World | Pakistan

Ex-sportsman warns of anarchy

Pakistan faces months of crisis under its new civilian leaders and is in danger of collapsing into civil war and anarchy, former international cricketer Imran Khan said.

  • By Nick Meo, Telegraph Group
  • Published: 23:28 August 24, 2008
  • Gulf News

Islamabad: Pakistan faces months of crisis under its new civilian leaders and is in danger of collapsing into civil war and anarchy, former international cricketer Imran Khan said.

According to him, the politician who was most likely to be appointed soon as the new president - Asif Ali Zardari - was incapable of dealing with the troubled nation's economic and security problems.

Khan, who launched a political career in his home country in 1996, said that Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and widower of its assassinated leader, Benazir Bhutto, was already repeating the mistakes of Pervez Musharraf.

Khan was a persistent and outspoken critic of the ousted president, who once called the cricketer "a terrorist without a beard" and jailed him briefly last year. Now Khan promises to become one of the toughest critics of Zardari, who heads a shaky coalition government and was formally nominated for president by his own party on Friday.

"The economy is heading towards a meltdown," said Khan.

"There is no way Pakistan can win this prolonged war against militants, and this government is the most incompetent in history," he said.

Seatbelt needed

"Under these circumstances, this government is not going to last long. For the next six months I would predict you should hang on to your seatbelt. There is going to be a lot of turbulence ahead."

He warned of growing anger among the young in the tribal areas over Pakistani military action against militant Islamists - a long lasting battle that many Pakistanis regard as being carried out on America's orders.

  • Rate this article
  • Average reader rating (0 votes) 0 Stars
Tools

Emailing an article to friend is a simple way to share a news item. Your friend will receive an email with your name and email address as well any personal message you choose to send.

The information you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited emails.

This service is not intended to encourage spam, and action may be taken against individuals who maliciously enter personal details of another individual.

Share this article

More from Pakistan

  1. Kuwaiti student part of Taliban killed in attack

  2. Two linked to Mumbai attacks arrested in Italy

  3. Missile strike kills 8 militants

  4. Can't get sugar? Try sweets in your tea

All articles in Pakistan

More from World

Gulf News
Popular in World

More from world

News Editor's choice