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7/1/2007 - Stand-Off: Abdul Rashid Ghazi’s Last Days by Nicholas Schmidle

Stand Off Abdul Rashid Ghazi Last Days By Nicholas Schmidle July ON THE MORNING OF JUNE before hundred Pakistan elite commandos breached crumbling bullet scarred walls Lal Masjid Red Mosque orders Abdul Rashid Ghazi The spokesman press fighting should within hours He admitted Islamists bunkered inside mosque Ghazi thousands regular soldiers Rangers supporting commandos three hours seemed reasonable amount arrest everyone inside But militants formidable force sound gunfire clattering across Pakistani capital Islamabad The rebels inside mosque arsenal During stand killed eleven commandos paramilitary Rangers When operation finished collected tants weapons stacked neatly journalists Molotov Cocktails filled empty cartons meant Pepsi bottles A suicide bomber floor Don weapons specialist talking journalists The jacket still There machine rocket propelled grenade launchers RPG mines Around night hours after estimated would channels reported Ghazi death Apparently refused surrender finally killed The headline Dawn English language daily It Ghazi killed Ghazi brother Maulana Abdul Aziz arrested trying escape burqa Lal Masjid ruins But their movement defeated WHEN I HEARD THAT GHAZI I little surprise Over I quite Every weeks I would visit Lal Masjid everything jihad Islamic revolution planned preferred vacation spots favorite English authors We rarely agreed about anything substantive admiration Osama Bin Laden talked hours fruit occasional belly laugh I dropped before taking Islamabad He always willing share phone numbers mullah friends other Pakistani cities Before I Bangladesh Ghazi scribbled bearded politician business The welcomed Dhaka brother weeks later arrested links terrorist groups Still having personal reference Abdul Rashid Ghazi having backstage world radical Islam Last December I wrote profile about Ghazi The Homebody Institute newsletter Confined mosque unofficial house arrest wanted several seriou charges thought intelligence agencies would tried outside Ghazi spoke openly connections Islamic militants throughout country But since stuck mosque I couldn whether truly mujahideen leader himself simply loudmouth craving attention The first I Ghazi May I needed reference former officer turned jihadi named Khalid Khawaja I Khawaja Islamabad lunch asked introduction He would consult Ghazi Ghazi agreed I could But I Ghazi limits Khawaja limits Don someone still trying meeting Ghazi I Daniel Pearl Sheik Gilani limits tried anyway happened Pearl Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped beheaded Karachi reporting story about connections between Richard Reid called bomber Sheik Gilani reclusive religious leader allege between Pakistan intelligence services jihadi community Fortunately Khawaja Ghazi agreed Ayear later Ghazi become desired inter viewee Pakistan Though still confined mosque become strategist brains behind Taliban inspired movement taking Islamabad To foreign local TV crews braved stares dozens Islamist vigilantes dispatched guard mosque clutching wooden staffs while others waved handled gardening tools No formal references necessary He passed secretarial students handled phone calls schedule Whereas Ghazi freely three hours I noticed checking watch after minutes He apologized We middle something I WAS IN BANGLADESH watching Ghazi friend hauled terror charges brigade staff wielding female drassa students Talibat children library adjacent Lal Masjid announced establish sharia ruled state It place stone throw parliament building Thousands jihadis descended Islamabad defend mosque taking positions along compound walls parapets clutching wooden staffs their faces hidden checkered scarves Massive homemade draped walls praising jihad Dozens black flags showing crossed swords inscribed Islam profession faith La illaha Allah There God God mosque posts nearby intersections When I asked Ghazi flags stood smirked It anywhere particular But saying Al Qaeda Ghazi affectionately referred women female commandos takeover library coming President Pervez Musharraf government challenged Allah destroying number mosques Islamabad girls responded challenging state Whose greater asked rhetorically Soon after occupation children library Ghazi brother Maulana Abdul Aziz kicked campaign Islamabad They started napping brothel owner dressing black burqa forcing repent press conference When Western reporter asked Ghazi always ready zinger quote activities signaled Talibanization Pakistan replied Rudy Giuliani became mayor New York closed brothels Was Talibanization Meanwhile President Per Musharraf government stood nothing A weeks later plainclothes officers drifted close mosque local Taliban kidnapped On April after Friday prayers worship Lal Masjid blocked bonfire using Islamic CDs DVDs kindling Musharraf response Still nothing