Pakistani politician who feared assassins is killed in UK

A PROMINENT political figure in Pakistan has been killed in London, his party said last night.

Dr Imran Farooq - a leading member of the MQM (Muttahida Quami Movement) party - was found with head injuries and stab wounds in north London at 5:30pm.

Police said they were called to reports of a serious assault in Edgware, north London.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "When officers arrived they found an Asian male, aged 50, suffering from multiple stab wounds and head injuries.

"He was treated by paramedics at the scene but was pronounced dead at 1837. The next of kin have been informed."

He said no arrests have been in connection with the incident.

According to reports on the MQM website from 1999, Dr Farooq sought political asylum in the UK after a bounty was put on his head.

Dr Farooq said he was implicated on a range of charges including criminal and terrorist activities but insisted the allegations were politically motivated.

He claimed in November 1992 that he was wanted "dead or alive".

"(This gave] license and impunity to every individual in Pakistan to assassinate me," he said.

Dr Farooq, who was secretary general of the party at the time, said he spent more than seven years in hiding in Karachi, southern Pakistan.