Imran Khan blames rival for Karachi killing

She was shot dead outside her Karachi home by gunmen on a motorcycle.

Former cricket star Imran Khan, writing on Twitter, said he held the leader of the MQM party, Altaf Hussain, responsible for her death – which the party denies.

Police are investigating whether Mrs Hussain’s killing was the result of an attempted robbery or a politically motivated murder.

Her funeral will take place later on Sunday at a mosque in Karachi.

I hold Altaf Hussain directly responsible for the murder as he had openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 18, 2013

Speaking to Channel 4 News, Imran Khan’s spokesperson Shireen Mazari said his party was convinced that Altaf Hussein was behind the killing. She said: “We have two of his public addresses from Karachi where he very clearly stated that he would let loose swords against the people protesting in that particular place in Karachi.

“And then a day later, he gave another statement “that if one of my followers loses his mind and does something violent then don’t hold me responsible.

“We don’t expect him to admit it but we know very well what happened.”

She claimed that Altaf was advocating “violence and hatred” from British territory.

“It’s about time that the British government examined and took notice of this and acted against somebody who is clearly in violation of British law.”

Last Saturday’s elections handed a landslide victory to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

But results from a handful of constituencies across the country are still uncertain amid accusations of vote-rigging. There is re-polling in a few others where security issues prevented voting.

Last week’s election gave the MQM 18 of 19 national assembly seats in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city. The constituency, known blandly as NA-250, where Sunday’s re-poll is taking place is thought to be a stronghold of the PTI.

The re-vote took place at 43 of 180 polling stations. The MQM, which wanted re-polling of the whole constituency, boycotted the vote.

Whatever the result, Sharif’s national landslide win is assured. But as Pakistan’s financial center, Karachi generates around half of government revenues and stability in the city is key to stability of the whole country.

Ballot box guarded

For the first time, each ballot box was guarded by a ranger and a soldier inside and outside the booths to ensure security and no violence had been reported by early afternoon.

Police said that two gunmen shot Hussain on Saturday outside her home.

“Her death has sent shockwaves across the rank and file of the party,” Khan said in a statement.

“I hold (MQM leader) Altaf Hussain directly responsible for the murder as he openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts,” Imran, recovering in hospital from a fall during campaigning, added in a tweet.

“I also hold the British government responsible as I had warned them about British citizen Altaf Hussain after his open threats.”

Altaf Hussain is accused of murder in Pakistan and leads his party remotely from exile in England. His party is designated a terrorist organization by Canada, a charge it strongly denies.

Police investigating speeches

In recent days he gave a speech which many Pakistanis felt was an incitement to attack political rivals. British police are investigating whether or not it constituted a hate speech.

The MQM, a secular party, is locked in a battle with various rival contenders for influence in Karachi, including Pakistan’s Taliban movement, which has sought to gain a foothold in various districts on the outskirts of the city in recent years.

Imran’s election campaign electrified many Pakistanis, pushing the PTI from a marginal party to Pakistan’s third largest.

Karachi, the nuclear-armed country’s key port, is home to 18 million people. It typically sees about a dozen murders a day, a combination of political killings, attacks by the Pakistan Taliban and sectarian militant groups, and street crime.