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FORMER PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUEBusiness mogul, multi-millionaire and three-time premier, Nawaz Sharif hails from one of the top two families that have dominated Pakistani politics for decades. He also has a personal stake in keeping imprisoned Imran Khan out of the picture. FORMER PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN, PAKISTAN TEHREEK-E-INSAF PARTYA former cricket star turned Islamist politician, Imran Khan triumphed on an anti-corruption, anti-establishment platform in the 2018 election to form a coalition government. FORMER PRIME MINISTER SHEHBAZ SHARIF, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUEShehbaz Sharif, 72, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, succeeded Imran Khan as prime minister in April 2022. He won his first parliamentary seat in 2018 and became foreign minister after Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister.

Persons: it's, NAWAZ SHARIF, Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Imran Khan, Khan, ASIM MUNIR, Asim Munir, Munir, IMRAN KHAN, Osama bin Laden, ” —, SHEHBAZ SHARIF, BILAWAL BHUTTO, ZARDARI, Pakistan’s, Bilawal Bhutto, Zardari, Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari Organizations: —, National Assembly, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE Business, Pakistan Muslim League, Supreme, Sharif, GEN, ARMY CHIEF, LEAGUE, International Monetary Fund Locations: ISLAMABAD, — Pakistan, PAKISTAN, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Iran, Tehran, Islamabad, United States, U.S, Washington, LEAGUE Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab, London, Sindh

☆ Pakistan’s Military Has Swayed Many Elections. Now It’s Going Full Tilt.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | Zia Ur-Rehman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tucked away on a patch of dying grass on the outskirts of Islamabad, the gathering hardly looked like a political rally at the height of an election season. There were no posters to promote a campaign, no microphones to deliver speeches, no sound system to amp up the crowd. Even the candidate, Aamir Mughal, was missing: He had gone into hiding months earlier, at the first signs of a military-led crackdown on his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I. The authorities had already raided his home, arrested two of his sons and lodged a case against him in connection with anti-military protests. in the first national election since the party’s leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, ran afoul of the generals and was ousted by Parliament in 2022.

Persons: Aamir Mughal, ” Mr, Mughal, “, Imran Khan Organizations: ” Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan

☆ Rehan Zeb Khan: Pakistan election candidate killed ahead of general election
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Sophia Saifi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —A Pakistan election candidate was shot dead while campaigning on Wednesday, as violence escalates a week before polls open. Rehan Zeb Khan, an independent candidate affiliated with former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was shot in a “targeted killing” when gunmen opened fire on his car in a market in Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to district police. In response to the violence, Pakistan’s Election Commission (ECP) summoned an emergency meeting of security officials on Thursday to discuss the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the two provinces, according to a statement from the commission. On Wednesday, Pakistan’s military also met for an annual conference where they discussed the possible deployment of the country’s army to assist the election commission during the general election next week, according to a government statement. The election commission has declared February 8, the day of the election, a public holiday for the country’s 240 million people.

Persons: Rehan Zeb Khan, Imran Khan’s, ”, Malik Kaleem Ullah, Home and Tribal Affairs Balochistan Zubair Jamali, “, Khan Organizations: Pakistan CNN —, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly, Reuters, Pakistan’s People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League, Home and Tribal Affairs Balochistan, Baloch Liberation Army, PTI Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Imran Khan’s Pakistan, Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, State Khorasan, Balochistan, Home and Tribal Affairs Balochistan Zubair, Sibi

☆ Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan hit with new 14-year jail sentence, a day after receiving 10-year term
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Pakistan's embattled former Prime Minister Imran Khan was hit with a fresh 14-year jail sentence on Wednesday after a state court found him guilty of graft, just one day after being handed a 10-year term on a conviction of leaking state secrets. His wife Bushra Bibi was also sentenced to a 14-year jail term for graft; the case implicating the couple involved the illegal sale of state gifts for profit while Khan was in office. Previously, many political analysts saw him as the likely winner of Pakistan's upcoming general election on Feb. 8. A towering figure in Pakistani politics for decades, Khan — along with his supporters — says the charges and arrests are politically motivated. It is not clear whether the 10 and 14-year-sentences will be served consecutively or concurrently, though some media reports say the terms will be concurrent.

