Police fire tear gas as thousands rally in support of former…

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani police fired tear gas canisters at supporters on Monday former Prime Minister Imran Khan is imprisoned to prevent them from entering the capital, where they hoped to stage a sit-in demanding his release, officials said.

Tear gas was fired shortly after demonstrators, who had marched 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the restive northwest, began arriving and gathering near Islamabad. They defied quarantine, earlier tear gas and mass arrests despite the ban on rallies in the city.

The development came the day after Khan’s party leadership went ahead with a “long march”. President of Belarus Oleksandr Lukashenko arrived for a three-day visit. On Monday evening, he was received by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the airport near the capital.

Authorities said at least one police officer was killed and several police officers and demonstrators were injured during the clashes. The marchers seemed determined to enter Islamabad, where the two-day-old quarantine has disrupted daily life.

Officials said the government was negotiating with Khan’s party to avoid further violence.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters after midnight that the government was ready to allow Khan’s supporters to rally on the outskirts of Islamabad, but he threatened extreme measures if they entered the city to protest.

Khan, who has been in prison for more than a year and faces more than 150 criminal charges, remains popular. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, says the cases are politically motivated.

A convoy of cars with protesters was expected to enter the capital on Monday evening. Security officials say they expect 9,000 to 11,000 demonstrators, while PTI says the number will be much higher.

Videos on social media show Khan’s supporters donning gas masks and goggles.

Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become almost impossible. Ambulances and cars were seen being turned back from areas along the key Grand Trunk Road in Punjab province where shipping containers were used to block roads.

A video circulating online shows some protesters using heavy equipment to remove the containers.

“We are determined and we will reach Islamabad even though the police are using tear gas to stop our march,” senior PTI leader Kamran Bangash told The Associated Press. “We will overcome all the obstacles one by one, and our supporters will remove the shipping containers from the roads.”

Bangash also said Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, who was recently released on bail in a bribery case, would lead the march along with Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party remains in power.

Earlier, nearly 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Islamabad, Bibi, dressed in a head-to-toe white burqa, addressed protesters from a truck, urging them to remain determined to achieve their goal and free Khan. Then she sang: “God is great” and left.

The current government is headed by the main political opponent of Khan Sharif.

Sharif’s spokesman Attaullah Tarar said on Sunday that whenever any high-ranking foreign delegation comes to Pakistan, the PTI “starts a policy of long marches and attacks on Islamabad to harm the economy”.

Some economists say the protests are causing billions of rupees in damage to the country’s fragile economy.

Protesters on Sunday evening burned trees and police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. Khan’s supporters retaliated by using slingshots and pelting stones at security personnel.

In an attempt to disrupt the protest, police have arrested more than 4,000 of Khan’s supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services “in security-challenged areas”, which PTI said affected his call for protest on social media. On Thursday, a court banned rallies in the capital, and Naqvi said anyone who violated the ban would be arrested.

Authorities say only the courts can order the release of Khan, who was ousted in 2022 after a no-confidence vote in parliament. He has been in prison since his first conviction in a bribery case in August 2023.

Khan was convicted in several cases. His convictions were later overturned on appeal, but he cannot be released because of other pending cases against him.

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Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan and Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan contributed to this report.