For a rolling blog on the siege of the Red Mosque in Pakistan, Metroblogging Islamabad is providing a blow-by-blow account of events. As the siege in Islamabad draws to a bloody end, some commentators see the writing is on the wall for Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf.
Frederic Grare, writing on the Washington Post website, argues that the crisis shows that Gen Musharraf "is likely to appear at best incompetent and at worst complicit of attempting to divert public opinion from the real political issue of the moment."
Dawn, Pakistan's English language paper, takes up the Pakistan-China angle to the story - the kidnapping of several Chinese citizens may have pushed Gen Musharraf to order the siege of the mosque.
"The fanatics," the paper says, "must not be allowed to sabotage a relationship that has weathered many a storm and holds even greater promise for the future."
The Pakistanwomen.com site, which carries an interesting profile on the Red Mosque, says the mosque has long been at the centre of calls for Gen Musharraf to go since he openly announced his support for the "war on terror".
