Attempts to talk to militants amid fears for hostages

ISLAMIC scholars and a former prime minister opened negotiations with militants besieged in Islamabad’s Red Mosque amid growing fears for some 150 women and children allegedly held hostage inside.

At least 24 people have died in clashes in the past week after gunbattles broke out between security forces and supporters of hard-line clerics who have tried to impose Taliban-style rule in the capital.

After a botched commando raid on the high-walled compound at the weekend, President Pervez Musharraf assigned ex-premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to try to negotiate a peaceful end to the stand-off.