Fear Grows Of Hostage Situation at Red Mosque

Hundreds Still Inside, Pakistani Officials Say

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 6 -- Security forces ringing a besieged mosque pummeled Islamic radicals with gunfire on Friday, as concern grew that many of those still inside -- including children -- were being held against their will.

Although more than 1,200 people have fled the mosque since the siege began Tuesday, authorities estimated that several hundred remain within. Only a few dozen are suspected to be hard-core radicals; others appear to want to leave but have been prevented from doing so.

The government has refrained from launching a full-scale invasion of the mosque compound, even though the militants are believed to be severely outgunned. In the meantime, thousands of heavily armed rangers and commandos have formed a tight cordon around the compound.

Clerics at the pro-Taliban Red Mosque, also called the Lal Masjid, want to turn Pakistan into a theocracy. During the past few months, students at an affiliated madrassa, or religious school, have abducted alleged prostitutes and forced them to confess and threatened video store owners with attacks. On Tuesday, a clash between the radicals and government forces left at least 19 people dead.

The government of President Pervez Musharraf has wrestled for months with how to respond but is now demanding that the radicals surrender unconditionally.

After indicating Thursday night that he would leave the mosque peacefully, firebrand cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi said in a televised interview Friday that he had decided to fight to the death. "We can be martyred, but we will not court arrest," he said.

Ghazi's older brother, Maulana Abdul Aziz, was arrested Wednesday night as he attempted to flee the mosque disguised in a burqa. He has since been subjected to nationwide ridicule, with newspapers dubbing him "Auntie Aziz."

Supplies are rumored to be running low in the mosque and in the adjacent madrassa, and Tariq Azim Khan, the state information minister, said the government's approach going forward would be "to tire them out, not fire them out." The strategy, he said, was designed to allow more people to give up before security forces attempt a raid. But militants on Friday tried to thwart those plans.

About 1 p.m., a contingent of family members of those still inside approached the mosque hoping to retrieve their loved ones. Instead, they were met with gunfire. At least one person was slightly wounded in the attack.

"They said, 'We will not hand over your children,' and they fired on us," said Yasar Shah, who came to Islamabad from a village in western Pakistan. "My sister is in there. I have to get her back."

A young woman named Attia, her eyes downcast and her face etched with pain, said that only one of her three young children in the mosque had come out, despite her attempts to get them all back. The two who remain inside are 5 and 9 years old.

She said she sent her children to the madrassa because her husband was addicted to drugs and she lacked the money to feed or house them. "I sent them here to study," said Attia, who goes by one name. "Now I don't know whether they are alive or not."