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KHAR, Pakistan: Around 20,000 Pakistani tribesmen vowed on Monday to take revenge on President Pervez Musharraf for the siege of a radical mosque in the capital Islamabad, witnesses and officials said.
"We are ready for jihad!" cried the protesters – some of them armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers – who rallied near Khar, the main town in the troubled Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan.
Local pro-Taliban commanders told the gathering that there should be a holy war in return for the standoff at the Red Mosque.
The confrontation has so far left at least 24 people dead, according to the government, but the mosque's leaders say more than 400 students have been killed.
"We beg Allah to destroy Musharraf and we will seek revenge for the atrocities committed at the Red Mosque," militant commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammed told the gathering.
Mohammed had links to a hardline madrassa, or Islamic school, that was bombed by Pakistani forces in October 2006, killing around 80 people.
The tribesmen shouted slogans including "Death to Musharraf", "Death to America" and "Those who are friends of America are traitors".
"Musharraf should immediately end his atrocity against the mosque," Mohammed added.
Another mujahedin commander, Inayat-ur Rehman, told the tribesmen: "You must all get training for jihad because it is binding on every Muslim, just like prayers and fasting."
The gathering also passed resolutions in which they declared on Friday a weekly holiday instead of Sunday, in accordance with Islamic custom, and demanded the closure of all music shops in the tribal district.
Militants blew up a security vehicle in Bajaur early Sunday, killing a policeman, and kidnapped four others in a separate attack.
Bajaur is a stronghold of the banned militant group Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi, which has close links to the Red Mosque.
- AFP/so
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