Pakistan's
PM threatens to clear protesters camped in capital
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[September 17, 2014]
By Mehreen Zahra-Malik
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif, weakened by weeks of demonstrations calling for
him to resign, threatened on Wednesday to clear a protest camp
established more than a month ago outside government offices in
Islamabad.
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Protesters led by Imran Khan, a former cricket star, and Tahir
ul-Qadri, a firebrand cleric, have been locked in a bitter stand-off
with the government since mid-August, refusing to leave their camp
until Sharif steps down.
The protest leaders accuse Sharif of rigging last year's election
which brought him back to power in a landslide.
"Up until now, we have tolerated all this and acted with decency and
patience," Sharif said in televised remarks.
"Otherwise it's no hard task for us to clear the way and clear the
streets."
Pakistan's opposition leaders ordered thousands of their supporters
this weekend to resist any government attempt to quash their
protests, prolonging a political crisis in the coup-prone country.
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Khan’s party said it had not backed down from its demand that Sharif
quit and was ending dialogue with the government after 100 activists
were jailed over the weekend.
"We have not withdrawn our demand for the resignation of the prime
minister," said Jehangir Tareen, the party's secretary general.
"There is no point in continuing the dialogue with the government
after the crackdown on our workers."
The confrontation turned violent last month, with thousands trying
to storm Sharif's house and briefly taking the state television
channel off the air.
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Violence in the usually quiet capital has alarmed many people in a
nation where power has often changed hands though military coups
rather than elections.
Some ruling party officials have accused the military of instigating
the unrest in order to destabilize Sharif so that it can exert more
influence over him. The army has denied it was meddling in civilian
affairs, saying it is neutral.
(Editing by Maria Golovnina and Simon Cameron-Moore)
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