Islamabad, June 23 : Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa students raided a Chinese massage centre here and took 12 persons, including nine foreigners, hostage in an operation on Friday midnight.

Those abducted are nine Chinese, five of them women, and three Pakistanis.

Riding in three vehicles, the religious students raided a Massage Centre at House No 17, Street 4.They overpowered three Pakistani guards posted at the centre after injuring them.

Later, they entered the building and ordered the Chinese men and women present there to accompany them. On refusal, the students thrashed them and forcibly took them to the Jamia Hafsa compound.

The religious students accused the abducted people of rendering un-Islamic and unlawful services.

When contacted, Assistant Superintendent of Police (City) Kamran Adil confirmed that 12 persons, including nine Chinese, were kidnapped by the Lal Masjid brigade. He said that earlier he had received information about the kidnapping of five persons. However, later it was confirmed that the abducted people were 12 in number.

A high-level meeting to deal with the situation was in progress till the filing of this report at 1.30 a.m. on Saturday. It is the first time that Lal Masjid has held foreigners hostage.

Sources told The News that there is a strong possibility of an Army operation against the Lal Masjid brigade this time as the victims include nationals of a friendly neighbour of Pakistan.

Earlier, the Khateeb of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, told a Juma congregation that Europe has made it its habit to commit acts of blasphemy. Describing the importance of Jihad, the cleric regretted that "Western democracy" has eliminated the concept of Jihad by replacing it with protest demonstrations.

He said that the major cause of humiliation of Muslims was non-observance of Jihad, recalling the times when Muslims ruled the world through Jihad and nobody had the courage to commit blasphemy and cast an evil eye on Muslim women.

The Maulana felt disillusioned that once again people throughout the world were staging protest demonstrations only against the knighting of blasphemer Salman Rushdie, while, according to him, the only solution to this issue lay in Jihad.

The cleric was agitated by the fact that today Muslims considered the Europeans as their friends whereas the Holy Qur'aan forbids Muslims to engage in close friendship with non-Muslims.

In view of such disillusioned circumstances, he requested the Ulema to announce a Jihad against Britain and expressed his firm belief that the youth would stand up once again to curb obscenity and injustice.

He said obscenity was on the rise in the name of cultural programmes both in Pakistan and abroad. He asked the government to expel the British high commissioner and snap relations with Britain unless they withdraw the knighthood conferred on the blasphemer.

Lal Masjid clerics could not be contacted as they had switched off their mobile phones.