Pak defers plans to storm Lal Masjid

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan security forces have reportedly deferred plans to storm the Lal Masjid on Monday and are looking into a new strategy after getting fresh information of the situation inside the besieged mosque by an unmanned aerial vehicle.
 
Military officials, who were last night given an all clear signal from President Pervez Musharraf to raid the complex, altered their strategy in light of the new
information.
 
The UAV hovered over the Lal Masjid, where militants are holed up, for more than two hours last night and took pictures of the besieged mosque. The plane recorded the images of people present at Lal Masjid and the girls madrassa, Jamia Hafsa and their movements.
 
In light of the information provided by the images, a new strategy against Lal Masjid has been adopted, Geo TV reported.
 
The possible operation, which was to be carried out today against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa, has been postponed. After a meeting with top military officials last
night, Musharraf had given a clearance to storm the sprawling mosque and there was speculation that the operation will take place in the early hours.
 
However, expect for sporadic firing, the situation remained the same. During last night's meeting, Musharraf was presented with three options - launch an air strike, gas the compound to render the inmates unconscious or launch ground assault.
 
There was no word yet on which option was cleared and when the operation would be launched.