Friday May 26, 2023
Babar Awan flies to London from Islamabad airport on a foreign airline.
Imran Khan's adviser will soon return to the motherland, say his family sources.
Since the May 9 chaos, several PTI leaders have broken with Khan.
ISLAMABAD: Prominent lawyer and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Babar Awan left for the UK on Friday amid a mass exodus of party leaders following a nationwide crackdown in the wake of the May 9 mayhem and attack on civilians and the military. installation, sources told Geo News.
According to well-placed sources, PTI Chairman Imran Khan's legal representative left for London from Islamabad International Airport via a foreign airline at 1 PM today.
Awan is a close aide and legal advisor to the PTI chairman.
However, his family sources said that Awan's trip to London had already been planned, adding that he would be back soon.
As a result of the day-long protests triggered by Khan's arrest by the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Qadir Trust case, around eight people lost their lives, dozens were injured and the government suspended internet services to maintain the law and order situation.
Khan's party has been feeling the heat of state power as his party workers torched and vandalized military installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, following his arrest on May 9 - a day the military called a "black day".
Several party leaders and thousands of workers were arrested in connection with the violent protests, and the military insisted that those involved in attacks on military installations be tried under Pakistan's Army Act and Official Secrets Act.
Khan's close aide, Asad Umar, resigned as general secretary and core committee member, citing the ongoing situation.
Many party leaders and lawmakers – including Shireen Mazari, Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan among others – publicly condemned the attacks on state facilities and announced their departure from the former ruling party in May. 9 vandalism.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said the federal government was considering banning the PTI after receiving evidence that party supporters had carried out "pre-planned" and "coordinated" attacks on public property and military installations.
