ISLAMABAD, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Deputy chief of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi said 2,000 religious students are still present in the mosque in the capital city of Pakistan, half of them females, a private TV channel Geo reported.

    Talking to Geo News, Rashid hoped that the matter would be resolved within three hours.

    Rashid declined to confirm the news that he had agreed to surrender, stressing that the Lal Masjid management still wanted to talk with the government to end the standoff.

    According to DAWN NEWS TV channel, another 29 students came out of the mosque on Thursday morning.

    DAWN NEWS also reported that some bodies are shifted out of the mosque on Thursday. The death toll is expected to rise.

    The government confirmed earlier that people killed in the clashes between Lal Masjid students and security forces amounted to 16 with some 100 others injured.

1,200 Red Mosque students surrender to Pakistani authorities

Radical Muslim students sit after their surrender near Lal Masjid or Red Mosque in Islamabad July 4, 2007. More than 500 radical Muslim students surrendered at the besieged mosque in the Pakistani capital on Wednesday but thousands of militants remained inside a day after 11 people were killed in clashes. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

      ISLAMABAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,200 male and female religious students of hard-line Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, have so far surrendered to Pakistani authorities in the capital city, an interior ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

      Pakistani Interior Ministry Spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema also said Imam of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz would face terrorism and murder charges. Full story

Official confirms Imam of Pakistani hard-line Lal Masjid arrested

      ISLAMABAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Imam of hard-line Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, was arrested while trying to escape from the mosque in Pakistani capital on Wednesday evening, officials confirmed.

      Chief commissioner of Islamabad has confirmed that Maulana Abdul Aziz, administrator of Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque was caught. Full story