PAKISTAN: Supporters of Pakistani cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan gather for a rally in Peshawar to halt NATO supplies into Afghanistan

Record ID: 214098

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Supporters of Pakistani cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan gather for a rally in Peshawar to halt NATO supplies into Afghanistan
  • Date: 23rd November 2013
  • Summary: PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (NOVEMBER 23, 2013) (REUTERS) POSTERS OF CRICKETER-TURNED POLITICIAN IMRAN KHAN AND OFFICIALS OF HIS PARTY PASTED ON OVERPASS PARAMILITARY SOLDIER STANDING VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS OF IMRAN KHAN BEING SEARCHED AS THEY ENTER RALLY VENUE VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN STANDING NEXT TO ROAD BLOCK HUGE BANNER ON STAGE BEARING PICTURE OF IMRAN KHAN READING: "OUR LAND, OUR WAY" PICTURE OF KHAN/SECURITY ON STAGE SUPPORTERS ARRIVING MAN SELLING BADGES AND OTHER DECORATION OF KHAN'S PARTY TEHREEK-E-INSAF SUPPORTERS WAVING PARTY FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) SUPPORTERS OF IMRAN KHAN, DOCTOR SANA ULLAH, SAYING: "The Nato supply passes through here, that means we provide a kind of support to Nato. But they attack us and kill our Muslim brethren by drone strikes. So, we think, it is not about supporting Imran Khan but it is a matter of our religion, faith and honour." SUPPORTERS WAVING PARTY FLAGS AS THEY SIT IN CHAIRS AT THE VENUE OF RALLY SUPPORTER WAVING FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) IMRAN KHAN SUPPORTER, LAL ZAMEEN, SAYING: "This is a sit-in protest against the American tyranny. We have to make it successful till the American oppression ends. I think the blasts these days are also the handiwork of Americans. I have come to participate in this sit-in today." SUPPORTERS WAVING FLAGS
  • Embargoed: 8th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9N24OTLOEDGI5OUTSEHTWP0QJ
  • Story Text: Supporters of Pakistani cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan started gathering for a rally in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Saturday (November 23) to halt NATO supplies into Afghanistan.
    Khan, whose political party is now in charge of the volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan, has threatened to cut NATO supply lines through his region from November 23 if U.S. drone strikes do not end.
    Khan with leadership of allied political parties and renowned religious scholars will address the rally.
    His supporters gathered on the Ring Road that has been blocked by containers.
    One supporter said as drone strikes continued, they no longer allow NATO to travel through their streets.

    "The Nato supply passes from here that means we provide a kind of support to Nato. But they attack us and kill our Muslim brethren by drone strikes. So, we think, it is not about supporting Imran Khan but it is a matter of our religion, faith and honour," a doctor Sana Ullah said.
    Another Khan supporter firmly placed the blame on the U.S.

    "This is a sit-in protest against the American tyranny. We have to make it successful till the American oppression ends. I think the blasts these days are also the handiwork of Americans. I have come to participate in this sit-in today," said Lal Zameen.
    Blocking NATO trucks at KP border checkpoints could disrupt the operations of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan but any decision to close supply routes through Pakistan would have to come from the central government in Islamabad.
    Pakistan is the main route to supply U.S. troops in landlocked Afghanistan with everything from food and drinking water to fuel. Any closure could be a serious disruption as U.S. and other Western forces prepare to withdraw most of their troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year.
    But apart from the route in KPK province, Pakistan also uses another route from Chaman border in Baluchistan province into Afghanistan.
    NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged Pakistan to keep open supply lines to NATO forces in Afghanistan despite anger over a U.S. drone strike that killed the Pakistani Taliban leader, Hakimullah Mehsud.
    Pakistan and the United States agreed in July 2012 to reopen land routes to Afghanistan, ending a seven-month crisis that damaged ties between the two countries. Without the Pakistani route, NATO forces are forced to use more expensive methods, such as airlifts, to bring supplies in.
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