Qadri suspends talks with Pakistan government

One of the two anti-government protest leaders in Pakistan on Saturday said that he has suspended talks with the Pakistan Muslim League-N government following a crackdown in Islamabad on demonstrators demanding ouster of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

"We have suspended the talks as the government has begun arresting my workers in Islamabad and around the country, Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief and populist cleric Tahir-ul Qadri said, deepening the month-long political impasse in the country.

"The government was unwilling to hear out the legitimate grievances of people who had been camped outside the halls of power for a month now," Qadri was quoted as saying by Dawn.

Qadri and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan have alleged that PML-N government has launched a crackdown on their supporters and nearly 300 opposition activists were picked up from across the capital on Friday.

"It is because of these arrests that we have decided to suspend dialogue with the government because they are playing a double game," said Ghulam Ali, an Awami Tehreek spokesman.

PTI General Secretary Jehangir Khan Tareen also told a television channel on Friday that under the prevailing circumstances, it wasn't possible for the party to keep talking to the government. According to Tareen, the party handed its final set of demands to the government.

Meanwhile, Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, dismissed the impression that he was supported by the military, saying "I don't need the Pakistan army, as I already have an army of the people of Pakistan".

Khan's PTI wants Sharif's ouster over alleged rigging in last year's poll which his party lost, while Qadri wants to bring a revolution in the country.

Both leaders have been agitating since August 14. At least three people have been killed and over 550 injured in violence during the protests.

The government this week said it has as reached an agreement with Khan's party on most of their demands, except that of Sharif's ouster which it said is non-negotiable.

The protests have raised concern about stability in the country of 180 million people, at a time when the government is battling a Taliban insurgency.

Image: The cleric suspended talks with the government following a crackdown on Pakistan Awami Tehreek workers in Islamabad