Pakistan's Imran Khan on hunger strike: spokesman

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistani cricket hero Imran Khan began a hunger strike Monday in the prison where he was sent last week for protesting against emergency rule, his spokesman told AFP.

He said Khan, who now heads his own opposition party, wanted restoration of the constitution and reinstatement of judges sacked when Persident Pervez Musharraf imposed the emergency just over two weeks ago.

"Imran Khan has gone on hunger strike for an indefinite period," spokesman Saifullah Niazi said.

"He is demanding the restoration of the judiciary and restoration of the constitution," Niazi said.

Khan, who turns 55 later this week, is detained in Deraghazi Khan prison, which is normally used to house terrorists and hardened prisoners.

He was picked up last Wednesday and charged under a section of anti-terror legislation which stipulates a minimum punishment of at least seven years and up to life in prison.

"Imran was looking tired. He is being kept in solitary confinement and said he has been denied facilities such as newspapers and television," Omar Sarfraz Cheema, a spokesman of his party for Punjab province told AFP

"He is not hunger strike, he is normal and had been locked up with other prisoners," jail superintendent Sheikh Nadeem Ahmad said.

Khan had been put under house arrest after emergency rule was declared on November 3 but slipped the net and went into hiding, communicating via email and video.

He was arrested after emerging from hiding last Wednesday at a protest on a university campus in the eastern city of Lahore.

Lahore police said then that he would face charges for inciting people to pick up arms, calling for civil disobedience and "spreading hatred."

Khan, who led Pakistan to cricket World Cup glory in 1992, had called for Musharraf to face the death penalty for imposing emergency rule.

His party Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) is small -- he is its only member of parliament -- but vocal.

He told AFP after his arrest that he had wanted to start a student movement but was seized by a group of radical students and later handed over to police custody.

Khan's ex-wife Jemima joined a protest rally Sunday outside the Pakistani high commission (embassy) in London petitioning for his release and an end to the state of emergency.

"I'm doing this because Imran and my friends in Pakistan have asked us to make noise here because they are not able to in Pakistan," she said.

Their younger son, eight, raised up a picture of his father with the words "Release Imran. Release my Aba (father)."

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL19109998

FACTBOX-Key facts on Pakistan’s Imran Khan

Nov 19 (Reuters) - Detained Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan began a hunger strike on Monday to protest over President Pervez Musharraf’s dismissal of judges after he imposed emergency rule, a spokesman said.

Here are some facts about the one-time national cricket captain, now 54:

* Imran Khan was born in Lahore on Nov. 25, 1952, and was educated at Lahore’s elite Aitchison College where he excelled at cricket. A fine batsman, he made his first-class debut for Lahore against Sarghodha at the age of 16.

* Imran was selected for the Pakistan national team in 1970, where he soon won a permanent place. He finished his high school education at the Royal Grammar School in Worcester, England, and went on to study Economics and Politics at Keble College, Oxford. He captained the Oxford University XI in 1974.

* As the 1970s rolled on, Imran developed into a world-class cricketing “all-rounder”, and became captain of the Pakistani national side in 1981. Declared international cricketer of the year in 1989-90, he led Pakistan to victory in 1992 World Cup.

* After that triumph, he retired with a total of 3,807 runs and 362 wickets in test matches. He also played for the English counties of Sussex and Worcestershire.

* In 1996, Imran started a political party in Pakistan known as Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Movement for Justice). The party has Islamic overtones and was inspired partly by his renewed commitment to Islam.

* Around the same time, he opened the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust Cancer Hospital in memory of his mother who had died from the disease. Today it has won international recognition as one of the leading institutions for free cancer treatment in the world.

* He lost a first parliamentary election in 1997, before finally winning a seat in 2002. He resigned last month, along with other members, in protest at Pervez Musharraf’s re-election as president while still army chief.

* Imran went into hiding soon after Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3. Police detained him on Nov. 14 after he had emerged from hiding to lead a student protest.

* In 1995 he married Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of the late Anglo-French billionaire Sir James Goldsmith. She converted to Islam but the couple were divorced in 2004.

Sources: Reuters/http://www.bradford.ac.uk (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; editing by Roger Crabb)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.