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Pakistan charges MQM leader Altaf Hussain with treason

Protesters carry placards as they shout slogans against Altaf Hussain, the leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), during a demonstration in Karachi, southern Pakistan, August 23, 2016. (AFP)

Altaf Hussain, the political leader of Pakistan’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), has been charged with treason and inciting terrorism, as more party leaders move to distance themselves from the powerful leader who lives in exile.

Police said Tuesday that Hussain was accused with a dozen other party leaders of chanting anti-Pakistan slogans at a demonstration a day earlier.

During the violent demonstration in the southern port city of Karachi, MQM activists clashed with police and ransacked a private television station. One man died and seven others were injured in the confrontation, which started after Hussain addressed his supporters via telephone from London.

Police said Hussain chanted "Down with Pakistan" and called the country a "bastion of terrorism." The controversial leader, whose party rules Karachi, delivers his speeches through loudspeakers linked to his London home telephone. He has been living in exile for more than 20 years.

Pakistani officials have long blamed Hussain and the MQM for ethnic violence in Karachi. This has not been the first time the exiled leader faces charges. A speech last year in which he criticized Pakistan's powerful military establishment led to a case filed against him under terrorism laws. However, previous charges have never resulted in a legal action or extradition request.

The new speech and the subsequent charges sparked fresh opposition against Hussain from within the MQM. Farooq Sattar, the second-in-command of the MQM, said the party “completely disowns” Hussain's statements, accusing him of repeatedly embarrassing the party.

"We have decided to address his (Hussain’s) mental tension, or illness, or whatever condition he is suffering from," he said at a press conference in Karachi, adding that "The MQM cannot afford to suffer this damage time and time again.”

Sattar, who was also briefly arrested after Monday's violence, claimed that the MQM has reached a decision to take control away from Hussain, adding, "It is MQM Pakistan, so it should be operated from Pakistan."

Hussain has lived in London since fleeing a military operation against his party in 1992 and is a British citizen. The controversial leader, who has seen his influence in Pakistan and Karachi fray over the past years, once enjoyed close ties to London as a bulwark against the Taliban. However, observers say his brief arrest by British police in June 2014 on suspicion of money laundering and another case involving the murder of MQM politician, Imran Farooq, in London in 2010 reflect the diminishing support of the British government for Hussain.


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