Mosque militants ordered to surrender

Armed militants holed up at a radical mosque in the Pakistani capital must surrender or face an attack by security forces, the government has warned a day after gun battles there killed at least nine people.

The bloodshed added to a sense of crisis in Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf already faces emboldened militants near the Afghan border and a pro-democracy movement triggered by his botched attempt to fire the country's chief justice.

Police and paramilitary troops closed streets around Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and in the nearby government district soldiers unloaded armoured vehicles from truck trailers in front of Parliament and mounted machine-guns on their turrets.

After a meeting of top officials early today including Musharraf, Deputy Interior Minister Zafar Warriach said the government had imposed an immediate curfew on the area around the mosque.

"We ask them to surrender and lay down their arms. No action will be taken against those who do it, but if anyone displays weapons and comes out (of the mosque) he will be answered with bullets," Warriach said at an early morning news conference.
Mosque militants ordered to surrender - World - smh.com.au

Pakistan has to be one of the worst situations in the world today. Between the radical militants, the long time hate of India/Hinduism, combined with being a nuclear power; it's like a time bomb just waiting to blow.

Have a good one!:s4: