July 07, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 21, 1428

RAWALPINDI, July 6: Special Judge Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) No 2 Sakhi Mohammad Kahot here on Friday remanded Khalid Khawaja, chief of an NGO working for the cause of missing persons, for his alleged connections with Lal Masjid administration.

Mr Khawaja, who had recently been released from Adiala Jail on the orders of Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench, was arrested on Thursday night by Islamabad police for his alleged involvement in the affairs of Lal Masjid.

SHO Aabpara Police Station Rasheed Niazi demanded his physical remand to further investigate his links with Lal Masjid administration. The judge remanded him in police custody for seven days.

Police Constable Mohammad Aslam told the court that he saw Mr Khawaja on the premises of Lal Masjid on July 3 when the bloody encounter started. He said he knew Khalid Khawaja very well and was sure about his presence in the mosque. He has been charged with murder, hooliganism and creating law and order situation.

The accused, Khalid Khawaja, head of Defence of Human Rights, pleaded not guilty before the court. He said he even met Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, asking them to find ways to stop the bloodshed of innocent people.

They supported my efforts towards pacifying the situation as Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi was my friend, he told the court. But I was not given time to carry on with my efforts, he added.

The deputy cleric of Lal Masjid, Maulana Rasheed, has been telling mediapersons that he would accede to any deal worked out with the involvement of Khalid Khawaja.

Meanwhile the daughter of Maulana Abdul Aziz, Tayyaba Dua, moved the ATC No 2 to obtain bail through Hashmat Habib advocate.

The applicant said she was arrested along with her father on July 4 when about 300 veiled female students came out of Jamia Hafsa. At first it was thought that she was the wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz, Ume Hassan. In her application, she said she had been implicated in the case of abduction of nine Chinese from a massage centre in F-8 sector on June 23.

Her lawyer said Maulana Abdul Aziz was asked by some high government authorities to leave the mosque in a Burqa to hold discussions with the government in order to find a way out of a possible clash between Lal Masjid students and security agencies personnel. He said Maulana Abdul Aziz was tricked by the government into humiliated submission.

Hashmat Habib advocate argued that the applicant was a 17- year-old Hafiza Quran and must be granted bail. The judge directed the police to present record of the case in the court on July 11 for further proceedings.