Supporters of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan celebrate the end of police attempts to arrest him in Lahore (AFP)

Legions of Imran Khan’s angry supporters fought off riot police attempting to arrest the former Pakistan prime minister, but the 70-year-old opposition leader insists he is all about law and order.

“I believe in rule of law,” he told AFP in the inner sanctum of his Lahore compound Wednesday, as his party faithful showered pink petals on heaving crowds outside after police ended a near 24-hour siege of his residence.

Police wanted to arrest Khan for skipping court dates to answer allegations he failed to declare gifts he received during his three-and-a-half-year turn in office --or the profits made from selling them.

But they were met by hundreds of his fanatical supporters -- some wielding sticks and throwing stones -- flying the green and crimson flags of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party as they waged running battles with officers.
Khan was ousted from office in a no-confidence vote last April, sparking a year of political melodrama in Pakistan even as the nation was wracked by catastrophic monsoon floods and an economic death spiral.

Since then he has faced a slew of charges making their way through the courts -- all intended to keep him from contesting the next election, he says.

National Assembly elections are due no later than October, but Khan is adamant they should be held sooner.
“There were so many cases, they would have just kept me in jail. And the whole idea was to miss the elections. This abduction had nothing to do with rule of law,” he said. “It’s the law of the jungle.”
Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP), 15 March, 2023