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Pakistan police postpone arrest of ex-PM Imran Khan, easing unrest
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FILE PIC: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. /AP
FILE PIC: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. /AP

FILE PIC: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. /AP

Police were directed by a Pakistan court Wednesday to suspend an operation to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan, bringing a halt to pitched battles in which police baton-charged supporters of the former cricketer and fired water cannon and tear gas.

Security forces withdrew from around his home in the eastern city of Lahore, easing political instability in the nuclear-armed nation which is struggling with an economic crisis and awaiting an International Monetary Fund bailout.

The Lahore high court ordered police to postpone their efforts to arrest Khan until Thursday, provincial information minister Amir Mir said.

Earlier, a senior police official said security forces had withdrawn to accommodate cricket's Pakistan Super League (PSL), the country's top sporting event, which is being held at a stadium a few km (miles) away.

The operation to arrest Khan came after a lower court in the capital Islamabad issued a warrant against him for defying orders to present himself in court over charges that he unlawfully sold state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries when he was prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

In a tweet, Khan said he had signed a "surety bond" that would guarantee his appearance in the court by a March 18 deadline, and senior aide Fawad Chaudhry said Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, had asked the court to stop the police action.

According to a list shared by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb last year, the gifts given to Khan include seven watches, including one valued at 85 million rupees (about $300,000).

(With input from Reuters)

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