Islamabad, Jan 02: Pakistan's cricketer turned politician Imran Khan has accused President Pervez Musharraf of threatening him with serious consequences before the October elections and said he committed a "big mistake" by supporting the military establishment and now repented it.
Khan said that he was threatened by Musharraf and the officials around him with "serious consequences" when he refused to "toe their line" before the general elections. "Let me clearly state that I made a big mistake of my life by supporting the military establishment in the hope of dawn of a new era in the country and i do repent over it because I was used by them", Khan said in an interview to 'The News' daily published today.

A strong critic of former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, Khan said that he supported Musharraf with a hope that the general was serious about bringing political, social and economic reforms to uplift the lot of the people. Khan said that when he criticised Musharraf's referendum last year, he was threatened and told that his Pakistan Tehreek Insaf would not manage to get a single seat.

He said that Mushrraf raised some hope in people's mind when he overthrew the "corrupt" Nawaz Sharif government but had now made "ugly compromises" that would ruin Pakistan in the coming days.
Bureau Report