Pakistani cleric鈥檚 jet diverted to Lahore
Print Edition
PAKISTAN diverted a passenger plane carrying an anti-government cleric to Lahore yesterday out of security concerns, said an official, leading to a standoff in which the cleric refused for hours to get off the jet while it waited on the tarmac.
The Pakistani cleric, Tahir-ul-Qadri, lives mostly in Canada but has a large following in his network of mosques and religious centers across Pakistan. Last year he threw the capital into crisis for days when he led rallies of thousands of people in the center of Islamabad to demand electoral reforms.
This time he returned to the limelight — and the country — promising to lead more rallies against the government.
Qadri was scheduled to arrive on an Emirates flight from Dubai yesterday morning, but the flight was first delayed and then diverted in-flight to Lahore, said a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, Abid Qaimkhani.
The Dubai-based airline said the flight was diverted on the instruction of Pakistani authorities.
The cleric’s supporters clashed with police as they tried to get to the airport in Rawalpindi next to the capital, and the police used tear gas to keep them away.
The Monday incident came after an even more serious altercation last week that heightened tensions ahead of Qadri’s return. Eight people were shot and killed during clashes between Qadri’s supporters and police in Lahore last Tuesday. Both sides blamed the other for the shooting.
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