Pak army halts Imran’s march against US drones
8 Oct 2012 1:40 AM GMT
A march against US drone strikes in Pakistan, led by the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, was stopped by the army on the edge of the nation's lawless tribal belt due to fears of a possible militant attacks on the participants, which also included American anti-war activists.
A motorcade of scores of vehicles was turned back by the army just a few kilometres from the boundary of the volatile South Waziristan Agency, forcing the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief to cancel his plans to address a gathering at Kotkai village in the tribal region.
The 59-year-old Khan then led his supporters back to Tank, a town in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that adjoins the tribal region, and addressed a gathering of a few thousand people. He contended that the march had succeeded in creating international awareness about the Pakistani people's opposition to US-operated drones.
He claimed that his party would make a 'clean sweep' in the upcoming general election. 'We came all the way to Waziristan. Soon, I will call on you to come to Islamabad,' he said, referring to his party's claim that it would come to power in the polls. 'We want to give a message to America that the more you carry out drone attacks, the more people will hate you,' he told his supporters.
In a message posted on Twitter, Khan said that he was told 'by the army that [there was] serious danger ahead' on the path to the tribal belt. 'Did not want to risk lives and turned back,' he said. Other leaders of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf tweeted the army had advised them to turn back as there was a 'real danger of [an] ambush'.
A motorcade of scores of vehicles was turned back by the army just a few kilometres from the boundary of the volatile South Waziristan Agency, forcing the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief to cancel his plans to address a gathering at Kotkai village in the tribal region.
The 59-year-old Khan then led his supporters back to Tank, a town in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that adjoins the tribal region, and addressed a gathering of a few thousand people. He contended that the march had succeeded in creating international awareness about the Pakistani people's opposition to US-operated drones.
He claimed that his party would make a 'clean sweep' in the upcoming general election. 'We came all the way to Waziristan. Soon, I will call on you to come to Islamabad,' he said, referring to his party's claim that it would come to power in the polls. 'We want to give a message to America that the more you carry out drone attacks, the more people will hate you,' he told his supporters.
In a message posted on Twitter, Khan said that he was told 'by the army that [there was] serious danger ahead' on the path to the tribal belt. 'Did not want to risk lives and turned back,' he said. Other leaders of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf tweeted the army had advised them to turn back as there was a 'real danger of [an] ambush'.
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