ISLAMABAD, July 6: Begum Bilqees Edhi visited the localities around Lal Masjid in Islamabad on Friday and appealed over the megaphone to Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi to hand over to the Edhi Foundation the children allegedly being used as human shields and hostages.

Ms Edhi was permitted by law-enforcement agencies to make the appeals, although she maintained that she had made the visit on the directives of her husband and Edhi Foundation chief Abdul Sattar Edhi.

The agencies, however, did not allow her to enter Lal Masjid or the Jamia Hafsa madressah despite her repeated requests.

“I made the announcements six times from the localities close to the Lal Masjid and appealed that children be handed over to the Edhi Foundation,” she told reporters. She was certain that her voice had reached the people holed up inside as the announcements had been made from an area in close proximity to the mosque.

She said the Edhi Foundation would look after the children and try to locate their parents.