Imran Khan Warns Of Afghanistan Civil War

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan cricket captain turned politician, says he fears Afghanistan could slide into civil war once Nato forces leave for good.

Mr Khan says a coalition government must be set up in Kabul or there will be more bloodshed when Western troops pull out.

"My fear is that they are going to leave a far bigger mess than was left by the Soviets when they left because there could be a civil war there now," he told Sky News.

"The army now is well armed and from the Northern Alliance. The Pashtuns with the Taliban are not armed... they are with the majority.

"Once they (Nato) leave there is going to be a civil war, a power struggle there exactly like what happened after the Russians left. Hundreds of thousands of people died."

Mr Khan is now considered a serious player in Pakistani politics after more than a decade on the fringes.

Recent rallies in Lahore and Karachi have attracted massive crowds and his popularity is soaring in a nation disillusioned by established politicians.

Mr Khan believes his Movement for Justice party can win enough seats in the next election to propel him into power as Prime Minister.

Some political observers think that is optimistic and he will win 40 parliamentary seats at most in polls that could be held later this year.

Mohammad Malick, the influential editor of The News, says: "I think he is cutting across and touching a cord. The word change is being associated with him in Pakistan the way you saw the word change happening with Obama.

"But it's a mixture of desperate repulsion at the government and opposition and a desperate sense of optimism attached to it... Whether he can deliver is something different."

Mr Khan says his "tsunami" of support is unstoppable.

"We have reached the point that all the opposition parties together are not going to stop us. If we get ourselves organised... if we select the right candidates, nothing can stop us," he claimed.

But it is not without risk. The intelligence services have warned Mr Khan there have been threats on his life but he shrugs them off. He says it is his moral duty to save Pakistan.

"If I want to live here, I have to fight for my country. We are going down. Pakistan is going down rapidly. Unless people like me who don't need politics, unless people come forward like me, we have no hope," he said.