Clashes in Pakistan, the police try to arrest the ex-president

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Clashes between Pakistani police and supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan continued outside the former president’s residence in the eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday, a day after police attempted to arrest him for failing to appear in court. to face corruption charges.

There have also been skirmishes between Khan’s supporters and the police in cities such as Karachi, Islamabad, the walled city of Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Queta and other places in Pakistan.

Police outside Khan’s house used tear gas, while supporters of the 70-year-old opposition leader threw rocks and bricks at officers.

The luxurious Zaman Park neighborhood where Khan lives remained under siege and the government sent additional police to resolve the situation after hundreds of Khan’s supporters showed unexpected perseverance.

Khan left his home on Wednesday morning to meet his supporters, who faced tear gas and police batons throughout the night to avoid arrest. He said he was ready to travel to Islamabad on March 18 following his arrest warrant, but the police did not accept the offer.

Clashes around the house continued.

Some 35 Khan supporters were injured on Tuesday, according to reports. The Punjab provincial government said Wednesday that more than 100 officers were injured in the clashes and denied Khan’s accusations that authorities were using live ammunition.

Khan, who was ousted in April by a vote of no confidence in parliament, was due to appear before a judge in Islamabad on Friday to address allegations that he illegally sold official gifts received during his tenure and concealed his assets.

The former president has avoided appearing in court since November, when he was injured in a shooting during a protest march in the eastern province of Punjab, and claimed his health did not allow him not to travel to Islamabad.

Last week he appeared in three courts in Islamabad but failed to make it to a fourth, where he was to be charged in the corruption case.

Khan says the cases against him, which include terrorism charges, are an attempt by the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to discredit the former cricketer star turned Islamist politician.

From his home, Khan urged his supporters on Tuesday to keep fighting even if he was arrested. “They think this country will go to sleep if Imran Khan is jailed,” he wrote on Twitter. “You have to prove them wrong.”

On Wednesday, he tweeted that there was a plot “to kidnap and murder me.”

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad.