[Mr. Qadri and Mr. Khan had billed Thursday as the
decisive day of their struggle to oust Mr. Sharif, leading to fears that they would push their supporters
to storm the prime minister’s house and Parliament. But any such move could
bring them into direct confrontation with soldiers guarding those buildings.]
By Salman Masood
 |
Supporters of the opposition politician Imran Khan
listened to his speech
in front of Parliament in
Credit Akhtar Soomro/Reuters
|
Thousands of protesters led by the opposition politician Imran Khan and the cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri
have been camped
in Islamabadsince Aug. 15 as part of protest movements aimed at
forcing Prime Minister Sharif to resign.
The two movements are allied but have differing goals.
Mr. Khan, who accuses Mr. Sharif of rigging last year’s general election, wants
new elections, while Mr. Qadri is calling for an interim unity government to
run the country. Every night, the two protest leaders have held rallies in Islamabad
Efforts
by Mr. Sharif’s government to end the crisis through direct negotiations have
failed in recent days. Mr. Qadri’s campaign, in particular, has pressed a
demand that Mr. Sharif’s younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of
Punjab Province
Mr. Qadri’s campaign has been energized by anger among
his supporters and the broader public over a police shooting episode in Lahore in June in which at least 10 of his supporters were
killed. Mr. Qadri has accused Shahbaz Sharif, who has direct control over the Lahore police, of ordering the shootings.
In an apparent bid to appease
Mr. Qadri, the Lahore police on Thursday registered a murder case in relation
to the shootings that named the Sharif brothers, several cabinet ministers and
police officials as suspects in the case. The legal action falls short of an
indictment, but it is an official notice that charges are being considered.
Mr. Qadri and Mr. Khan had billed Thursday as the
decisive day of their struggle to oust Mr. Sharif, leading to fears that they would push their supporters
to storm the prime minister’s house and Parliament. But any such move could
bring them into direct confrontation with soldiers guarding those buildings.
As the tension mounted, Mr.
Sharif met with General Sharif, who is not related to him, at the prime
minister’s house in Islamabad — their second meeting in three days. The two men
“agreed to take necessary measures for resumption of the stalled process of
negotiations,” Mr. Sharif’s spokesman said.
Later, Mr. Qadri presented the
announcement as a victory. “The army chief has asked us to give him 24 hours to
solve the crisis,” he told cheering supporters from atop a shipping container.
Mr. Khan said he was postponing his “next plan of action”
for 24 hours to allow General Sharif time to mediate. Then he left the protest
site to meet with the army chief.
The prospect of an army intervention in the political
crisis is likely to make many here nervous, as the Pakistani military has a
long history of either manipulating politicians from behind the scenes or
directly seizing power in coups.
The army’s relationship with Mr. Sharif is especially
turbulent. Mr. Sharif’s last spell in power ended in 1999 with a coup led by
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, then the army chief. Now, Mr. Musharraf faces treason
charges, one of several factors that have soured relations between the prime
minister and the army in recent months.
Mr. Sharif came to power hoping to show a strong civilian
hand. But he has clashed with the military leadership over policy toward India
and the Musharraf treason case, and by publicly siding with Geo, a television
network that accused military intelligence officials of trying to kill one of
its journalists.
Waqar
Gillani contributed reporting from Lahore , Pakistan
[An announcement, in
Urdu, Arabic, English and Hindi, on a website often used by ISIS,
said Mr. Majeed, shown holding a weapon, had been martyred in Iraq. It said
that Mr. Majeed, who went by the name Abu Ali Al Hindi, had participated in the
fight for the Mosul Dam and married a Palestinian woman from Gaza .
The information could not be independently confirmed.]
By Mansi Choksi
MUMBAI, India — An Indian engineering student who suddenly left
for Iraq with three friends this spring, and who was believed to have joined
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has been reported dead, a man whose nephew
was part of the group said Thursday.
The student, Arif Majeed, 22, left
his home in Kalyan, outside Mumbai, in May, telling his family he was going to
study, and next contacted them from Iraq ,
where he and his friends slipped away from a religious tour group and traveled
to Mosul , a city now dominated by
Sunni militants. The case has drawn the attention of
the authorities because it is one of the first documented instances of young
Indians being recruited online by an international jihadist group.
Iftekhar
Khan, whose nephew Fahad Tanvir Sheikh was one of the three men who left with
Mr. Majeed, said the news of Mr. Majeed’s death was conveyed in a phone call by
another of the group who made the journey to Iraq ,
Shaheen Farooqui Tanki. “Arif’s father requested Shaheen’s family to ask about
their son Arif. A few days later, Shaheen called again and said Arif had died.
He didn’t know how but he was crying,” Mr. Khan said.
Several Indian
newspapers reported that Mr. Majeed had been killed in an explosion, possibly
as a result of an airstrike. Mr. Tanki’s family gave Mr. Majeed’s father the
news after evening prayers on Tuesday. “Imagine the state of a father who does
not even get to see his son’s body,” Mr. Khan said.
In a letter
left behind for his family, Mr. Majeed, who was Muslim, asked for forgiveness
and said that he would next see them in heaven. He said he was glad to leave India ,
which he described as “a sinful country.”
An announcement, in
Urdu, Arabic, English and Hindi, on a website often used by ISIS,
said Mr. Majeed, shown holding a weapon, had been martyred in Iraq. It said
that Mr. Majeed, who went by the name Abu Ali Al Hindi, had participated in the
fight for the Mosul Dam and married a Palestinian woman from Gaza .
The information could not be independently confirmed.
“This website is false. Anyone can
make a website and send a wrong message,” Mr. Khan said. “Our boys were
peaceful.”
