July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's government said the deputy chief cleric at the capital Islamabad's Red Mosque won't be hurt or humiliated if he surrenders to end a siege that has led to at least 19 deaths in gun battles in the past three days.

Abdul Rashid Ghazi ``should come out and surrender'' unconditionally, Kamal Shah, secretary at Pakistan's interior ministry, told reporters in Islamabad today, rejecting the cleric's earlier demand for safe passage.

The chief cleric, Maulana Muhammad Abdul Aziz, who has already been arrested, sparked the standoff with the government of President Pervez Musharraf in April when he established a court in the Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid, to try to bring Islamabad under Islamic law.

``Resistance is the only option as the government has closed the doors for negotiation,'' Ghazi said in an interview with the AAJ television channel today. ``Since we are only defending ourselves, we have enough ammunition. We prefer death to surrender.''

Musharraf has faced opposition from Islamic parties since he supported the U.S.-led war against terrorism in 2001 and sent the army to the northwestern tribal region to control Taliban and al- Qaeda terrorists crossing over from Afghanistan.

On July 4, the government imposed a curfew at the Red Mosque and its surrounding areas before the security forces laid siege following gun battles with those inside a day earlier. The two sides have been exchanging gunfire since then.

The exchanges resumed at about 6:30 p.m. today and several blasts were heard, GEO television reported. The broadcaster showed pictures of smoke coming from the mosque.

Safe Passage Sought

Ghazi yesterday told GEO television he would surrender if he was given safe passage and asked for guarantees he wouldn't be shot or humiliated by security forces.

As many as 60 ``hardcore militants'' are preventing students in the mosque from surrendering, Javed Iqbal Cheema, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said yesterday. Ghazi's brother, chief cleric Aziz, was arrested two days ago when he tried to escape dressed as a woman.

The militants ``are using women and children as shields'' to stop anyone else from leaving the building, after the surrender of 1,221 students in the past two days, Shah said. There are reports the militants have laid mines inside the mosque, he said.

``If these events end in a clear surrender by the mosque authorities, and if they do not spark more generalized violence, the government will emerge looking more decisive and adept than it has in some time,'' Teresita Schaffer, director of the South Asia program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a report released yesterday.

Conflicting Toll Reports

About 80 people, including 30 female students, have died in the firing by security forces, AAJ television reported, citing Ume Hassan, Aziz's wife, who is inside the mosque and is refusing to surrender. The female students have chosen to stay inside the mosque, she told the broadcaster today.

The government says it doesn't know how many people were killed inside the mosque.

``We want absolute, total and unconditional surrender,'' deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem said yesterday. ``The parents of students who are still inside requested us to give more time. It will be wrong to go in with full force when women and children are still inside.''

Innocent women and children, as well as male students, are being allowed to go home as they surrender, while the cleric and his militant supporters will be dealt according to the law, said Shah of the interior ministry.

Detention Extended

Aziz, who has been charged with murder and terrorism, was brought before the Anti-Terrorist Court yesterday, which ordered he be held for another seven days, the government said.

About 850 students, including 600 girls and women, are inside the mosque, Aziz told state-owned Pakistan Television yesterday.

Ghazi, in a June 14 interview, said the group occupying the mosque wanted to replace Pakistan's system of government with Islamic law and justice. Musharraf's administration is failing the people, he said.

``It's not giving food or health care,'' Ghazi said. ``It may be accommodating the ruling class, but it's giving nothing to the people.''

Musharraf has stressed that Pakistan must follow a path of moderation. He has pledged to boost economic growth in the world's second-largest Muslim nation in an effort to reduce the threat of terrorism and extremism. Pakistan has a population of 165 million people.

To contact the reporters on this story: Khalid Qayum in Islamabad, Pakistan at kqayum@bloomberg.net; Khaleeq Ahmed in Islamabadt .

Last Updated: July 6, 2007 10:38 EDT