Imran Khan issues video message from hiding

8220;If we don8217;t resist, it will take Pakistan on the path of destruction,8221; Khan said in the short video message broadcast on private Geo television. It did not say how it obtained the tape.

He was filmed against a plain grey background and was unshaven, speaking animatedly into the camera.

8220;Imran is safe. From an unknown place he is leading the movement,8221; said retired Admiral Jawaid Iqbal, a spokesman for Khan8217;s Movement for Justice party.

8220;For his security we are not disclosing his location. But he will soon be with the people of Pakistan. The situation in Pakistan is worse than Iraq at the moment,8221; Iqbal added.

Khan sent an email to media on Monday, accusing army general Musharraf of using 8220;sheer force8221; against lawyers, human rights groups and political activists and throwing opposition leaders in jail.

8220;The police have ransacked my house and ill-treated my family members,8221; he said in a statement published by Britain8217;s Press Association news agency alongside comments from his ex-wife, the socialite Jemima Khan.

Jemima Khan said police ransacked her ex-husband8217;s home and 8220;roughed up8221; his family. 8220;He managed to escape just before they returned with an arrest warrant to cart him off to Kot Lakpat jail.

Admiral Jawaid Iqbal, a spokesman for Khan8217;s Tehreek-e-Insaf party, said on phone from an undisclosed destination that the former cricketer was 8220;fine8221; but traumatised by the efforts to detain him as well as the arrest of party workers.

8220;He is alright but he is anguished at the way people are being arrested and tortured. He will build up a movement by mobilizing the people. Imran Khan is also in touch with other opposition leaders to forge a joint strategy against emergency,8221; Iqbal said.

Khan had earlier sent e-mail messages through his ex-wife Jemima to highlight his plight and the 8220;ill-treatment8221; of his family during the government8217;s efforts to arrest him.

In the video, he said: 8220;The sort of suppression and oppression that is going on right now 8211; anyone and everyone has been put into jail.

8220;The police raided my house and the way the police behaved with my family members in looking for me, the way they had picked up members of human rights organs, the way women have been picked up, all of them thrown into jail, the way lawyers were beaten up in the high courts of Pakistan 8211; its shows only one thing, that what he Musharraf is hoping is that through sheer brute force he is going to suppress this dissent that is being raised all over Pakistan against him.8221;

Imran Khan said: 8220;What we intend to do in Pakistan is to start this movement where the whole society is going to be involved against him Musharraf.

8220;This will entail everything, a civil disobedience campaign, it will involve students, civil society members, all the political parties and what we intend to do is to make sure that first of all no one recognises the pocket judges of General Musharraf.8221;

He was referring to the new judges appointed to the apex court following imposition of emergency.

8220;And secondly what we intend to do is that we intend to make sure that this movement goes on despite all these people put into jail. Almost all the heads of the genuine opposition political parties have been put into jail. We will continue the movement,8221; he said.

Khan also pointed out to western leaders that Musharraf was 8220;not fighting a war on terror8221; and was only 8220;trying to prolong his dictatorial rule8221;.

8220;There is still time if the western countries understand the dynamics of what is happening in Pakistani society. They will come to the aid of the people of Pakistan,8221; he said.

8220;We don8217;t want lip service, just a slap on the wrist by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. They should mean business and they should oppose him and stand with the people of Pakistan rather than with one man.8221;