Mosque Cleric Arrested in Burqa

(Islamabad, Pakistan) Clashes at the Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid, on Tuesday left a reported two dozen dead while under siege by government forces. Today, one of the senior clerics tried to sneak out.

Abdul Aziz Ghazi was captured on Wednesday as he tried to escape the compound where more than 1,000 students and their leaders are believed to be holding out.

"I can confirm his arrest. He was trying to escape with the girls and was wearing a burqa," Mohammad Ali Durrani, Pakistan's information minister, told AFP news agency.

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Television footage showed security officials dragging Aziz towards a black car before he was driven away. Officials said he was caught in a screening centre set up to check people leaving the mosque.

"He was the last in a group of women all wearing the same clothes. He was wearing a burqa that also covered his eyes," a senior security official told AFP.

"Our men spotted his unusual demeanour. The rest of the girls looked like girls but he was taller and had a pot belly."

Heh.