Musharraf report wanted launch strike mosque generals convinced otherwise The establishment Taliban state Islam caught Musharraf Since early March NES lawyers black suits leading frequent protests against Musharraf suspension chief justice Pakistan flimsy charges nepotism In Karachi May people chief justice arrived battles broke between government political parties In March police stormed offices private television Islamabad broadcasting footage rioters clash police right outside windows That afternoon while I stood front ransacked office nostrils stinging lingering approached shaking disbelief In Musharraf alienated pillars society first lawyers media What thinking Meanwhile Taliban continued trouble border areas On April suicide bomber reached within interior minister before blowing killing people The minister escaped light injuries Just weeks later another suicide bomber struck restaurant Peshawar killing dozen All distractions staunchest Musharraf supporters wondering ability Ghazi LAL MASJID HAD BEEN A HUB OF JIHADI activity since early 1980s scores mujahideen passed through their Afghanistan Around twenty second birthday Ghazi first trips Afghanistan where buddied jihadis later signed Osama Laden declaration World Islamic Front Jihad Against Jews Crusaders In Laden invited Ghazi father Kandahar meeting Three months after returned Islamabad father assassinated Lal Masjid courtyard Ghazi blamed Pakistani intelligence agencies Bin Laden dolence letter Ghazi brother after Aziz madrassa graduate delivered Friday sermons while Ghazi handled media administration mosque adjoining seminaries Ghazi worldlier played strategist His vision The ideal governance Islamic governance Afghanistan under Mullah Omar explained I democracy Islam about counting people In democracy weight taking drugs doesn about country vision future The majority people ignorant people This doesn bring system Although Ghazi ideas about supremacy Shar shared leading ulema religious scholars Pakistan uncomfortable methods For instance MMA coalition several religious parties National Assembly governs Pakistan provinces distanced itself Lal Masjid violent tactics Similarly amination board responsible madrassas Paki cancelled registration Ghazi seminaries And Mufti Taqi Usmani scholar immense repute acted spiritual guide Ghazi brother disowned former disciple latter refused order students vacate children library Ghazi guard speaking against Everywhere youngsters rejecting people change They rigid In Ghazi power symbolized significant shift leadership madrassa based politics As resentment builds against Musharraf West Pakistani youth running embrace those radical revolutionary message The majority Ghazi support Pashtuns ethnic group found Pakistani border areas southern Af ghanistan Of female students studying madrassas North West Frontier Province Two Taliban mullahs lawless mountain region Afghan border voiced their approval Both recent lambasting female education campaign vaccinate children polio They claimed vaccine impotency serum effort Muslims Ghazi refuse support insisted vision Islamic society sophis ticated tolerant theirs We backwards Why would I computer mobile phone walkie talkie machine How against female education while running largest women madrassa world asked Women movement He shared They teach teach person But teach female teach whole family I asked about rumors Islamabad students stopping women intersections demanding driving My drives market takes children there there there How possible I students other women driving GHAZI S WIFE MIGHT HAVE GONE TO THE MARKET Ghazi himself holed inside Lal Masjid since August govern charged inciting failing court Ghazi brother declared absconders threatened arrest The isolation certain Each I visited Ghazi paunch bigger bigger But while contributed Ghazi weight Pakistani government seemingly little stifle political activism In April walked alley tucked behind Lal Masjid walls stepped office equipped three brand computers mosque nerve center Despite their stand government electricity still working A microphone stand Ghazi brother during weekly radio addresses craned corner Beside computers black tower featur seven slots production propaganda CDs Four young older manned ringing phones while printer which Ghazi making final edits I asked Ghazi imagined Islamic revolu playing Either government people themselves If government peaceful If people bloody A young bodyguard wispy beard Kalashnikov entered whispered something Ghazi He relayed message walkie talkie We demanding peaceful revolution depends government attitude Time again threatened launch military opera Lal Masjid We ready We armed According Ghazi everyone Musharraf entire existing system If killed momentum movement The government knows And coming IN LATE JUNE GHAZI OVERPLAYED On June after midnight squad Islamist vigilantes Lal Masjid direction Chinese massage parlor across Ghazi