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| Al-Qaeda urges Pakistanis to revolt against Musharraf | | | Dubai, Jul 12, Al-Qaeda today urged Pakistanis to revolt against President Pervez Musharraf following the storming of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, in an audiotape posted on the Internet.
"I call upon the Ulema (Muslim clergy) in Pakistan.... Musharraf and his hunting dogs have tarnished your honour in service of the crusades and the Jews," the group's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, said in the recording, after stating that he was speaking on the "occasion of the criminal aggression" on the mosque.
The recording was hosted on a website known to publish Al-Qaeda statements.
"If you do not revolt, Musharraf will annihilate you. Musharraf will not stop until he uproots Islam from Pakistan," Zawahiri said.
"Muslims in Pakistan: no salvation for you except through Jihad (holy fight). Rigged elections and politics will not help you.... You should now support the mujahedin (holy warriors) in Afghanistan," he said.
"Are there no honourable men in Pakistan?" he added.
Pakistani troops yesterday cleared the last militants from the Red Mosque in Islamabad after two days of intense fighting that left at least 82 people dead, including 73 militants, and turned the capital into a battleground.
Commandos killed the final hardcore of rebels who fought to the death in tunnels and bunkers beneath the living quarters of their chief, pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was shot dead late Tuesday.
Musharraf ordered the assault after talks with Ghazi to free the women and children allegedly held during the siege collapsed.
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