Cleric sets up Taliban-like court in Pakistan

[ck4829]

In a bold challenge to the government, a firebrand cleric said Friday he had formed an Islamic court to enforce a Taliban-style vice campaign in the Pakistani capital, threatening suicide attacks if authorities try to stop him.

Thousands of followers of Maulana Abdul Aziz underlined their defiance by chanting "Our way is jihad!" and setting fire to hundreds of mainly Western DVDs and video cassettes outside Islamabad's Red Mosque.

Friday's events deepen a dilemma for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf: endure growing criticism for creeping "Talibanization" in Pakistan despite his alliance with the U.S., or force a potentially bloody showdown with fanatics who have grown under his rule.

Students from a seminary adjoining the mosque launched a morality crackdown earlier this month by threatening shopkeepers selling films and music. They even kidnapped an alleged brothel owner and held her for two days until she made a public confession.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_radical_mosque

[physioex]

1. Ohh...Great

A nuclear country with a shakey autocratic dictator being undermined by fundamentalists. Man the future soo bright......

[pepperbear]

2. gotta wear....