From MEMRI:

In two recent articles in the Pakistani press, Pakistani journalists blamed the Pakistani government for the Lal Masjid showdown. Just before the mosque was stormed, Najam Sethi wrote in the pro-Kashmir Roznama Nation to describe the history of the Ghazi brothers’ ties with Pakistani intelligence services; following the confrontation, Hamid Mir wrote in the right-of-center Roznama Jang (“The War Daily”) that the government had mishandled the situation and alienated public opinion.

The following are excerpts from the articles:

Najam Sethi: Ghazi Brothers Have Full History of Connections with Pakistan’s Intelligence Agencies

On the eve of the military operation against the Lal Masjid, senior Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi wrote, in the weekly edition of the pro-Kashmir Roznama Nation, that the Pakistani government had a history of support for the heads of the Lal Masjid, and accused the government of staging the confrontation in order to impress international opinion:

“The Ghazi brothers [i.e. Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Abdul Aziz] have a full history of connections with the intelligence agencies of Pakistan.

“Their father, Abdullah, had been offering services in Pakistan’s several jihads in the neighboring country [i.e. Afghanistan], in exchange for which they [the Ghazi brothers] were given benefits.

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