ISLAMABAD, April 2: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has warned religious extremists, particularly those of Islamabad, not to misconstrue government's leniency as weakness as the writ of the state will be enforced at any cost.

"We are deliberately avoiding taking any action against girl students of Madressa Hafsa as we do not want to hurt women students and cause any damage to mosque," the president told ulema and religious scholars attending the National Seerat Conference 2007 on Sunday.

He urged religious scholars and members of civil society to convince the girl students and their leaders to stop taking law into their hands.

"If I take an action against them, it will be considered a war between Islam and Kufr. Therefore, I appeal to you to persuade the madressah girls and their leaders to behave before it is too late," the president said.

Girl students of Jamia Hafsa have continued to occupy a children’s library adjacent to their madressah for the past two months, seriously challenging the writ of the government in the capital.

The government is under pressure from opposition leaders who have accused it of succumbing to religious extremists.