Persons: Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, Khan, Khan —, — Organizations: Pakistan, Bureau

☆ Costs, Crackdown Put a Damper on Pakistan's Election Campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Ariba ShahidKARACHI (Reuters) - Higher living costs and political uncertainty have muted Pakistan's once boisterous election campaigns, with both candidates and those who supply them with materials bemoaning the need to do more with much less. Syed Arsalan Haider, a Karachi printer, said the cost of a square foot of banner was up by 130% since the last election. Khan, whose party won the last election, says the military wants to keep him from power, which the military denies. Meherbano Qureshi, a PTI candidate and daughter of the party's jailed vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said people were scared to show their support and hang campaign material. (Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by YP Rajesh and Miral Fahmy)

Persons: Shahid, Imran Khan, Jawad Jiwani, Syed Arsalan Haider, Abdul Aziz, Taj Haider, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Faisal Subzwari, Khan, Meherbano Qureshi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khurram Sher Zaman, They're, Ariba Shahid, Mubasher Bukhari, YP Rajesh, Miral Organizations: Monetary Fund, Pakistan People's Party, PTI, Mubasher, YP Locations: Shahid KARACHI, Pakistan, Karachi, festooned, Lahore

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Pakistan’s former leader Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets, his political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a statement Tuesday. The former prime minister repeatedly alleged that Pakistani officials conspired with the country’s powerful military and the US to remove him from office. Khan has been behind bars since August after he was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to three years in prison. Despite being unable to stand in the upcoming vote, he remains a major political force owing to his widespread popularity. TV stations are banned from running Khan’s speeches, and many of his PTI party colleagues have been arrested.

Persons: Pakistan CNN — Pakistan’s, Imran Khan, Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi Organizations: Pakistan CNN, Cypher, PTI, US State Department Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Rawalpindi’s Adiala, Pakistani

☆ Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan sentenced to 10-year jail term
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks to the members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan May 18, 2023. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail on charges of leaking state secrets, his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) confirmed in a post on social media site X on Tuesday. The former national cricket captain became Pakistan's prime minister in 2018. What can be more ridiculous than that Pakistan has imprisoned its Prime Minister and Foreign Minister for exposing the foreign conspiracy! One month later, he was removed from power in a vote of no-confidence by opposition lawmakers alleging corruption and unconstitutional actions.

Persons: Imran Khan, Pakistan Imran Khan, Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Khan's Organizations: Former, PTI Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Islamabad, Washington

☆ Pakistan PM says expulsion of Afghans a response to Taliban non-cooperation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Last month, Pakistan set a Nov. 1 start date for the expulsion of all undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghans. Kakar said 15 suicide bombings in recent months had been carried out by Afghans, and dozens of Afghans had been killed in clashes with Pakistani security forces. A spokesman for the Taliban administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There has been a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants in Pakistan since talks between Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Pakistani state broke down in 2022. Kakar said that Pakistan had communicated to the Taliban administration that it had to "choose between Pakistan and the TTP".

Persons: Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Kakar, Gibran Peshimam, Alex Richardson Organizations: United Nations, Caretaker, Taliban, Thomson Locations: Afghan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Balochistan Province, Chaman, ISLAMABAD, Western, Islamabad, U.S, Tehreek, Taliban Pakistan, Pakistani

☆ Militant Attack on Air Base Is Latest Episode to Unnerve Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Pakistani military said it had successfully repelled an attack by militants on an air base in central Pakistan on Saturday. The attempt to breach the Mianwali Training Air Base occurred a day after 14 soldiers traveling in a convoy were ambushed and killed in Baluchistan Province, in the southwest. That has fed growing tensions between the Pakistani government and Taliban officials, who have rejected Pakistani accusations of providing shelter to militant groups, including their ally, the Pakistani Taliban. The fighter jets on the air base, which are stored inside concrete hangars, escaped harm, but three other aircraft described as nonoperational were damaged. It was not clear if those defending the air base suffered any casualties.

Organizations: Mianwali Training Air Base, Jihad, Defense Locations: Pakistan, Mianwali, Baluchistan Province, Jihad Pakistan, Afghanistan, Pakistani

☆ Militants attack air force base in central Pakistan, says military
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Nine Islamist militants attacked an air force training base in the central Pakistani area of Mianwali on Saturday damaging three "non-operational" aircraft, the military said, adding that all assailants had been killed by security forces. Three militants were killed before they entered the base while the others had been cornered before the clearance operation began, the military said in a statement. The military said nine militants had been killed in the attack on the Pakistan Air Force Training Airbase Mianwali. "No damage has been done to any of the Pakistan Air Force's functional operational assets, while only some damage was done to three already phased out non-operational aircraft during the attack," the military statement said. Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to journalists by its spokesperson.

