IF Imran Khan gets his way - and he's a man accustomed to doing so - he will lead a motley caravan of leftists, conservatives and journalists into Pakistan's tribal no-go zone this weekend.[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]Should his protest pilgrimage against US drone strikes occur as planned, and not be foiled by security forces as rumour now suggests, it will be the prime ministerial hopeful's most audacious political stunt yet and a rare glimpse into a remote borderland known as one of the world's most dangerous places.
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]Gathering in Islamabad yesterday for Khan's much-hyped Waziristan peace rally were the extremes of his supporter base - young Pakistani conservatives who have responded to his anti-American message and leftist foreign activists.
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]Among the foreigners is outspoken British peace activist Clive Stafford-Smith, who wrote an open letter this week to US President Barack Obama asking - somewhat melodramatically - that he not be killed by a drone while in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Area.
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]"When I march into Waziristan on October 7th, 2012, please do not let the CIA kill me, Imran Khan, or the others - including many Americans - who will be marching with me to highlight the plight of the innocent people, including at least 174 children, targeted by drones in recent months and years," read his letter, published on the website of human-rights group Reprieve.
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]By contrast, Khan has said he is prepared to die for his peace cause. No one can rule that out this weekend given the Pakistani Taliban's mixed messages - on the one hand decrying Khan as a liberal who will be targeted, only to turn around and offer him their protection in South Waziristan.
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]Beyond the hyperbole, Smith and Khan's message is that for every innocent civilian killed by a US drone in Pakistan, an "extended family of new enemies" is created. That message is gaining currency in America, just as it has the sympathy of a vast number of Pakistanis for whom the Obama administration's accelerated drone campaign is a gross breach of sovereignty and the root of virulent anti-Americanism.
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]Pakistan's mainstream parties were forced to take notice of Khan last October after a rally in Lahore for his Pakistan Freedom Party attracted 100,000 supporters. One in Karachi two months later drew 150,000. Yet, if new polls are to be believed, Khan's so-called "political tsunami" is losing its momentum, and his audacious Waziristan march is drawing some cynical feedback.
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]Some have criticised his decision to change the venue from drone-hit North Waziristan, a safe haven for Taliban and Haqqani Network commanders, to Kotkai - a small village at the edge of South Waziristan.
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]Kotkai is the birthplace of Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud but, after a military offensive there a few years ago, has since been restructured as a heavily secured "model village".
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[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][/size]"One wonders about the very rationale behind this peace march," wrote local television anchor and columnist Saleem Safi this week.
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