claimed women inside providing massages performing other Islamic activities When bearded bamboo staff wielding shock troops arrived overpowered three security guards people hostage including Chinese women That women released wearing their Lal Masjid supplied burqas But Chinese government which invested hundreds millions dollars building upgrad Pakistani Gwadar Baluchistan Karakorum Highway willing overlook kidnapping easily In Beijing Chinese official Pakistan visiting minister interior We Pakistan terrorist attacks aiming Chinese people severely punish criminals Beijing ambassador Islamabad press shocked surprised unlawful incident One assume harsher closed meetings because within masseuses release police paramilitary units encircled mosque pledged crack Taliban On June escalating tensions between Ghazi described mujahideen Musharraf NES security forces finally broke fierce street battles people Just before paramili Rangers laying concertina street facing Lal Masjid militants inside mosque fired Rangers police fired response Before Taliban wearing ammuni vests holding Kalashnikovs sporting gasmasks emerged mosque Pepto Bismol walls Some positions behind sandbag bunkers while others brazenly walked around streets Around I headed direction Lal Masjid closer On I passed market locked doors hours earlier standoff People neighborhood frantically pushing suitcases their hurrying I walked hundred yards I crowd start sprinting waving That I heard clink metal teargas canister hitting pavement spraying contents which point I running crying coughing whole I finally turned alley where group people gathered around lambasting govern The shooting girls Pakistan reference three female madrassa students among those killed first The crowd Though beards looked typical Taliban supporters their sympathies clearly those mosque Sadiq estate agent Islamabad This civilized approach resolving dispute These people after small demands apparently aware Ghazi overhaul Pakistan Mullah Omar Afghanistan In world there justice Extrem rights Think about The latest weapons chemicals gases The other nothing Now government their electricity water supply This plain cruelty In previous visits Lal Masjid I sophisticated cache weapons Sadiq credit Besides array Kalashnikovs Ghazi cially equipped grenade launcher affixed AK Moreover female students North West Frontier Province Federally Administered Tribal Areas where locals always crave battle When government besieged Lal Masjid January girls brothers weapons As students Musharraf admitted dangerous bunch Four fighting began acknowledged members banned jihadi organization Jaish Mohammad holed inside plenty eager suicide bombers I coward Musharraf address media workshop But issue tomorrow Wh There women children inside But June Musharraf decided crack Ghazi supporters outweighed potential negative headlines His instinct those mosque wouldn without fight correct Throughout voice mosque PA system threatened government great bloodshed exhorted Taliban brave fight declared jihad As gunfire pierced short lived cease agreement lights around Lal Masjid never switched In pitch black packs toting madrassa students roamed streets front mosque guarding attack While Musharraf advisors reportedly meeting hashing particulars larger operation offing PA system Lal Masjid again crackled The blood martyrs waste We ready suicide attacks The uproot Gha Lal Masjid following necessary Musharraf order confidence would awfully bloody country By first Ghazi militants killed paramilitary Ranger razed nearby offices Ministry Environment By nightfall Ghazi bunkered inside mosque The eight siege began OVER THE FIRST FEW DAYS siege looked though Ghazi might negotiate He called local TV stations talked about laying exchange passage Consider government prior record appeasement Ghazi penchant slick seemed possible AFrench journalist vacation Paris called Irish friend Islamabad asked whether should flight Pakistan That depends Do consider Ghazi politician jihadi friend replied The Frenchman coming As siege continued however Ghazi morphed outspoken extremist perma smirk terrorist During first students surrendered security forces But Friday Ghazi threatening suicide attacks holding women children hostage human shields Jihadi gunmen fired those tried escape A father approached mosque compound masked gunmen scram For exchange rifle machine Islamabad sound giant microwave popcorn Everyone complained about sleep Around midnight before heading I would third story patio watch fireballs coming mosque commandos lobbed explosives destroy walls rimmed compound The nights I again around explosions By middle siege foreign journalists charmed Ghazi articulate witty cursing depriving sleep The government imposed curfew neighbor immediately surrounding Lal Masjid shutting electricity order Ghazi those For hours curfew lifted mobile utility stores trucks loaded lentils other staples rounds During