... aka
Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
, wildcard contender for power at the ballot box in Pakistain next week.
Visibly tired by 15-hour days, frenetic flying and driving round the country to address tens of thousands in a campaign dominated by threats and fear of attack, the cricket legend is nothing if not focused.
"This is a revolution taking place," he told AFP after a couple of days of hard campaigning in Punjab, his home province and the political backbone of Pakistain which elects a little over half the seats in the national assembly.
"When I came to politics 17 years ago, I had already conquered my fear of dying because I knew I was going to challenge the status quo," the 60-year-old said. But security is clearly a major preoccupation.
Khan says he's on the "top five hit list". He may not use the bullet-proof glass screens used by other politicians at public rallies, but he travels in an armoured car with an armed police escort.
A rally in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, Pakistain's largest city, was cancelled on Sunday after attacks on rival parties killed more than 20 people. Attacks targeting the election campaign have so far killed nearly 60 people ahead of the May 11 polls.
"We couldn't take a risk. It's just too dangerous. I mean you can't risk the life of other people," the 60-year-old said.
| The three main parties in the outgoing government, the PPP, the MQM and the ANP, have curtailed public gatherings in the face of direct Taliban threats. |
...first gained notice in the United Kingdom as a young heiress, the daughter of Lady Annabel and Sir James Goldsmith. She was married to the retired Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan between 1995 and their divorce in 2004. For the next three years, from 2004 to 2007, Khan gained worldwide media attention by sharing the baloney with British film star Hugh Grant. She has nothing to do with pancakes...
, daughter of the late billionaire tycoon James Goldsmith, but they live in Britannia and he has not seen them for several months.
"My older son worries. You know he worries, obviously, because when he hears what's going on in Pakistain," he says.
Khan and
Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, the two-time prime minister whose PML-N party is tipped to win, are the only two leaders addressing big rallies.
The three main parties in the outgoing government, the PPP, the MQM and the ANP, have curtailed public gatherings in the face of direct Taliban threats.