Ali Haider Gilani, the son of Pakistan’s former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, has been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen during an election rally, his father says.
According to the former prime minister, his son, Ali Haider Gilani – a candidate for the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) – was seized in the central city of Multan.
Yousuf Raza Gilani accused his political opponents of being behind the attack, which came ahead of Saturday’s elections.
One person was reportedly killed when the attackers opened fire at the rally.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack.
Eyewitnesses say the gunmen arrived at the gathering in a black Honda car and a motorbike.
“A couple of them started shooting,” a teenager at the rally told Pakistan’s Geo TV.
“A man standing in front of Gilani was hit and fell down. Then they grabbed Gilani, put him in the car and sped away.”
Reports say the person who died in the shooting could have been Ali Haider Gilani’s bodyguard or secretary. Another five people were injured.
Ali Haider Gilani, a candidate for the Pakistan Peoples’ Party, was seized in the central city of Multan
Eyewitnesses say a bullet also hit Ali Haider Gilani and he was bleeding when the kidnappers put him in the car, Pakistan’s Express Tribune newspaper reports.
Ali Haider Gilani – the youngest son of the ex-prime minister – is contesting a seat in the Punjab provincial assembly.
“We want our brother back tonight. If we don’t get him, we will not allow elections to be held in our area,” his elder brother Ali Musa – who was in tears – later told reporters.
Police have now sealed off all entry and exit point in Multan, and a massive search operation is under way, local media report.
Yousuf Raza Gilani served as prime minister until June 2012, when he was forced out of office by the Supreme Court over his refusal to pursue a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.
But it is still a powerful political family, with Yousuf Raza Gilani Gilani’s sons standing in the elections to the provincial and national assemblies.
The run-up to the 11 May elections has been marred by a series of attacks across the country in which more than 100 people have been killed.
The Pakistani Taliban have threatened to prevent the PPP, the Awami National Party (ANP) as well the MQM party, from conducting their election campaigns because they are considered by the militants to be too secular.
The military has pledged to deploy tens of thousands of troops to polling stations on Saturday to prevent further attacks.
In a separate development, Nawaz Sharif – the man tipped to be Pakistan’s next prime minister – promised to end the country’s involvement in the US-led war on terror if elected.
Nawaz Sharif – who leads the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) – said the move was necessary for there to be peace in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world.
Pakistan has been part of the US-led fight against Islamist militancy in the region since the 11 September attacks in the US in 2001.
Nazaw Sharif – who served as prime minister twice in the 1990s – declined to say whether he would stop military operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan – another leading Pakistani politician – is continuing to recover in hospital after falling off a makeshift lift at an election rally earlier this week.
Doctors say that the former cricketer who leads the Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party – received stitches in the head and treatment for injuries to his spine.
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Former cricketer and leading Pakistani politician Imran Khan is recuperating in hospital after falling off a makeshift lift that was taking him onto a stage at an election rally in Lahore.
Doctors say that Imran Khan received stitches in the head and treatment for injuries to his spine.
But they say that his spinal cord has not been seriously damaged and he has been moved out of intensive care.
Meanwhile there has been more violence ahead of the elections.
At least three people have been killed and about 25 injured – including six policemen – in a suicide bombing outside a police station in the Bannu region of north-western Pakistan.
Police said that it was not clear if the target was the police station itself or a nearby rally being held by the Awami National Party (ANP).
The Pakistani Taliban have threatened to prevent the ANP, as well the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the MQM party, from conducting their election campaigns because they are considered by the militants to be too liberal.
Imran Khan is recuperating in hospital after falling off a makeshift lift that was taking him onto a stage at an election rally in Lahore
Imran Khan – who had a total of 15 stitches in his head and suffered two minor back fractures – was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of fall which may have helped protect him from more serious injury, his family said on Wednesday.
Hospital spokesman Khawaja Nazir told the AFP news agency that Imran Khan also had a small injury to his shoulder.
“There is nothing serious to his injuries. He has been shifted from the ICU (intensive care unit) to a private room,” he said.
In a televised statement from his hospital bed on Tuesday night, Imran Khan told his supporters that the election was their fight, not his. He urged voters to decide on polling day this Saturday whether they wanted to make a “new Pakistan”.
“The people should exert full force on 11 May to get their lives changed,” he said.
Nawaz Sharif, the man widely seen as the frontrunner to be the next prime minister, has sent his sympathies to Imran Khan and cancelled his election appearances for Wednesday.
Imran Khan is being treated at the cancer hospital in Lahore he arranged to be built after his mother’s death.
Doctors there said on Wednesday that he would have a CT scan later in the day and that he had been advised that he would need at least a week’s bed rest.
It is unclear whether the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader will take this advice.
His plan had been to keep up his punishing schedule of election rallies in these final two days of official campaigning.
Dramatic television pictures from Tuesday’s campaign rally showed Imran Khan falling about 15ft from the lift platform together with several others, some of whom appeared to land on top of him.
A dazed and bloodied Imran Khan was later seen being carried away by supporters to a vehicle which drove him to hospital.
Hundreds of people remain outside the hospital awaiting more news of his condition. Many chanted “Long live Imran Khan”.
The PTI leader has been campaigning relentlessly in the run-up to Saturday’s poll and briefly collapsed on stage earlier this week.
Imran Khan is one of the key candidates in the election, and the PTI appears to have been gaining momentum.
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Former cricketer and leading Pakistani politician Imran Khan has been injured after falling off a makeshift lift that was taking him onto a stage at an election rally in Lahore.
It is unclear how badly Imran Khan was hurt, but he suffered visible head injuries in the fall.
Imran Khan was taken to hospital for treatment by supporters afterwards.
He had been campaigning ahead of Saturday’s parliamentary elections, in which his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is expected to do well.
Imran Khan has been injured after falling off a makeshift lift that was taking him onto a stage at an election rally in Lahore
Dramatic television pictures from Tuesday’s campaign rally showed Imran Khan falling about 15ft from the lift platform together with several others, some of whom appeared to land on top of him.
A dazed and bloodied Imran Khan was later seen being carried away by supporters to a vehicle which drove him to a local hospital.
After receiving initial treatment he was moved to Lahore’s Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, which he founded.
A local PTI spokesman, Malik Ishtiaq, told the AFP news agency that Imran Khan had suffered head injuries. But another spokesman described his injuries as minor and insisted he would return to the rally.
“Imran Khan is all right. He has been taken to the hospital for first aid. He will be back to address the rally very soon after getting initial treatment,” Chaudhry Rizwan said.
Imran Khan’s former wife Jemima Khan wrote on Twitter: “He is in hospital and conscious now”.
His nephew, Hassan Niazi, tweeted: “Chairman reciting kalima in ambulance – he is fine – plz just pray”.
Hundreds of well-wishers and supporters later gathered outside the Shaukat Khanum hospital, chanting “Long live Imran Khan”, AFP said.
The PTI leader has been campaigning relentlessly in the run-up to Saturday’s poll and briefly collapsed on stage earlier this week.
Imran Khan is one of the key candidates in the election, and the PTI has been gaining momentum. He believes a “tsunami” of support will sweep him to power.
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