RED MOSQUE FLARES UP AGAIN, SUICIDE BLAST AT

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 003269 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ASEC PGOV PK SUBJECT: RED MOSQUE FLARES UP AGAIN, SUICIDE BLAST AT NEARBY MARKET REF: ISLAMABAD 3201 ¶1. (U) Security forcces have re-taken the Red Mosque after July 27 demonstrations. Hundreds of unarmed religious students and local attendees of Friday prayers protested the re-opening of the Red Mosque. Refusing to pray behind the government-appointed prayer leader Maulana Ashfaq, protesters removed him from the mosque. Protestors also shouted anti-Musharraf slogans, threw rocks, started re-painting the mosque red (the government had begun to paint over the red), and demanded that the government free Abdul Aziz, the mosque's former leader, and allow him to lead prayers. Protestors expelled journalists and others, including religious party political leader Liaqat Baloch from the mosque. Security forces outside the mosque launched tear gas shells at the agitators. Protestors outside the mosque dispersed after the tear gas was fired; however, many remained inside the mosque. ¶2. (U) Soon after security forces surrounded the Red Mosque, an explosion occurred at the nearby Aapbara Market. According to police contacts, a suicide bomber detonated himself near a police vehicle. The same police source reported that so far eighteen have died, including at least four police officers, and twenty-two people were wounded. On hearing the blast, most of the remaining protesters at the Red Mosque headed toward the Aapbara Market blast site. ¶3. (U) In the Balochistan capital of Quetta, unidentified gunmen fired at the vehicle of Balochistan government spokesman Raziq Bugti, killing him instantly. ConGen Karachi is reporting septel. ¶4. (SBU) The Aapbara market area has been off-limits to official Americans for years. There are no reports of American casualties. PATTERSON