Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid notoriety will address the Friday sermon at the mosque on May 11 after a gap of over three years, the mosque's Shuhada Foundation announced on Tuesday.

According to a press release by the Lal Masjid foundation, the cleric — who was acquitted from all 35 cases against him in January last year — last addressed a Friday sermon at the mosque in December 2014.

The release said that Aziz was the legal khateeb (the sermon-giver) of the mosque and expressed hope that the administration will not prevent him from speaking as he has been cleared by courts in all cases against him.

The Islamabad Capital Terrirtory (ICT) administration has earlier stated that Aziz had ceased to be khateebafter the orders of his appointment were withdrawn in 2004 following a fatwa he issued against the army and its operation in Waziristan.

In 2014, activists who had been at the forefront of protests against the Army Public School attack in Peshawar had alleged that they had received death threats from Aziz's supports after protesting the Lal Masjid cleric's refusal to condemn the attack.

Last year, the capital administration had foiled an attempt by the Shuhada Foundation to hold a conference to mark 10 years of the Lal Masjid operation by imposing a ban on all political and religious activities by the foundation, declaring it an "unregistered entity".

Aziz had been scheduled to speak at the conference.

Aziz, who emerged out of Lal Masjid in a burqa to flee an operation at the mosque in 2007, has remained under scrutiny for his threats to activists and his association with and support for the militant Islamic State group.

On July 10, 2007 the army had launched an operation against Lal Masjid after repeated negotiations with the mosque and the neighbouring Jamia Hufsa's administration failed, with those inside refusing to lay down their arms after weeks of terrorising citizens in the locale.

The operation, launched to put an end to acts like kidnapping of Chinese citizens for allegedly running a brothel and threats of suicide attacks, had ended with the killing of over 100 alleged militants and 11 soldiers.

A number of cases were registered against Aziz in the aftermath of the operation.