Islamabad: Pakistani cricket hero Imran Khan began a hunger strike today in the prison where he was sent last week for protesting against emergency rule, his spokesman told AFP.

He said Khan, who now heads his own opposition party, wanted a restoration of the constitution and reinstatement of judges sacked when President Pervez Musharraf imposed the emergency just over two weeks ago. "Imran Khan has gone on hunger strike for an indefinite period," spokesman Saifullah Niazi said. He is demanding the restoration of the judiciary and restoration of the constitution, Niazi added.

Khan, who is in Deraghazi Khan jail, was picked up last Wednesday and charged under a section of anti-terror legislation which stipulates a minimum punishment of at least seven years and up to life in prison.

Khan had been put under house arrest after emergency rule was declared on November 3 but slipped the net and went into hiding, communicating via email and video.

He was arrested after emerging from hiding last Wednesday at a university campus in the eastern city of Lahore.

Source : PTI