Suicide bomb threat rings out in Pakistani capital

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The chief cleric of a radical mosque in Pakistan's capital trumpeted plans on Friday to set up vigilante Islamic courts and exhorted followers to become suicide bombers if their Taliban-style movement was forcibly suppressed.

"Our youths will shake their palaces with their suicide attacks," Maulana Abdul Aziz warned the government in a fiery sermon delivered to thousands of followers at Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in central Islamabad.

Followers of the radical clerics in Lal Masjid have become increasingly audacious in recent months, raising fears that for all President Pervez Musharraf's talk of "enlightened moderation" he cannot stop a trend toward the Talibanisation of Pakistan.

"They should not take the law into their own hands; this will create lawlessness in the country. We will not allow them, I will not allow this," Musharraf told a convention for women's health being held barely a kilometre away.

So far, the authorities have been wary of confronting the anti-Musharraf and anti-American radicals at Lal Masjid for fear of provoking a wider backlash from conservative forces.

There were no police around the mosque and militant literature was sold openly, while chants of jihad, or holy war, rang out from loudspeakers.

"The government has been saying that an operation against us is the last option, I want to tell the government that suicide attacks are our last option," Aziz said.

"Yes, Yes, Allah-o-Akbar," the worshippers shouted when Aziz asked them if they were ready to sacrifice their lives.