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Pakistan to release Khan within hours: officials
MULTAN, Pakistan, Nov 21, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistani authorities will free hunger-striking cricket legend Imran Khan from jail within hours, officials said Wednesday, as the government further rolled back emergency measures.
Khan was detained last week and charged under anti-terrorism laws after trying to lead a student protest in Lahore against a state of emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf.
He began a hunger strike on Monday to protest against a massive government crackdown on the opposition and against his detention in a remote jail in the central town of Dera Ghazi Khan.
"All political prisoners in Punjab province, including Imran Khan, are being released in Punjab in the next few hours," a top provincial government official told AFP.
A senior federal government official confirmed the decision to release Khan.
Khan's sister earlier told AFP that he had stopped taking water, leaving the playboy-turned-opposition politician physically weak but still defiant.
"Imran is not taking any liquid and he is not eating. He has grown weak but his spirits are very high," Khan's younger sister Allema Khan told AFP by telephone after visiting him in jail.
"He has refused to take water despite instruction from the jail doctor and this is extremely worrisome," she added.
"But he chided us for showing weakness and he said we should urge the youth of Pakistan to go on a token hunger strike to press for the restoration of the judiciary."
But officials later said Khan would be among more than 250 prisoners being released in Punjab, the most populous of Pakistan's four provinces and the country's political heartland.
"This is a goodwill gesture from the interim government because it wants to give a level playing field to all political parties before the election campaign gets underway," the provincial official said.
Caretaker governments took power in Pakistan's provinces on Monday to prepare for national and provincial elections on January 8.
"The Punjab government is also going to offer Imran official transport to return to Lahore", the official said.
Pakistani authorities have denied Khan is on hunger strike and say he has been eating regularly.
Khan captained Pakistan's cricket team to World Cup glory in 1992.
He then set up his own opposition party, the Movement for Justice, but with little of the success of his sporting days, and he remains its only member of parliament.
AFP
MULTAN, Pakistan, Nov 21, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistani authorities will free hunger-striking cricket legend Imran Khan from jail within hours, officials said Wednesday, as the government further rolled back emergency measures.
Khan was detained last week and charged under anti-terrorism laws after trying to lead a student protest in Lahore against a state of emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf.
He began a hunger strike on Monday to protest against a massive government crackdown on the opposition and against his detention in a remote jail in the central town of Dera Ghazi Khan.
"All political prisoners in Punjab province, including Imran Khan, are being released in Punjab in the next few hours," a top provincial government official told AFP.
A senior federal government official confirmed the decision to release Khan.
Khan's sister earlier told AFP that he had stopped taking water, leaving the playboy-turned-opposition politician physically weak but still defiant.
"Imran is not taking any liquid and he is not eating. He has grown weak but his spirits are very high," Khan's younger sister Allema Khan told AFP by telephone after visiting him in jail.
"He has refused to take water despite instruction from the jail doctor and this is extremely worrisome," she added.
"But he chided us for showing weakness and he said we should urge the youth of Pakistan to go on a token hunger strike to press for the restoration of the judiciary."
But officials later said Khan would be among more than 250 prisoners being released in Punjab, the most populous of Pakistan's four provinces and the country's political heartland.
"This is a goodwill gesture from the interim government because it wants to give a level playing field to all political parties before the election campaign gets underway," the provincial official said.
Caretaker governments took power in Pakistan's provinces on Monday to prepare for national and provincial elections on January 8.
"The Punjab government is also going to offer Imran official transport to return to Lahore", the official said.
Pakistani authorities have denied Khan is on hunger strike and say he has been eating regularly.
Khan captained Pakistan's cricket team to World Cup glory in 1992.
He then set up his own opposition party, the Movement for Justice, but with little of the success of his sporting days, and he remains its only member of parliament.
AFP
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