Persons: Zeeshan Niazi, TJP, Gibran Peshimam, Saud Mehsud, Dera Ismail Khan, Mubasher Bukhari, William Mallard, Jamie Freed Organizations: Nine, Reuters, Pakistan Air Force Training, Pakistan Air, Jihad, Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, Mianwali, Jihad Pakistan, Balochistan, Lahore

☆ Pakistan's Imran Khan indicted in official secrets case - party
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Oct 23 (Reuters) - A Pakistani court indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his deputy in an official secrets acts case on Monday, his party said, in another blow for the jailed former cricket star ahead of a general election expected in January. Both the United States and the Pakistani military deny that. The sentence was suspended but he remains in prison in connection with other cases, including instigating violence and the official secrets case. A guilty verdict under the Official Secrets Act could bring up to 14 years in prison or even a death sentence, lawyers say.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Shah Mahmood Quershi, Nawaz Sharif, Gibran Peshimam, Jacqueline Wong, Robert Birsel Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Washington, U.S, Moscow, Ukraine, United States, Adyala

Rescue workers clear the rubble from a damaged mosque, after a suicide blast in Hangu, Pakistan September 29, 2023. It was not immediately clear how Pakistani authorities could ensure the illegal immigrants leave, or how they could find them to expel them. Bugti said some 1.73 million Afghan nationals in Pakistan had no legal documents to stay, adding a total of 4.4 million Afghan refugees lived in Pakistan. "There are no two opinions that we are attacked from within Afghanistan and Afghan nationals are involved in attacks on us," he said. Islamabad has received the largest influx of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979.

Persons: Stringer, Sarfraz Bugti, Bugti, Asif Shahzad, Jon Boyle, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Afghan, State, Thomson Locations: Hangu, Pakistan, ISLAMABAD, Kabul, Afghanistan, Islamabad, Taliban Pakistan, Afghan

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, one of which trapped dozens of people under rubble, media said. [1/4]People gather outside the Mastung hospital, following a deadly suicide attack on a religious gathering in Balochistan province, Pakistan, September 29, 2023 in this handout image. The TTP, responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan since its formation in 2007, denied responsibility for Friday's blasts. In July, more than 40 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a religious political party's gathering. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.

Persons: Prophet Mohammed, Abdul Rasheed, Munir Ahmed, Shaheed Nawab Ghous Bakhsh, Fazal Akbar, Pakistan's, Saleem Ahmed, Mushtaq Ali, Shivam Patel, Gibran Peshimam, Miral Fahmy, Clarence Fernandez, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Reuters, Geo News, REUTERS Acquire, Militant, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: Afghan, QUETTA, PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Balochistan, Madina Mosque, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan province, Handout, Hangu, Afghanistan, Taliban Pakistan, Peshawar, Quetta, Shahid, Karachi

☆ Pakistan's president refuses to sign new national security laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi speaks with Reuters in an interview after Pakistan's presidency was recognized as the world's first presidential secretariat running on clean energy, in Islamabad, Pakistan October 27, 2021. "As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws," Alvi said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He said he had asked his staff to return the bills unsigned to the legislature within the stipulated time to make them ineffective. The ministry of law and justice said the president's decision was of "grave concern". "As the president didn't sign and return the bill within 10 days, it became a law," caretaker law minister Ahmad Iran told a news conference.

Persons: Arif Alvi, Pakistan's, Saiyna Bashir, Imran Khan's, Alvi, doesn't, didn't, Ahmad Iran, Murtaza Solangi, Solangi, Ariba Shahid, Susan Fenton Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Pakistan, Twitter, Caretaker, Thomson Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Rights KARACHI, Alvi, Imran Khan's Pakistan

☆ Militant attack kills 11 labourers in Pakistan - caretaker PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Jibran Ahmad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Pakistan Aug 20 (Reuters) - Eleven labourers were killed in a militant attack in Northwestern Pakistan, caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Sunday in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "They were working at an army post that is under construction ... an IED exploded under a vehicle carrying the labourers," deputy commissioner of North Waziristan, Rehan Khattak said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants since last year when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the government broke down. Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina and Jibran Ahmad; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Haq Kakar, Rehan Khattak, Nilutpal Timsina, Jibran Ahmad, Charlotte Greenfield, Kim Coghill Organizations: Taliban, Thomson Locations: PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Northwestern Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Waziristan, North Waziristan, Taliban Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) office in Islamabad, Pakistan June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Salahuddin/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsKARACHI, Pakistan, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Pakistani opposition leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi was detained on Saturday, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said, just hours after he said it would challenge any delay to the country's election in the courts. Party spokesman Zulfi Bukhari told Reuters the specific reason for the detention of Qureshi, twice Pakistan's foreign minister, was not immediately clear. The outgoing government approved a new census in its final days, meaning new electoral boundaries must be drawn up by the Election Commission. IMF BAILOUTThe election commission said on Thursday that new constituencies would be finalised by Dec. 14, state television reported.