curfew break Friday I teamed couple reporter friends worked papers hustled Holiday Inn closest hotel Lal Masjid rooms Except handful Pakistani journalists holed there place completely abandoned The management tried charge night budget friends talked stand special called But razor preventing people getting close blackout preventing anyone seeing advantage Hol Inn provided being sound bullets whizzing through trees bombs little louder I stayed night decided house offered cheaper safer Over government spokesmen leged foreign militants euphemism Qaeda among those inside mosque defending Ghazi On Sunday night local stations reported Predator drone Americans chase rorists Iraq Afghanistan buzzed The night delegation senior mullahs tried persuade Ghazi women children inside When failed final phase commando opera codenamed Operation Silence started Tuesday morning I enjoying first decent night sleep SINCE THE OPERATION BEGAN AGAINST LAL MASJID Taliban groups Pakistan North West Frontier Province suicide bombed military convoys attacked severa police stations blocked Karakorum Highway protest In lawless tribal Bajaur tribesmen shouldering rocket propelled grenades rallied support Ghazi encouraged embrace martyrdom Maulvi Faqir Mohammad known mujahid gathering We Allah destroy Musharraf venge atrocities perpetrated Lal Masjid On July government tried Lal Masjid Friday prayers In attempt erase memory Red Mosque painted named mullah prayers But worshippers brought buckets paint quickly repainting mosque original color And government appointed mullah never inside mosque before threats angry chants convinced welcome Moreover handful senior politicians Jamaat Islami tried enter turned Where brothers sisters being killed weeks Ghazi hardcore followers asked politicians You doing politics A couple hours later suicide bomber killed people mostly policemen nearby market The government declared would close Lal Masjid indefinitely Not Friday episode exposed between established Islamists Pakistan generation militants Afew weeks before death Ghazi offered troduce Maulvi Faqir leaders generation Ghazi write letter I never stopped Maybe Faqir trust Ghazi I chummy But without golden handwritten reference worth taking chance Note Parts newsletter previously appeared New Republic online magazine Slate NES INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIR S Current Fellows Kay Dilday FRANCE MOROCCO October December Kay studying relationships French North African immigrants France North Africa A former editor The New York Times Op Ed Kay holds master degree comparative international politics theory Graduate Center City University New York bachelor degree English literature Tufts University graduate Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands Cours Civilisation Sorbonne Suzy Hansen TURKEY April A John O Crane Memorial Fellow Suzy writing about politics religion Turkey A former editor New York Observer appeared Salon New York Times Book Review Nation other publications She graduated University Pennsylvania Derek Mitchell INDIA September As Phillips Talbot Fellow Derek explore impact global trade economic growth Indians living poverty He served volunteer Swaraj Peeth institute New Delhi dedicated nonviolent conflict resolution Mahatma Gandhi thought Previously Fulbright scholar India Gandhi Peace Foundation He coordinated foreign policy research George Washington University Insti Communitarian Policy Studies worked political organizer New Hampshire Derek graduated degree religion Columbia University Nicholas Schmidle PAKISTAN February Nick freelance writer interested intersection culture religion politics Asia He Pakistan ICWA fellow examining issues ethnic sectarian national identity Previously reported Central Asia Iran His published Washington Post Weekly Standard Foreign Policy Christian Science Monitor elsewhere He holds master degree International Affairs American University Raphael Soifer BRAZIL April An actor director playwright musician theatre educator Raphi Soifer Donors Fellow studying participant observer relationship between social change communities throughout Brazil He worked performer director United States Brazil taught performance prisoners underprivileged youth through People Palace Projects Rio Janeiro Community Works San Francisco He holds bachelor degree Theatre Studies Anthropol Yale University ICWA Letters ISSN published Institute Current World Affairs Inc exempt operating foundation incorporated New York State offices located Street NW Suite Washington D C 20016 Letters provided charge members ICWA avail libraries professional researchers Phone 4068Fax 0498E orgWeb Executive Director Steven Butler Bookkeeper Program Asst James Guy Publications Manager Ellen Kozak Institute Current World Affairs The Crane Rogers Foun dation The Information contained publication reprinted republished without press written consent Insti Current World Affairs