PAKISTAN ON THIN ICE

TIME FOR AN ICE COLD DRINK

This is not a good omen. Open defiance by ultra conservative factions in Pakistan is troubling taken with the ongoing assination attempts on Musharraf. The standoff at the Red Mosque is giving the radicals status and making the government look weak. The Musharraf regime is on thin ice. It' ceded control to more and more tribal areas, is being contested in other areas by Al Qaeda and now has the radical madras's to contend with. The great dilemma being, what happens when some ultra conservative sect or another takes control of Pakistan's' nuclear stockpile.

Twelve killed in clashes at Pakistan mosque
by Masroor Gilani and Sami ZubeiriTue Jul 3, 2:46 PM ET
Pakistani security forces fought fierce gun battles with students at a pro-Taliban mosque in Islamabad on Tuesday after a lengthy standoff exploded into violence, leaving 12 people dead and 140 hurt.
Clerics from the radical Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, vowed suicide attacks to avenge the "blood of martyrs" after the day-long clashes. The victims included a soldier, a journalist, at least four students and several bystanders.
The shootout in the heart of the leafy capital followed months of tension over the mosque's challenges to the authority of President Pervez Musharraf, most recently the kidnapping of seven Chinese as part of an anti-vice campaign.
Deputy interior minister Zafar Warriach told reporters that nine people were killed and 140 wounded in the violence. Hospitals in the city later said that another three people had died, confirming that the overall toll was 12.
Musharraf -- a key US ally already reeling from a political crisis over his suspension of the country's chief justice -- met with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and top security officials late Tuesday to plot a course of action.
"A decision whether to continue the operation will be taken after assessing the ground realities," Warriach said. "It is the government's duty to provide protection to its countrymen."
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