ISLAMABAD, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The government wanted a total and unconditional surrender of the remaining personnel in hard-line Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, Pakistan's deputy information minister said here Thursday.

    Addressing a news briefing, Minister of State for Information, Tariq Azam said the government would not offer dialogue to deputy chief of the mosque Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who had asked for negotiation.

    Azam said the government hoped the issue could be solved without a serious use of forces.

    Head of the mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who was arrested Wednesday while attempting to escape with Burqa veil, has been shifted to Rawalpindi to face a number of charges including kidnapping, murder, keeping illegal arms in an anti-terrorism court, the minister confirmed.

    Firing incident started at noon of July 3 between the mosque personnel and law enforcers deployed nearby has left 16 killed and over 100 injured, according to the official.

    The state minister further confirmed that until 2 p.m.(0900 GMT)Thursday a total of 1,146 people from Lal Masjid had surrendered, comprising 745 male and 401 female.

    He added that no exact number of the people remaining inside the mosque is available.

    According to the official, a number of women and children have been held hostage by the deputy chief of Lal Masjid.