Red Mosque In Mourning, Islamists Take Warning

Good news from Pakistan, via the Dawn ticker:

Reuters reports that the other brother in Islamabad's Lal Masjid is ready to cut a deal:

Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi holed up in the besieged Lal Masjid in Islamabad said Thursday his followers were willing to surrender.

They are also, according to another AFP dispatch, holding women and children who want to leave as--well, they don't really say hostages.

This follows on reports that Pakistani police have detained, and I quote:

eight “hardcore” militants who tried to escape from the besieged Lal Masjid amidst heavy exchange of gunfire

I wonder what qualifies someone as a "hardcore" militant. It seems kind of redundant to me. Maybe it's the difference in someone who is willing to whip a defenseless Chinese masseuse, and someone who's willing to throw a grenade at a cop.

Maybe it means "Al Qaeda terrorist". I hear there's a few of them to be found there.

As I had hoped, Mush seems to be getting a boost out of this. (JYB Tailwag to Allah)

UPDATE: Woohoo! Take it off, baby!