More window dressing from Musharraf. What about homegrown jihadists? After all, the British bombers were Pakistanis, not Arabs who studied in Pakistan. From Reuters, with thanks to all who sent this in:
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Foreign students attending Islamic religious schools in Pakistan will be ordered to leave as part of a drive to stamp out terrorism and religious extremism, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday.
Security forces have detained more than 600 people in the past week after Musharraf ordered a crackdown on militant groups, mosques and religious schools, or madrasas.
Speaking to foreign correspondents at his residence as Chief of Army Staff in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Musharraf said he wanted foreign students out.
“We’ve decided,” he said. “All those who are here — there are about 1,400 — they must leave. We will not issue visas to such people.”
The crackdown was ordered after the July 7 bomb attacks on London, which police said were carried out by three Britons of Pakistani descent and a fourth Briton of Jamaican origin.
One of the men, Shehzad Tanweer, visited a madrasa during trips to Pakistan in the past two years.
The number of foreign students attending madrasas in Pakistan has already fallen sharply since the government imposed tougher visa restrictions after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
There are around 12,000 madrasas in Pakistan, often providing education, shelter and food to boys from poor families.
Gee, that’s swell. I wonder why Reuters saw fit to mention that. Are we to assume that cutting people off from the jihad factories will cut them off from education, shelter, and food? Well, we don’t want them starving — better they get turned into mujahedin.