WASHINGTON, July 11: The Pakistani people and the US government are both backing the military action against Lal Masjid militants, says The New York Times, which has otherwise been very critical of the Musharraf government in recent weeks.

Almost all major newspapers in the United States carried stories of the violent end to the Lal Masjid crisis on their front pages.

The NYT observed that the militant stronghold had been a “millstone around General Musharraf’s neck” for the past several months.

The Washington Post, which is America’s second most influential newspaper after the NYT, reported that Gen Musharraf had held off on authorising a full-fledged assault on the mosque because of concerns that such an operation could result in mass casualties.

“While most Pakistanis do not sympathise with Ghazi and his followers, there seemed to be little public appetite for a bloody final confrontation,” the paper added.

Yet another major American newspaper, The Los Angeles Times, reported that the resistance was evidently tougher than expected.

The paper said that Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia had an enrolment of about 5,000 students, but the number inside at the time the assault began was not known. About 1,200 of them had surrendered last week early in the standoff.

International Herald Tribune noted that Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, 43, was radicalised by the 1998 sectarian assassination of his cleric father.

In his drive to enforce strict religious laws in Islamabad, Maulana Ghazi “pushed Pakistani authorities too far,” the report added.

The action “the rebel mosque clearly burnishes Musharraf's anti-terrorist credentials and once more sets him on solid footing in Washington,” observed Harvard International Review, published by the prestigious Harvard University.

“Less obvious but no less important is the positive impact of the raid on Musharraf's image at home.”

“The Pakistani military has done a remarkable job in keeping the raid as bloodless as possible,” wrote conservative commentator Ed Morrissey.

“It has shown some toughness in dealing with extremists that will put minds at ease, both in and out of Pakistan.”

Adil Najam, a Pakistani-American who teaches international negotiation and diplomacy at the esteemed Fletcher School of Diplomacy, wrote: “Can a society that is so deeply divided against itself learn the lessons of tolerance? … But now is not the time to ponder on this. Even though what has happened had become inevitable over the last many days, I am too heartbroken to be able to do so.”

Frederic Grare, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, wrote in The Washington Post that the Red Mosque and other crises in Pakistan had exposed the weakness of the government.

“The Pakistani army's authority is now being challenged like never before. A taboo has been broken and Musharraf's government has made mistake after mistake, exposing its true dictatorial nature and also its weakness,” he said.

Mr Grare urged the US and Pakistan’s other western allies to facilitate a shift towards democracy.