Talks to end Pak mosque siege heading nowhere

Islamabad, July 4: Negotiations to find a peaceful end to the siege of an Islamabad mosque where 11 people were killed in clashes with security forces ''appear to be heading nowhere'', a leader of the mosque's militant student movement told sources today.

Clerics acting as intermediaries had held talks with leaders of the Taliban-style movement and the government overnight as troops sealed off Lal Masjid, the Red Mosque, and the government imposed a curfew in the surrounding neighbourhood.

''The talks appear to be heading nowhere,'' Abdul Rashid Ghazi, deputy leader of the students, told sources by telephone from inside the mosque. ''First they should stop this action and only then there could be any negotiations.''

Reuters

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