Security of Pakistan's Lal Masjid cleric withdrawn

Islamabad, Dec 22: Official security provided to Pakistan's Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz has been withdrawn, The Dawn reported.

"Aziz was provided security since 2011," said Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in a press conference Sunday.

In reply to a question about the threats being hurled from Lal Masjid, the minister said nobody would be allowed to challenge the state in Pakistan, while living within its confines.

The minister said that 90 percent of religious seminaries had nothing to do with terrorism and it was not fair to criticise every one of them.

He also said that there might be questions concerning the sources of funding and illegal possession of land by them, but a majority of the the madrassahs were serving the cause of Pakistan and Islam.

He said a strategy was being worked out to deal with seminaries having 'links' with terrorists.

The minister added that over 4,000 intelligence-based raids had been conducted across the country after the launch of military operations following the collapse of the dialogue process with militants.

He said many terrorists and their sympathisers were arrested during these operations.

IANS