By IANS
Islamabad : Authorities in the Pakistani capital have said they would not raid the Lal Masjid seminary complex even as the militant clergy controlling it threatened more abductions of those indulging in "un-Islamic acts."
Ghazi Abdur Rashid, who controls the mosque, told Dawn News that he did not justify suicide attacks, but would not hesitate to use this ploy, if attacked, "as the last resort in self-defence."
The cleric and his brother, Maulana Abdul Aziz, have claimed that the government had assured them that they had no plans to raid the seminary complex.
"Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ali and Assistant Commissioner Farasat Ali Khan have assured me over the phone that the government is not planning any action against us," Ghazi told the Daily Times.
The newspaper said the militants are "shrugging off" the presence of contingents of police and the para-military Rangers around the complex.
Ghazi Brothers, as they have become known, control a group of militant students, both boys and girls, who are holding out from the complex since March.
They raided a Chinese-run massage parlour in the city, holding nine persons, including six Chinese, hostage for 36 hours, alleging that the place was being run as a brothel. They were released so as not to harm the Sino-Pak relations, Ghazi later said.
The incident caused the Chinese to demand better protection for their workers across Pakistan when Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan held a meeting in Beijing last Monday.
The Lal Masjid militants are armed. Ghazi claimed that they were licenced, but declined to give their numbers, Dawn News channel said.
"We do not want a Taliban-style government, but we are against the present system and want an Islamic welfare system in Pakistan," the channel quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, the government has sought to pre-empt the militants by conducting its own raids on brothels, massage parlours and video parlours, seizing huge quantity of arms, liquor, pornographic material and opium.
Seventeen persons were arrested, police said.