Mosque.
Islamic clerics and politicians say they will hold nationwide protests against the government's action. In the north-western city of Peshawar more than 1,000 protesters vowed to avenge the death of the mosque's deputy leader, Abdul Rashid Ghazi.
A 36-hour assault on the mosque left 75 people inside the mosque and 10 soldiers dead, officials say. A 36-hour assault on the Islamabad mosque left 75 people inside the mosque and 10 soldiers dead, officials say.
For months clerics and students had been defying the authorities in their campaign for Sharia law in the capital. For months clerics and students campaigned for Sharia law in the city.
Students had kidnapped police as well as Islamabad residents they considered to be engaged in un-Islamic activity. Maulana Yousaf Qureshi, prayer leader at the Peshawar's historic Mahabat Khan mosque, asked the congregation to raise their hands if they wanted to emulate the path of Mr Ghazi, who was killed on Tuesday.
Correspondents say that scores of people did so, while chanting in support of Islam and against President Musharraf.
Map of Red Mosque siege area
'Genocide'
Many people offered prayers for those killed in the attack at another hardline mosque in Lahore.
HAVE YOUR SAY The outcome of this episode will determine the future of war against terror Muhammad Saeed, Islamabad Send us your comments Inside the Red Mosque Pakistan press review
The ceremony was organised by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organisation - a social welfare organisation linked to the banned Kashmiri militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba - which has been listed by the US as a terrorist organisation.
"This was genocide, hundreds of innocent women and children died," cleric Mohammad Saeed, the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organisation, said.
"This is a challenge for all Muslims and Pakistanis," he told the weekly prayer congregation.
"It is state terrorism, it is extreme brutality and those who killed the innocent will have a horrible fate," he said.
In the capital, hundreds of demonstrators attended a rally organized by Pakistan's main alliance of radical parties, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.
"This carnage will prove to be the last nail in the coffin of Musharraf's dictatorial rule in Pakistan," the group's deputy leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Hydri told the gathering.
"Now there will be Red Mosques everywhere in Pakistan."
Protests were also held in the southern port city of Karachi.
In another development on Friday, police say they seized three suspected suicide bombers and a car filled with explosives on the outskirts of the north-western town of Dera Ismail Khan.
The main English language Dawn newspaper has reported that the army has started deploying troops in the southern districts of North West Frontier Province in areas adjoining the troubled Waziristan region.
The paper said that the deployment comes amid reports that an operation to curb militancy and extremism was imminent.
On Thursday evening President Pervez Musharraf said he was determined that extremism and terrorism would be eradicated in Pakistan.On Thursday evening President Pervez Musharraf said he was determined that extremism and terrorism would be eradicated in Pakistan.
He was speaking in a televised address to the nation .He was speaking in a televised address to the nation .
class="bodl" href="#graphic">Map of Red Mosque siege area RED MOSQUE STAND-OFF 3 July: Clashes erupt at mosque, 16 killed, after long student campaign for Islamic Sharia law4 July: About 700 students leave mosque, now besieged by security forces; mosque leader caught trying to flee wearing woman's burka5 July: More than 1,000 students surrender to security forces6 July: Women are allowed to leave the mosque; students' deputy leader says he would rather die than surrender 8 July: Ministers say wanted militants are holding women and children inside the mosque9 July: Negotiators talk to mosque leader via loudspeaker without progress; three Chinese workers are killed in Peshawar over siege10 July: Pakistani troops storm mosque after failure of talks; army says Ghazi killed11 July: Pakistani army says all militants cleared from mosque class="" href="/1/hi/world/south_asia/6503477.stm">Profile: Red Mosque class="" href="/1/hi/world/south_asia/6287246.stm"> From joy to despair
'Madrassa a fortress''Madrassa a fortress'
Gen Musharraf praised Pakistan's security forces for freeing the Red Mosque in Islamabad "from the hands of terrorists".Gen Musharraf praised Pakistan's security forces for freeing the Red Mosque in Islamabad "from the hands of terrorists".
HAVE YOUR SAY The outcome of this episode will determine the future of war against terror Muhammad Saeed, Islamabad Send us your comments Inside the Red Mosque Pakistan press review
"Unfortunately we have been up against our own people... they had strayed from the right path and become susceptible to terrorism.""Unfortunately we have been up against our own people... they had strayed from the right path and become susceptible to terrorism."