Persons: Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Salahuddin, Zulfi Bukhari, Qureshi, Bukhari, Imran Khan, Khan, Haq Kakar, Ariba Shahid, Toby Chopra, Alison Williams Organizations: Pakistan's, Reuters, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, REUTERS, Rights, PTI, IMF, Supreme, Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Rights KARACHI, Karachi

The two Christians were accused of blasphemy, he said, adding they and family members had fled their homes. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed for it, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged crowds. A Christian leader, Akmal Bhatti, said the crowd had "torched" at least five churches and looted valuables from houses that had been abandoned by their owners. Several social media posts showed some churches, houses and belongings on fire as police stood by. The mob was made up of thousands of people led by local clerics, mainly from an Islamist political party called Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a government source said.

Persons: Naveed Ahmad, Shakil Masih, Usman Anwar, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Akmal Bhatti, Asif Shahzad, Angus MacSwan, Nick Macfie Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, REUTERS Acquire, Caretaker, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Islamabad

[1/2] A man reads a newspaper, a day after Pakistan's parliament was dissolved by the president on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's advice, at a makeshift stall in Karachi, Pakistan August 10, 2023. As it stands, former prime minister Imran Khan, the main opposition leader, cannot fight this election. There are three main contenders to lead the next government: Khan's PTI, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Shehbaz Sharif and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, the brother of the outgoing prime minister and whose PML-N was the senior partner in the outgoing coalition government, is seeking a return from exile. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 34, the young chairman of the PPP and son of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is another key candidate.

Persons: Shehbaz, Akhtar Soomro, Anwaar, Haq Kakar, IMRAN KHAN, Imran Khan, Khan, Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Benazir Bhutto, Khan's jailing, Asif Shahzad, Gibran Peshimam, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS, BE, Monetary Fund, IMF, Balochistan Awami Party, WHO, PTI, Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, Constitutional, Thomson Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, Balochistan, Shehbaz Sharif

Yet the final days of Imran Khan’s political career tell a contrasting tale. Khan’s supporters – some armed with sticks and stones – marched through cities, chanting slogans against the ruling dispensation. To his supporters, Khan was seen as a political martyr, someone they had vowed to defend till the very end. Analysts say Khan’s arrest following a yearlong showdown with the military sends a pointed message to the former prime minister and his supporters. “Imran Khan’s political will wasn’t strong enough to begin with from what we saw.

Persons: Imran Khan’s, Khan, Khan’s, –, ”, Arifa Noor, “, Imran Khan, Jemima Goldsmith, Patrick Durand, Sygma, Pervez Musharraf, Arif Ali, Noor, “ Imran Khan’s, Shehbaz Sharif, Aamir Qureshi, Mr, Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, Salaar Khan, Khawaja Asif, Khan won’t, “ Imran, ” Noor Organizations: CNN, Cricket, Getty, Oxford University, Movement for Justice, PML, AP, Pakistan’s, PTI, CNN Monday Locations: Pakistan, Lahore, Islamabad, British India, It’s, Melbourne, Australia, Khan, British, AFP, India, Afghanistan, United States, Gujranwala

☆ Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan's lawyers cannot reach him in jail, spokesperson says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Lawyers gather to protest following the arrest of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, outside his residence in Lahore, Pakistan August 5, 2023. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza/File PhotoISLAMABAD, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan's lawyers could not reach him on Sunday after he spent the night in a jail near the capital following his arrest the previous day on a corruption conviction, a spokesperson said. Pakistan's information minister referred a request for comment on Khan's access to his lawyers to provincial authorities in Punjab, where the jail is located. Thousands of Khan's aides and supporters have been arrested since May, according to the interior minister. Pakistan's government denies Khan's arrest was related to the election.

Persons: Imran Khan, Mohsin Raza, Imran Khan's, Khan, Naeem Haider Panjotha, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Charlotte Greenfield, Mubasher Bukhari, William Mallard Organizations: REUTERS, PTI, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Attock, Punjab

☆ Imran Khan arrested after Pakistan court sentences ex-prime minister to three years in jail
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam Charlotte Greenfield | Mubasher Bukhari | Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said in a statement it had already filed another appeal to the Supreme Court earlier on Saturday. Khan, 70, is a former cricket star who went on to forge a political career and who was prime minister from 2018 to 2022. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a broadcast statement that Khan's arrest followed a full investigation and proper legal proceedings in a trial court. Khan was convicted by the court in a case that was first investigated by the election commission, which found him guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts while prime minister.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Shehbaz Sharif's, Intezar Panjotha, Bilal Siddique Kamiana, Khan, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Sharif, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khan's, Qamar Javed Bajwa, Asim Munir, Mubasher Bukhari, Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam, Charlotte, William Mallard, Simon Cameron, Moore, Frances Kerry, Giles Elgood Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Police, " Police, Central Adiala, wilfully, PTI, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, LAHORE, Islamabad, Central, Rawalpindi, Toshakhana, Khan's, Karachi, Charlotte Greenfield

