ISLAMABAD: The deposed cleric of Lal Masjid has announced that he will restart his Friday sermons from May 11 after a gap of over four years.

The Shuhada Foundation in a statement on Tuesday said he would address the congregation on Friday.

The foundation said Maulana Aziz had been acquitted in all 35 cases in Jan 2017 and it was illegal to deny him entry into Lal Masjid to address Friday congregations.

Messages have been floated on social media inviting people to attend prayers.

But a senior local administration official said the cleric had been removed from the post on court orders in 2004 following a fatwa he issued against the army and its operation against terrorists in Waziristan.

However, a decision in this regard would be taken in consultation with relevant officials and agencies, he added.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2018