Pakistan anti-government protest marches begin

Thousands of protesters set off from the Pakistani city of Lahore on Thursday to march on the capital in a bid to unseat the government they claim was elected by fraud. Supporters of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and populist preacher Tahir-ul-Qadri massed separately in Lahore before beginning the 300-kilometre (190-mile) journey to rally in Islamabad. Both Khan and Qadri say the May 2013 general election was rigged and want Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign and hold new polls. Sharif won by a landslide. The two groups, travelling in motorised convoy up the Grand Trunk Road to Islamabad on the anniversary of Pakistan's independence from Britain, were not expected to reach the capital before late in the evening. The authorities had insisted Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) march would not be allowed before relenting in the afternoon. ‘The government has allowed PAT to march towards Islamabad on condition that they remain peaceful, no armed person joins the march and no participant of the march breaks any law,’ a senior police official in Lahore said, according to AFP.