Imran’s anti-drone convoy blocked

The group, led by former 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, Imran announced that the caravan would backtrack to the city of Tank, about nine miles away, where he was expected to make a speech to the crowd.

He has harshly criticised the Pakistani government’s co-operation 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.

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, travelled 400 250 miles and then stopped overnight in the city of Dera Ismail Khan.

The plan for the second and final day was to travel another 70 miles to reach Kotkai in South Waziristan. But the convoy was stopped in the town of Kawar.

Thousands of supporters had turned out along the route to cheer on the convoy, which stretches about nine miles including accompanying media. Some of those packed into the vehicles waved flags for Imran’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 Imran 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.

In a televised speech before the convoy got under way, Imran thanked his supporters and the US group.

“We have achieved the goal of this march. Our message of peace has reached the world. I am thankful especially to the American group that came a long way here to join this protest against drone attacks,” he said.

The convoy aims to throw a spotlight on the drone attacks, which many Pakistanis oppose as violations of the country’s sovereignty that often kill civilians.

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 have threatened to attack the march.

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 calling Imran a “slave of the West” and saying that the militants “don’t need any sympathy” from such “a secular and liberal person”.

The former Pakistan cricket captain long had a reputation as a playboy, but in recent years he has said he has grown stronger in his Muslim faith.

He has also used attacks on the US drone programme as a means of gaining attention and esteem in Pakistan. His popularity surged in recent years in Pakistan, where the government, led by the Pakistan People’s Party of Asif Ali Zardari, has disappointed many.