Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to keep up his struggle to return to the country's political sphere while delivering his first public speech since being shot in an assassination attempt earlier this month.
"I'm more worried about the freedom of Pakistan than my life," he told a rally in the city of Rawalpindi that neighbors the capital Islamabad on Saturday, adding "I will fight for this country until my last drop of blood."
The rally marked the high point of a "long march" that Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has organized in support of its call for a snap election before the parliament's term expires in October next year.
Khan was voted into power in 2018 on the promise of fighting corruption, and remedying the country's economic woes.
Last month, Pakistan's election commission disqualified him from holding public office for five years on alleged charges of unlawfully selling government gifts he had received from foreign dignitaries and concealing his assets.
"I have seen death from up close," Khan also told the Saturday rally, which was his first public appearance since the attempt on his life in the northeastern city of Wazirabad earlier in November.
Protests break out in Pakistan after Imran Khan assassination attempt
Protests break out in Pakistan after Imran Khan assassination attempt
Protests break out across Pakistan following the abortive assassination attempt against Imran Khan.
Khan has been holding countrywide protests to push the government for early elections ever since being ousted from power. The protests were to culminate in a march to Islamabad, but Khan said on Saturday that he was calling off the protest march toward Islamabad, because he feared it would cause havoc in the country.
"I have decided not to go to Islamabad because I know there will be destruction and the loss will be to the country," Khan said.
The attempt saw a gunman opening fire from close range as Khan's open-top container truck made its way through a crowded street.
Khan has accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and a senior military officer of masterminding the assassination attempt.
The government, however, denies the accusation, saying the attempt against Khan's life was the work of a lone wolf who is now in custody.
Saturday's rally took place two days after the government named a former spymaster as the next military chief.
General Syed Asim Munir's had served as chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency under Khan, but his stint ended after just eight months following a reported falling out.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/11/26/693449/Pakistan-Imran-Khan-address-rally
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns the enemies that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Following the US military attack on a point on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport with aerial projectiles, the IRGC carried out new strikes targeting the US air base from which the attack originated in the wee hours of Thursday, it added.
“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
The remarks come weeks after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest...
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
