Pakistan’s MQM chief withdraws resignation

Altaf Hussain, founder and leader of Pakistan’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), has taken back his decision to resign a few hours after he made the announcement, local news agencies said.

Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported that Hussain, who is based in London and has led the party since its foundation in 1978, withdrew his resignation after MQM workers gathered at the party’s headquarters in Karachi’s Azizabad area and called for him to reconsider.

Earlier, Hussain said British police Scotland Yard had raided his house in the UK in connection with the murder of politician Imran Farooq, and he felt he should step down on moral grounds. 

Farooq, who was also a founding member of the MQM, was stabbed to death outside his home in north London in 2010. He had been living in London since 1992.

Farooq’s widow told Pakistan’s Geo News that she urged Hussain to take back his decision to voluntarily relinquish the party leadership.