Red Mosque Inspires Clone

Pakistani Militants take over another mosque, name it after scene of bloody siege
By Heather McPherson,  Newser User
Posted Jul 30, 2007 8:46 AM CDT
Red Mosque Inspires Clone
Pakistani police officers stand guard at the rooftop of the Lal Masjid or Red Mosque as workers repaint the dome of the mosque, Saturday, July 28, 2007, in Islamabad, Pakistan. A suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded scores in an Islamabad market Friday after hundreds of protesters clashed...   (Associated Press)

The Red Mosque has become a franchise: pro-Taliban militants have occupied a different shrine in northwestern Pakistan and renamed it after the Islamabad mosque where 102 people died after a protracted siege. The fighters also promise to build a girls' seminary to replace the one that was destroyed by Pakistani authorities near the Red Mosque .

The seminary was the site of a Taliban-style anti-vice campaign launched by the mosque's clerics, which sparked the confrontation with the government. The second shrine—in Lakarai, Pakistan—has been occupied by about 70 fighters. The militants declared their support for the Red Mosque leaders and their goal of an Islamic state. (More Red Mosque stories.)

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