Pak protest leader asks demonstrators to continue protests against Imran Khan govt

Pakistan's firebrand cleric-cum-politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday asked his supporters to continue their anti-government protest with "perseverance" and "courage", as the 48-hour deadline set by him for Prime Minister Imran Khan's resignation has expired.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) leader, who is leading a huge protest dubbed as 'Azadi March' comprising tens of thousands of his supporters in the national capital, said the movement to oust the prime minister "will continue to move ahead and will never be on the back foot".

He convened an all-party conference to discuss the future course of action after Khan ignored the deadline.

He asked protesters to continue their anti-government protest with "perseverance" and "courage".

"We are getting closer to achieving the objectives of the protest," he said.

He said the opposition leaders will decide when the protest should be called off.

Rehman on Friday gave Khan a two-day ultimatum to resign, saying the "Gorbachev of Pakistan" must step down without testing the patience of peaceful protestors.

The 66-year-old cleric said that the protest would continue until the prime minister steps down.

As the stalemate continued over Khan's resignation, a negotiating team of the government led by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak met the Rehbar Committee of opposition parties to resolve the issues.

"We have presented our demands before the government side and they will discuss it with party leaders and come back again at 3 pm tomorrow," Rehbar committee head Akram Durrani told media after the meeting.

Khattak said that "hopefully something good will come out of the ongoing efforts."