Sunday, August 31, 2014

Anti-government protesters after clashes with police as they tried to advance on prime minister's residence

Anti-government protesters remained outside the parliament building in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, after a night of violence that saw hundreds wounded and the first death in more than two weeks of demonstrations.

The violence has raised the stakes in a political standoff, in which cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri have led twin protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Khan and Qadri allege massive voting fraud in the election that brought Sharif into office last year in the country's first democratic transfer of power.

Backed by parliament and many political parties, Sharif has refused to step down.

The protests began with a march from the eastern city of Lahore on Independence Day, August 14, that eventually reached Islamabad.

Khan and Qadri had called for millions of protesters to join, but crowds have not been more than tens of thousands.

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