Dealbreaker in the Red Mosque
Looks like Musharraf lost patience with the neo-Taliban in Islamabad's Lal Masjid and stormed the sucker. News is still filtering out, but I thought this was very revealing on why the negotiations fell apart:
As Operation Silence entered the decisive phase and troops were engaged in mopping up the militants, private TV channels reported that the talks for a peaceful resolution of the Lal Masjid standoff ended on account of cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi insisting on safe passage for the foreign militants inside the mosque complex. Chaudhry Shujaat Husain, who led the negotiating team, and ministers Ijazul Haq and Tariq Azim said it was the first time that Ghazi made a mention of foreign militants and wanted the deal to include their safety as well.I'm thinking we might turn up some big names here. Possibly Afghan names. Possibly--and this is just speculation, but wouldn't it be interesting-- Persian names. Wouldn't you like to know whom Ghazi risked death to protect?











