June 28, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 12, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 27: Tension mounted in the vicinity of Lal Masjid on Wednesday when over 1,000 Rangers armed with sophisticated weapons were deployed at Aabpara Community Centre, 200 yards from the mosque, suggesting possibility of a raid.

Following the shifting of Rangers to the community centre from the Sports Complex, the ‘Lal Masjid brigade’ set up positions at the four corners of the mosque and on the roof to counter any operation.

Stick-wielding students of Lal Masjid came out of the mosque and blocked the road in front of it. They stored a large quantity of stones on the roof.

However, even after the Rangers’ deployment, people in the locality found it hard to believe that any action would be taken because they believe the government was still hesitant about taking on the mosque’s administration.

Security forces are reported to have prepared in recent weeks for a raid on the Lal Masjid but they did not get the go-ahead from the authorities.

Meanwhile, deputy in-charge of the Lal Mosque Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi held a press conference and asked the local administration to remove the Rangers’ camp from the community centre, and threatened that if it was not done the seminary students would have no option but to take their own course of action.

A senior administration official told Dawn that security had been beefed up around the mosque and Rangers and police personnel had been deployed at various spots to stop the students of the Lal Masjid from targeting other ‘massage centres’.

The so-called ‘Lal Masjid brigade’ raided a Chinese massage centre in Islamabad’s Sector F/8 on Friday night and kidnapped nine Chinese nationals, including six women, for allegedly indulging in ‘immoral’ activities.

After the incident, the government ordered the authorities concerned to provide security to all massage centres in Islamabad, especially those run by foreigners.

“We were expecting students of Lal Masjid to target other massage centres and, therefore, Rangers have been deployed around the mosque to foil such attempts,” an official of the local administration said.

He said intelligence and security agencies would keep an eye on activities of the ‘Lal Masjid brigade’ and the movement of the six vehicles of the mosque.

The official said that another reason for the Rangers’ deployment was to provide them with proper shelter during the upcoming rains. They had been living in tents in H-11 and the Sports Complex.

Sources said that in the second phase, about 300 Rangers and police commandos would be deployed at the northern side of the mosque in two or three days.

Soon after their deployment, Rangers erected barbed wire fences around the community centre and erected tents inside. They also dug up bunkers.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry on Wednesday replaced Assistant Superintendent of Police (City Circle in whose limits falls the Lal Masjid) Kamran Adil with Deputy Superintendent of Police Malik Mumtaz, who is said to have experience in conducting raids and tackling riots.

ASP Kamran Adil has been posted as staff officer of the Inspector-General of Police, Islamabad.