Pakistani mosque standoff "amicably resolved"

ISLAMABAD, Apr 25 (Reuters) The leader of Pakistan's ruling party declared today that a stand-off involving radicals at a mosque in Islamabad had been ''amicably resolved'', though the situation on the ground appeared unchanged.

The compound belonging to Lal Masjid, and an adjoining womens' madrasa, or religious school, still looked like an armed rebel camp -- as it has done for the past few months.

Men armed with Kalashnikovs guarded the passage through the compound to a public library that burqa-clad female students have been occupying since January in protest against the city authorities' demolition of illegally built mosques.

Male students carrying staves patrolled the walls, and kept watch from elevated vantage points.

Yet, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, head of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, told journalists at the National Assembly that all issues had been settled amicably during his talks with clerics leading the religious radicals at the mosque in the heart of the capital.

''They had two main demands; reconstruction of mosques and enforcement of Islamic shariah,'' Hussain told reporters.

''We have agreed to rebuild the mosques and as far as Islamic shariah is concerned, Pakistan is an Islamic Republic and measures can be taken to improve the laws,'' Hussain said.

A senior cleric at Lal Masjid, otherwise known as Red Mosque, appeared unmoved by Hussain's soothing words.

''There is no such agreement,'' Abdul Rashid Ghazi, deputy chief cleric at the mosque, said.

''There has been an understanding from the beginning that they will rebuild our mosques and enforce Islamic laws and in return students will vacate the library.

''We will hand over the library to an Islamic government.'' People were shocked earlier this month when Lal Masjid's top cleric threatened to unleash suicide bombers if the government used force to stop a movement intent on implementing strict Islamic shariah law in the capital.

Ghazi and his fellow clerics lead about 3,000 followers, mostly female students, holed up inside the compound.

The radicals have become bolder over time. This month they set up a vigilante Islamic court in the mosque.

Their main publicity coup was the abduction in March of three women from a brothel, including the woman who ran the bordello.

They were released a few days later after repenting. But the anti-vice campaign, reminiscent of the Taliban rule in neighbouring Afghanistan, has continued.

Students have pressured owners of music and video shops to close down their business.

So far, the government has avoided any confrontation, largely out of fear that it would risk sparking a wider backlash from religious conservatives.

Progressive Pakistanis wanted the government to take a tougher stand against Lal Masjid's radicals, as they fear a growing trend towards what the media calls the ''Talibanisation'' of their society.

REUTERS ABM HS1832