Pak military blocks Imran Khan's drone protest convoy

The Pakistani military blocked a convoy carrying thousands of Pakistanis and a small contingent of US anti-war activists from entering a lawless tribal region along the border with Afghanistan on Sunday to protest American drone strikes.

The group, led by cricket star turned politician Imran Khan and his political party, was turned back just miles from the border of South Waziristan. After an hour of fruitless negotiations, Khan announced that the caravan would backtrack to the city of Tank, about 15 km away. There, he delivered a speech to the crowd of about 10,000.

Khan has harshly criticized the Pakistani government's cooperation with Washington in the fight against Islamist militants.

He has been especially outspoken against US drone strikes targeting militants and has argued that the country's alliance with Washington is the main reason Pakistan is facing a homegrown Taliban insurgency.

He has suggested before that militant activity in Pakistan's tribal areas will dissipate when the US ends the war across the border in Afghanistan.

"We want to give a message to America that the more you carry out drone attacks, the more people will hate you," Khan told the crowd.

The anti-American sentiment, always high in Pakistan, was evident in the crowd that waved banners saying "Down with America," and "The friend of America is the traitor of the nation."

Pakistan's tribal regions, such as North and South Waziristan, border Afghanistan and serve as bases for militant groups such as the Taliban to stage raids across the border into Afghanistan.

The protest convoy of about 150 cars set out on Saturday from the capital Islamabad, traveled 400 km and then stopped overnight in the city of Dera Ismail Khan. The plan for the second and final day was to travel another 120 km to reach Kotkai in South Waziristan. But the military stopped the convoy in the town of Kawar.

Khan told the rally that they wanted to continue their journey to Kotkai, but the army said it was too late, and going inside South Waziristan at night was dangerous. Khan said he didn't want to put his supporters in danger, so he turned the rally around to Tank.

Regardless of whether he was able to enter the tribal region, Khan portrayed the two-day motorcade as a success.

"We have taken the voice of the people of Waziristan to the world," he said.

Thousands of supporters had turned out along the route to cheer on the convoy, which stretched about 15 km, including accompanying media. Some of those packed into the vehicles waved flags for Khan's political group and chanted: "We want peace."

Video on Pakistani media showed barricades with hundreds of police in riot gear, a sign of concerns that the motorcade would be attacked or become unruly.

Around three dozen Americans from the US-based anti-war group CODEPINK joined Khan for the march. The American protesters say the US drone strikes, contrary to the claims of American officials, have terrorised peaceful tribes living along the border and killed many innocent civilians — not just Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.

The convoy aimed to throw a spotlight on the drone attacks, which many Pakistanis oppose as violations of the country's sovereignty that often kill civilians. The US says its drone strikes are necessary to battle militants that Pakistan has been unable or unwilling to control.

Critics denounced the rally as a piece of cheap theatre designed to drum up votes for Khan's political party ahead of next year's elections.

"A made-for-TV dog and pony show that will be high on drama and low on substance will resonate with Khan's base," wrote Pakistani newspaper columnist Cyril Almeida in the English-language newspaper Dawn Sunday.

The rally was originally intended for South Waziristan, a tribal region where the Pakistani military has been battling a violent uprising by the Taliban, and factions of the Taliban threatened to attack the march. On Saturday, a statement from a Taliban faction said to be based in eastern Punjab province warned that militants would target the protesters with suicide bombings.

The main faction of the Pakistani Taliban, which is based in South Waziristan, issued a statement on Friday calling Khan a "slave of the West" and saying that the militants "don't need any sympathy" from such "a secular and liberal person."

Earlier, authorities had said the protesters will not be allowed to enter the tribal belt for security reasons and blocked the road to Tank with shipping containers.
But for reasons that were not immediately clear police removed the containers, allowing the convoy -- which appears to be smaller than the size initially predicted by organisers -- to approach Tank.

"It's our right to go to our people," said student Fakhruddin Shinwari, accusing the Pakistani government of trying to hide the real situation in the tribal belt.

"There's no security risk. The main factor is if Imran Khan goes to Waziristan the real situation made by the United States and Pakistan will be seen. There are no terrorists there -- it will be shown to be a lie."

There was a heavy security presence along the road to Tank, which a senior police officer had said earlier was not safe and targeted by roadside bombings

Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) or Movement for Justice party, earlier on Sunday urged activists to remain peaceful and to seek no confrontation with the authorities.

Medea Benjamin, leader of a delegation from the US peace group CodePink, apologised for the drone attacks, saying: "We are so grateful that you understand there are Americans in solidarity with you and against our g overnment policy."

Clive Stafford Smith, the British head of the legal lobby group Reprieve, said that whether or not the group reached its intended destination was irrelevant.

"It's already a wonderful success," he told reporters. "It doesn't matter what happens from here on. We've generated a huge amount of publicity not just in Pakistan but across the world."

Khan, who is campaigning ahead of general elections next year, has made opposition to the drone programme a key plank of PTI policy.

Critics accuse him of merely trying to further his own career and of ignoring both atrocities blamed on Islamist militants and abuses by the Pakistani army.

While he is a growing political force, challenging feudal and industrial elites who traditionally dominate in Pakistan, there is huge scepticism about his ability to translate popularity into parliamentary seats.

Although leaked US cables have revealed tacit support for the drone strikes from Pakistan's military and civilian leaders, Islamabad has increasingly condemned the programme as relations with Washington have deteriorated.

Casualty figures are difficult to obtain but a report commissioned by Reprieve estimated last month that 474 to 881 civilians were among 2,562 to 3,325 people killed by drones in Pakistan between June 2004 and September 2012.

 

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