ISLAMABAD:  Former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, also  denounced the attack on Salman Rushdie and called it "awful" and "sad," adding that while the Islamic world's rage over the author's book "The Satanic Verses" was understandable, it could not be used as justification for the attack.

In an interview with the Guardian, Khan sought to temper his reputation as a firebrand by saying he expected Afghan women to "claim their rights" in the face of Taliban prohibitions. Imran Khan denounced the attack on Salman Rushdie and called it "awful" and "sad." Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses had incited the Islamic world's wrath, and while this was understandable, it did not justify the attack, Imran Khan said.

After losing his job in April, he is now battling for political survival. Khan claims that he is fighting eight-year-old accusations of illegal campaign finance that could result in his exclusion from politics and that his staff and supporters are being hounded and intimidated.

10 years ago, Imran Khan pulled out of an event in India because Salman  Rushdie would also be appearing and the two men exchanged insults, but Khan does not appear to have expressed support for violent action against the Indian-born author. However, his condemnation of the attack is striking in a region where the majority of politicians have refrained from saying anything.

When Khan hailed the Taliban's takeover of power as "cutting the chains of slavery" a year ago, he alarmed both the west and many Afghans. He defended the Taliban's treatment of women and girls by calling it a local "cultural norm" and pointing out that "each community has a distinct understanding of what human rights and women's rights are."

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