Talks sought

His brother, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who remained inside the mosque, told Reuters by telephone on Thursday that he would seek talks to stave off more bloodshed.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, speaking on Pakistan Television, said the time for dialogue was over. "They have just one option, and that is to surrender," he said.

Should an assault be launched, a security official told Reuters, military planners knew the layout, where materials were stored, and the fighting strength of the mosque's defenders.

Hundreds of police and soldiers, backed by armored personnel carriers and with orders to shoot armed resisters on sight, have sealed off the mosque and imposed an indefinite curfew in the neighborhood around it.

The mosque has a long history of support for militancy but the latest trouble began in January when students, who range from teenagers to people in their 30s, occupied a library to protest against the destruction of mosques illegally built on state land.

They later kidnapped women, including some from China, who they said were involved in prostitution. They also abducted police and intimidated shops selling "obscene" Western films.

Two bomb attacks on security forces on Wednesday in another part of the country killed 12 people and raised fears the mosque's militant allies were hitting back.

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