Imran Khan Leads 100,000 Rally Against Pakistan's US Alliance

Source: The Telegraph

Khan, 58, entered politics 15 years ago when he founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or the Movement for Justice Party, but up to now he has struggled to translate his fame into votes.

The rally in the eastern city of Lahore indicated his message may have found new resonance at a time when Pakistanis are fed up with the country's chronic insecurity and economic malaise.

"I have come here to register my hatred against this corrupt system," said 29-year-old Nadeem Iqbal, who attended the rally.

A poll conducted by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center in June found Khan, the captain of Pakistan's 1992 world champion cricket team, to be the most popular political figure in the country.

He has been especially critical of U.S. drone strikes targeting militants in Pakistan's rugged tribal region along the Afghan border. The latest suspected strike killed six alleged militants on Sunday. Khan has argued that Pakistan's alliance with the U.S. is the main reason Pakistan is facing a home-grown Taliban insurgency.

"Our leaders owned this war on terror for the sake of dollars," Khan told the crowd assembled around the country's most important national monument, the Minar-e-Pakistan. "Let me curse you. You sold out the blood of innocent people."

Massive Pakistan Rally Demands End to US Drone Strikes

Source: AntiWar.com
Jason Ditz

With the Obama Administration escalating drone strikes against Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a massive protest was held today in the capital city of Islamabad condemning the strikes and demanding that the Zardari government do something to stop them.

The protesters included a large number of tribesmen from North Waziristan, the site of the vast majority of the recent US strikes. Several of them reported participating in a tribal jirga relating to the US attacks.

The jirga issued a resolution condemning the large numbers of innocent civilians killed in the bombing campaign, and also said they believed the attacks violated both Pakistani and international law.

Among those in attendance at the rally was key opposition figure Imran Khan, the head of Tehreek-e Insaf. Khan urged the Pakistani government to work with tribal elders to restore peace in the tribal areas and to downgrade ties with the US if the attacks did not end.