Israel repeatedly accused Hamas of using mosques to shelter armed men or munitions, and a report by Israel said an attack against the Maqadmah mosque in Jabaliya had killed six known militants.
"There's no question but that the Al Qaeda and the Taliban are using mosques," and that is being done purposely, he said, "because they know that we are a country that tries to avoid high-collateral-damage targets".
In the months after Mr. Hussein was toppled, religious-oriented politicians began with a big advantage over secular ones: their ability to use mosques as their soapboxes, especially at Friday Prayers.
The monarch would also retain his traditional role as the country's highest religious authority — meaning that he could block attempts to use mosques, the news media and religious education to impose chauvinist religious mores.
It charged that Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another militant Palestinian group, "systematically use mosques to conceal weaponry and establish underground tunnel networks, abusing the holy nature of these sites for their own terror-oriented agenda".
In anticipation of large crowds at the first Friday Prayers after the bombing began, General Musharraf had ordered the police and paramilitary agencies to "move firmly, swiftly and efficiently against law breakers" and not to allow clerics to use mosques to incite protests.
