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Pakistan court orders arrest of two opposition leaders

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IANS Islamabad

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan Wednesday issued arrest warrants against two opposition leaders over attacks on the state television and the parliament house.

The court issued the warrants against Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and head of the Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) Tahir-ul-Qadri, Xinhua reported.

Hundreds of protesters of the PTI and the PAT stormed the Pakistan Television (PTV) building Sep 1 and stopped the transmission for 30 minutes. The PTV authorities said that attackers had also taken several cameras and other equipment.

The police have not arrested anyone so far and sources said that senior police officials will be consulted before the arrest.

 

The attack occurred at a time when thousands of supporters of the two parties had camped in Islamabad to push for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Qadri ended his sit-in last month. Imran Khan, however, has refused to end protest.

Imran Khan announced Wednesday that he will hold a big public meeting in Islamabad Nov 30 to "directly challenge" the prime minister.

The police had registered cases against the top leaders of the two opposition parties after the attack on the PTV building.

The police have already arrested some people involved in the attack, however, no senior leader had been arrested yet.

Leaders of the two parties rejected the arrest warrants and said they would consult legal experts whether they get pre-arrest bails.

Senior PTI leader Naeem-ul-Haq said his party had not violated the law and had not been involved in the attacks on the PTV and parliament buildings. He said the PTI would not accept the arrest warrants.

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First Published: Nov 13 2014 | 2:10 AM IST

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