☆ Pakistan suicide bombing death toll rises to 45
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Saud Mehsud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, July 31 (Reuters) - The death toll in a suicide bombing at a political rally held by a religious party rose to 45 on Monday, officials said, an attack compounding fears of unrest ahead of a general election due later in the year. An official at a state-run rescue agency, Bilal Faizi, said the death toll had risen to 45. A general view of damaged property, following an explosion by a suicide bomber in Bajaur, Pakistan July 31, 2023 in this screen grab taken from a social media video. Bilal Yasir/via REUTERSPakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants since last year when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the government broke down. A mosque bombing in Peshawar city in the northwest killed more than 100 people in January but attacks on political parties are rare.

Persons: DERA ISMAIL, Fazl, Bilal Faizi, Riaz Anwar, Bilal Yasir, Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Shahzad, Robert Birsel Organizations: Ulema, Islamic, REUTERS, Taliban, Thomson Locations: DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Bajaur, Afghanistan, REUTERS Pakistan, Taliban Pakistan, Peshawar city

[1/2] Rescue workers and other people transport an injured person to the hospital, after a blast in Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan July 30, 2023. Rescue 1122/Handout via REUTERSDERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, July 30 (Reuters) - At least 40 people were killed and over 130 injured when a suicide bomber set off explosives at a political rally in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, police said. The provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat told Reuters the explosion was caused by a suicide bomb. "The JUI-F organised a workers convention in Khar town of Bajaur in which 40 people lost their lives and more than 130 were injured," Khan said. Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants since last year when a ceasefire between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamabad broke down.

Persons: DERA ISMAIL, Fazl, Akhtar Hayat, Nazir Khan, Khan, Zabihullah Mujahid, Shehbaz Sharif, Saud Mehsud, Dera Ismail Khan, Jibran Ahmad, Nilutpal, Gibran Peshimam, Andrew Cawthorne, Christina Fincher Organizations: Sunday, Ulema, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bajaur district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Bajaur, Afghanistan, Peshawar, Khar, Taliban Pakistan, Islamabad, Islamic State

☆ Pakistan's Imran Khan expresses support for bailout deal in IMF meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Hammad Azhar, a former finance minister under Khan, who attended the meeting virtually, said in a post on Twitter that the former premier and his economic team had discussed last week's staff-level deal between the IMF and Pakistan's government. The new deal, which will be vital to help stabilise Pakistan's struggling $350 billion economy, will be taken up for approval by the IMF board on July 12. Khan's government deviated from agreements under an earlier IMF programme days before he was ousted in a parliamentary vote last year, leading to a delay in the implementation of the programme and increased economic uncertainty. The meeting is the highest profile engagement for Khan and his the PTI since he was ousted from power less than four years into his five-year term. Many of Khan's key aides remain under arrest and many others, like Azhar, are in hiding.

Persons: Khan, Imran Khan, Hammad Azhar, Azhar, Nathan Porter, Esther Perez Ruiz, Shehbaz Sharif, Gibran Peshimam, William Maclean, David Holmes Organizations: International Monetary Fund, IMF, Twitter, Mission, Khan's, PTI, Thomson Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, Lahore

☆ Pakistan's Imran Khan formally named in 'abetting' lawyer's drive-by murder
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Gul Yousafzai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

QUETTA, Pakistan, June 7 (Reuters) - Pakistani police on Wednesday formally named former prime minister Imran Khan in connection with the murder by unknown gunmen of a lawyer seeking sedition proceedings against him. Khan, who has not been charged in connection with the lawyer's murder, has dismissed all the cases against him as concocted by his opponents. Provincial government spokesman Babar Khan said Khan could face formal charges if and when the murder case goes to trial. It was not immediately clear how the link between unknown gunmen and Khan was made. Khan has accused the military and its intelligence agency of openly trying to destroy his party, saying he has "no doubt" he will be tried in a military court and thrown into jail.

Persons: Imran Khan, Khan, Rauf Hasan, Babar Khan, Abdur Razaq, Razaq, Razaq's, Siraj Ahmad, Asif Shahzad, Nick Macfie Organizations: Wednesday, Police, Reuters, Thomson Locations: QUETTA, Pakistan

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