BBC : On the run with Imran Khan

On the run with Imran Khan

November 8, 2007

Imran Khan was looking pretty relaxed for a man on the run.

Unshaven, a little tired perhaps, but still defiant.

"We have to stand up to (President) Musharraf," he said. "This is probably one of the defining moments in Pakistan's history."

Some of the small group of supporters who were with Mr Khan were more anxious. There had been seven police raids around Lahore looking for him, they said.

There is no way we can verify their claim, but we do know that hundreds of political activists from various parties have been arrested since the state of emergency was declared on Saturday.

The former cricketer-turned-opposition leader is one of the few who has got away.

'Need to be free'

He smiled slightly as he recounted how he jumped over a wall at his home to escape from the policemen he feared had come to arrest him.

"I could sense what was coming, and I need to be free to speak."

Since then, he said, he's been moving around the city, calling for the people to rise up against Gen Musharraf's rule.

Imran Khan's problem is that he does not have mass political appeal. Most Pakistanis respect him for what he did on the cricket pitch, not what he's done in the field of politics.

As he stops for a quick snack, and fields a few brief phone calls, he doesn't deny that Benazir Bhutto is the only politician in Pakistan at the moment who can bring hundreds of thousands of people out onto the streets.

"But she's just trying to save herself," he said.

Ms Bhutto says she wants Pakistan's constitution to be restored.

She wants President Musharraf to leave his post as head of the army, and promise to hold elections on schedule early next year.

'No role'

If he doesn't agree, she says she will lead a mass protest movement.

But other opposition parties aren't sure whether they trust Ms Bhutto - some of them are convinced that she still intends to do a deal with the President.

Imran Khan says he won't accept any role for Gen Musharraf in the future.

"Absolutely not," he insists, before he says his goodbyes and disappears into the night.

"This country can't stand another five years of him. We have to support the judiciary. It's time for him to go."