Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, the founder of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), a terror group and a US-designated global terrorist with links to Al Qaeda, on Tuesday said he would support former cricketer Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the July 25 general elections.
Khalil was placed by the US government on the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) on September 30, 2014, for his alleged role in Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
Khalil later founded and is still heading Ansarul Ummah, which he says is a political party. Both HuM and Ansarul Ummah are on the SDGT list.
PTI candidate Asad Umar, who is contesting from Islamabad, announced on social media that Khalil had joined PTI but later “clarified” that the cleric decided to support him in the elections.
Khalil's announcement is the latest example of extremist groups playing an active role in the elections in Pakistan.
Khan has attracted support for his stance against corruption and espousal of religious conservatism.