"What do we want as a nation want?" President Musharraf asked. "What kind of Islam do these people represent?""What do we want as a nation want?" President Musharraf asked. "What kind of Islam do these people represent?"
"In the garb of Islamic teaching they have been training for terrorism... they prepared the madrassa as a fortress for war and housed other terrorists in there."In the garb of Islamic teaching they have been training for terrorism... they prepared the madrassa as a fortress for war and housed other terrorists in there.
"I will not allow any madrassa to be used for extremism.""I will not allow any madrassa to be used for extremism."
Gen Musharraf said those members of the military who died had given their blood for the country.Gen Musharraf said those members of the military who died had given their blood for the country.
He insisted that his government had acted with restraint and had acted only when negotiations had broken down. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Pakistan says many Pakistanis supported the operation, saying the government had no choice but to confront the Islamic extremists.
A short while earlier, officials said the bodies of 19 people, charred beyond recognition, were among the 75 bodies found in the mosque complex, which includes a religious school for women and girls.
An army spokesman said five of the charred bodies were of people killed by a suicide bomber in a locked room.
There are fears women and children may be among the victims but immediate confirmation is impossible.
Ten soldiers were killed in the operation. Officials say one suicide bomber was inside the buildings.
'Any gender, any age'
"We recovered the head of the suicide bomber and his body parts," said army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad.
RED MOSQUE STAND-OFF 3 July: Clashes erupt at mosque, 16 killed, after long student campaign for Islamic Sharia law4 July: About 700 students leave mosque, now besieged by security forces; mosque leader caught trying to flee wearing woman's burka5 July: More than 1,000 students surrender to security forces6 July: Women are allowed to leave the mosque; students' deputy leader says he would rather die than surrender 8 July: Ministers say wanted militants are holding women and children inside the mosque9 July: Negotiators talk to mosque leader via loudspeaker without progress; three Chinese workers are killed in Peshawar over siege10 July: Pakistani troops storm mosque after failure of talks; army says Ghazi killed11 July: Pakistani army says all militants cleared from mosque Profile: Red Mosque From joy to despair
"We also found five bodies that were burned beyond recognition."
He said another 13 bodies were found that were also so badly charred they could be "any gender, any age".
Military officials said they have taken photographs, fingerprints and DNA samples from the 75 bodies they say were found at the Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid.
Most of the bodies were buried Thursday morning in temporary graves identified with numbers.
An Islamabad city official said at least two children were among 69 bodies buried on Thursday.
The BBC's Barbara Plett says the girls' school, or madrassa, suffered the most damage.
Walls are covered with bullet holes and shattered glass lies everywhere, she says.
The cleric who led the last days of resistance in the mosque, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, was buried on Thursday in his home village of Basti Abdullah in Punjab province in front of hundreds of mourners.
Our correspondent says many Pakistanis supported the operation, saying the government had no choice but to confront the Islamic extremists.
But, she adds, the authorities fear a violent reaction from other radicals and the country is on high alert.But, she adds, the authorities fear a violent reaction from other radicals and the country is on high alert.
Attacks said to be linked to the mosque assault continued on Thursday in Pakistan's volatile north-west, where support for the Taleban is strong.
In the tribal area of North Waziristan near the Afghan border, a suicide bomber killed himself and two government officials in the town of Miran Shah, police said.
Further north in Swat district, at least five people, three of them police, were killed in a suicide car bombing, officials said. At least one of those killed was reported to be the bomber.
THE RED MOSQUE SIEGE 1 Special forces attack compound from three sides and breach mosque walls2 Fierce fighting between military and militants on mosque roof3 Military take control of mosque and clear building4 Militants fire from mosque minarets as action switches to madrassa5 Remaining militants holed up in its basement, with women and children Return to storyTHE RED MOSQUE SIEGE 1 Special forces attack compound from three sides and breach mosque walls2 Fierce fighting between military and militants on mosque roof3 Military take control of mosque and clear building4 Militants fire from mosque minarets as action switches to madrassa5 Remaining militants holed up in its basement, with women and children Return to story