Radical Pakistani cleric mulls move after PM won't resign thumbnail

Radical Pakistani cleric mulls move after PM won’t resign

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Maulana Fazlur Rehman

The Associated Press

Firebrand cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman, center, and head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party waves to his supporters during an anti-government march, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019. Tens of thousands of Islamists at a massive protest camp in Pakistan’s capital awaited a deadline set by their leader calling for Prime Minister, Imran Khan to resign. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

A radical Pakistani cleric who galvanized tens of thousands of followers to march on Islamabad is considering his next move after a deadline he imposed for the prime minister to resign passed without Imran Khan stepping down.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman says he’ll meet with opposition politicians on Monday to consider next steps.

Rehman’s followers, many of them students of his religious schools, marched last week from the southern port city of Karachi to Islamabad where they have since camped out on the city’s outskirts for three days.

Rehman accuses Khan of bad governance and demands the government follow radical Islamic laws. Khan has ignored the protesters’ demands.

Rahman’s radical religious schools have provided men for both the Afghan Taliban militant group and the anti-government Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

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