Pakistani says he has formed Islamic court

A cleric said Friday that he had formed an Islamic court to enforce Taliban-style rules in this capital, and he threatened to order suicide attacks if authorities tried to stop him.

Thousands of followers of Maulana Abdul Aziz chanted, “Our way is jihad!” and set fire to hundreds of mainly Western DVDs and videocassettes outside the Red Mosque.

Students from a seminary adjoining the mosque launched a crackdown this month by threatening shopkeepers selling films and music. They also kidnapped an alleged brothel owner and held her for two days until she made a public confession.

Aziz addressed about 3,000 people Friday at the mosque, a few hundred yards from the city’s government district.

Dozens of students armed with wooden poles, their faces covered by checkered scarves, patrolled outside the perimeter wall.

Aziz announced that he had established a Sharia court of 10 clerics to dispense Islamic justice. He said the clerics would issue decrees but gave no other details about the court’s supposed jurisdiction.

He said it would begin in one month if the government didn’t move against “centers of vulgarity” in the city, and he warned authorities against trying to stop him.

Aziz appealed for volunteers to defend the mosque, which has links to outlawed Sunni extremist groups. Mosque officials deny allegations that weapons are stored inside.

“If the government says it will launch an operation against us as a last resort, our last resort will be suicide bombings,” Aziz said.

Tariq Azim Khan, minister of state for information, denounced Aziz’s threat and urged him not to force the government to take stern action.

So far, police have done little. Khan accused the cleric of using female seminarians as human shields.