Crackdown called off

The week's news at a glance.

Islamabad, Pakistan

Pakistan has backed down from a pledge to expel foreign students from Islamic schools. President Pervez Musharraf had promised a crackdown on madrasas last summer, after one of the London subway bombers was found to have studied at a Pakistani school. Critics say the schools teach a fundamentalist form of Islam that encourages Western and Arab students to join jihadist groups. But the schools refused to turn in their foreign students, and last week the government said it would not use force to expel them. “This government has a track record on backing out on issues of political Islam,” said Najam Sethi, editor of the Karachi Daily Times.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up