Imran Khan to take Pakistani political rival to court in UK

(Photo: BBC)

By Jerome Taylor
Published The Independent: 02 June 2007

Imran Khan, the former Pakistani cricketer, is planning to use the British courts to sue a prominent political opponent who, he claims, was responsible for the violence in Karachi last month that left more than 40 people dead and scores wounded.

Mr Khan, who heads his own political party, Tehreek-i-Insaaf, is flying to the UK today and intends to bring either criminal or civil proceedings against Altaf Hussein, the leader of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), a party which has the backing of the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Hussein holds British citizenship and runs the MQM from an office on Edgware Road, London. Although one of Pakistan's most prominent politicians, he refuses to lead the party from his home country, arguing that he is at risk of assassination by political rivals if he returns home.
Last night Mr Khan called the MQM "a mafia". "Put simply it is a terrorist organisation. How Mr Blair can allow such terrorist organisations to exist in London while supposedly fighting the war on terror I have no idea."

MQM opponents and human rights groups have accused the MQM of deliberately stirring up the rioting in Karachi last month, which constituted some of the worst and most brutal political violence to hit Pakistan in recent years. MQM has vehemently denied those charges.

If Mr Khan is successful in his bid to launch legal proceedings against a political rival it would be a remarkable twist in the already turbulent world of Pakistani politics. Speaking from his home in Islamabad, Mr Khan said: "I have huge numbers of people who are willing to testify against [Mr Hussein] in a British court."

Last night a spokesman for the MQM dismissed Mr Khan's threats as little more than political grandstanding and vowed to fight any legal proceedings.

"Unfortunately this is dirty Pakistani politics," Tariq Mir, who heads up the MQM's legal team in Britain, said.

"Mr Imran Khan is a one-man band creating an issue for political gain. It's just slinging mud. Our leader Mr Hussein has done nothing against either UK or Pakistani law. If he issues a legal threat we would strongly contest it in court. Short of that we won't take any notice of him."

Over the past 12 months political assassinations and disappearances have become an increasingly grim feature of Pakistani politics and most of the country's political parties have accused each other of carrying them out.

Pakistan is in the midst of a judiciary crisis sparked by President Musharraf's sacking of the country's Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhury. The riots in Karachi began when Mr Chaudhury was banned from holding a rally there on 12 May.

Mr Khan said he was spurred into taking legal action against the MQM after a number of his supporters were fired at during the riots. "Ten of my party members received bullet wounds in Karachi," he said. "That's when I thought I have to take the fight to the UK.

"There is no point going to a court in Pakistan as there is no justice there, as can be seen from the current crisis with the judiciary. That's why I'm having to pursue this in the British courts because [Mr Hussein] is a British citizen."

Mr Khan's supporters plan to hold a rally outside Downing Street tomorrow.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2606394.ece