US won't compare Lal Masjid storming with 'Operation Blue Star'

Washington, July 11 (UNI) The Bush administration has refused to compare Pakistan military's storming of the Lal Masjid in Islamabad with the 1984 'Operation Blue Star' at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

''I'm not going to try to make any linkage between these two events. I think you have to deal with them in their own right and their own unique circumstances,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a reply to a question yesterday.

''As I understand it, it still is an ongoing matter with respect to the Red Mosque,'' he said.

McCormack said Pakistani security forces have gone in the mosque after exercising a great deal of patience and restraint.

''They entered the mosque after offering every possible pportunity for innocents that may still be in the mosque to leave, as well as offering those who have threatened to use violence and, in fact, have used violence in an opportunity to resolve the situation peacefully,'' he said.

UNI