Pakistani police pause siege at ex-PM's home
After clashing with supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan outside his home for a second day Wednesday, police paused their efforts to arrest the ousted premier for failing to appear in court last week on graft charges.
Police had besieged the 70-year-old opposition leader's house in the eastern city of Lahore since Tuesday as his supporters hurled rocks and bricks, and swung batons snatched from officers. Police fired tear gas and clashes went on into the afternoon Wednesday before subsiding.
Violence was also reported between Khan's supporters and police in other major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta and elsewhere in Pakistan. The government sent additional police to Lahore's upscale area of Zaman Park, where Khan lives.
Earlier Wednesday, Khan had emerged from his house to meet with supporters, who had faced tear gas and police batons through the night to defend him from arrest. He said he was ready to travel to Islamabad on March 18 under the arrest warrant, but that police did not accept the offer.
Khan later posed for cameras seated at a long table, showing off piles of spent tear gas shells he said had been collected from around his home.
“What crime did I commit that my house has been attacked like this,” he tweeted. Fawad Chaudhry, a senior party leader from Khan's party claimed hundreds of Khan's supporters were injured.
At the Islamabad High Court, Khan's lawyer Khawaja Haris petitioned for the suspension of the warrants for the former premier but the court denied the motion.
Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April, was ordered to appear before a judge in Islamabad on Friday to answer charges of illegally selling state gifts he had received during his term as premier and concealing his assets.
The former premier has avoided appearances in court since November, when he was wounded in a gun attack at a protest rally in eastern Punjab province, claiming he was not medically fit to travel from Lahore to Islamabad to face indictment.
Last week, he went to Islamabad to appear before three courts, but failed to appear before the fourth court to face indictment in the graft case, which is a legal process for starting his trial.
Khan has claimed that the string of cases against him, which includes terrorism charges, are a plot by the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to discredit the former cricket star turned Islamist politician.
The situation in Lahore calmed in early afternoon and the police stepped back, apparently to ease tensions. This encouraged more Khan supporters to join those outside and inside his home. Many chanted Allahu akbar, the Arabic phrase for “God is great” as Khan, still wearing a gas mask, greeted them.