>> this is al jazeera and these are the top stories. pakistan's former leader imran khan has accused the prime minister and other government officials of orchestrating failed attempts to assassinate him. he was shot in the lake on thursday and the government denies involvement. he is being treated at a hospital in lahore. >> doctors say he is out of danger and the injuries were not life-threatening. there were bullets to his lower legs and a fragment broke the

bones in his right leg. they say the bullets narrowly missed any major arteries and his life is no longer in danger. despite his condition and the incident, imran khan remains unflinching in the vitriol he has been hurdling against his critics and opposition. he continues to say that he will get better and begin the march on islamabad once again. >> the russian president says civilians should be evacuated from a region as ukraine continues its counteroffensive. ukraine says russia is carrying out illegal mass deportations of its people. twitter has started laying off employees under its new owner. many staffers woke up to find they were locked out of their email accounts. he has indicated he may fire half of the employees. south korea's military has deployed fighter jets after

detecting north korean warplanes near the border. this comes after a series of missile launches earlier this week. campaigning is officially getting underway in malaysia at head of the general election in two weeks. the prime minister called for the whole after criticism from coalition partners. malaysia has had three prime ministers in the last two years. those are the headlines and the news continues on al jazeera after "inside story" up next. ♪ ♪ mohammed jamojoom: pakistan's former prime minister imran khan has been shot at a rally. his party accuses the prime

minister, interior minister and a senior military officer of plotting an assassination attempt. it is denied by the government. for a country already deeply divided and recovering from devastating floods, what danger does this political incident bring? this is "inside story." ♪ mohammed jamojoom: hello and welcome to the program. pakistan's former prime minister imran khan is recovering after being shot at a rally. a gunman opened fire killing one man and injuring several others before he was arrested. the shooting has been condemned by politicians in the country and international leaders. the prime minister has ordered an investigation saying violence has no place in pakistan's politics. the president described it as a heinous assassination attempt.

but khan's party accuses the prime minister, his interior minister and a senior military officer of plotting an assassination attempt. the government denies that. we have more from islamabad. reporter: protests across pakistan after the failed assassination attempt on the former prime minister imran khan. there is considerable anger across the country and the party has announced there will now be protesting across the country until their demands are met. now, imran khan who has been holding march towards is llama bought known as the freedom march was attacked yesterday in what is believed to be a conspiracy according to his party supporters and also a senior analyst that we spoke to. there was more than one attacker involved in that assassination attempt and according to his party leaders, this was a

well-planned operation that failed. the government is also going to hold an immediate meeting of its coalition partners. the prime minister has called that meeting in islamabad. they will announce the next strategy but they are still determined that no matter what happens, they will continue with that march on islamabad. in the meantime, the police are ready. we have seen them with guns and tear gas to disperse the crowds if they get violent. reporting for "inside story." mohammed jamojoom: imran khan was elected prime minister in 2018 with his term due to an next year but he was removed in april after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament. last week he began a march with supporters from lahore to islamabad holding large rallies along the way. they are demanding the government calls early

elections. he faces allegations of corruption that he denies and says are politically motivated. in october he was barred from holding office for five years for incorrectly declaring foreign gifts. earlier this week he spoke to al jazeera about the dangers he faced. >> there is always a threat when you are challenging the status quo. there is always a threat but that should not stop you from doing what i believe is a genuine freedom struggle. for me, for me, it is better to die rather than to live a life of slaves under this imported government of crooks. if i have to live under them, i prefer death rather than living under these criminals. ♪ mohammed jamojoom: let's bring in our guests from islamabad. we have a spokesperson for

former prime minister imran khan. haider zaman qureshi joins us from central punjab and is a member of the executive committee of the pakistan peoples party. and we have masood akhtar, a former air marshal and political analyst. a warm welcome to you all and thank you for joining us. let me start with you, raoof, just a few moments ago we played a soundbite from imran khan and he spoke to al jazeera about the danger he is facing. he said he was willing to die for what he called his freedom struggle. were you concerned that this assassination attempt might happen at this rally in wazirabad ? raoof hasan: yes. we have been concerned about it in the party and we have discussed it at party meetings. we were concerned about this because we were confronting fascists and these people were capable of just about -- resorting to any monstrous

tactics to keep khan away. since that they have not been able to confront him in the political domain, we were afraid there would be attempts made to eliminate him. and our worst fears came true yesterday. thank god he is still here and he escaped the bullets of the assassin but he was wounded and at this moment he is in the hospital recovering from an operation. we were afraid at the prospect of such a thing happening. mohammed jamojoom: from your vantage point, how unstable is pakistan at this precarious moment ? haider zaman qureshi: ever since the former prime minister was voted out, not booted out but voted out through a parliamentary tool which is part of the constitution, he has been weaponizing through lies and a

certain agenda he wants to carry forward for his political gain. this is very unfortunate. he enjoyed a lot of respect and following and i am sure he would still enjoy it but the way he has handled in these six months -- brought about, whipped about the conspiracy theories of an imported government being installed in pakistan and the u.s. being instrumental in the vote of no-confidence and all of these lies which were weaponized and inculcated into the minds of people to incite people to violence. all of the defamation and barrage of attacks on institutions including the supreme court, the election commission and the institutions of the armed forces for his own political gains, this is unfortunate. but what happened yesterday is equally unfortunate and highly condemnable. pakistan peoples party has been

the victim of terrorist attacks and assassination attempts so we cannot and will not keep silent on such attacks at having said -- but having said that, the travel alerts were shared by the provincial government. the party had information and they should have taken adequate precautions which were not taken. and almost 24 hours have passed. the fir has not been launched. -- lodged. without an iota of evidence, they have just blamed the prime minister and the interior minister and the senior officers of the armed forces for this conspiracy and this conspiracy is being whipped -- all the agenda is to destabilize pakistan and to sink the pakistani economy further. elections will happen. if change will happen it will

happen on its own time. this is unfortunate. political leaders should accept there should be a dialogue. the government would be happy to have a dialogue on the economy and political reforms and electoral reforms. but the way the former prime minister -- and believe me, senior elements within also are very upset about the weaponizing of these lies and using them for political gains and defamation and incitement to violence. you have seen how loss of life has happened. and the protests have infuriated people but thank god he is alive. it is time to introspect and reassess the situation and not put country into a turmoil. wait for their turn and if they are still popular -- mohammed jamojoom: sorry to interrupt. masood, i see you want to jump in.

i want to throw this back to you. absolutely. let me ask you the question. you heard haider saying or talking about the fact that the pti has accused the prime minister, interior minister and a senior army officer of plotting this assassination attempt. the government denies the allegations. you have made the allegations against these individuals. i want to ask -- is there any evidence you have you can share with regard to who it was that carried out this attack ? raoof hasan: to begin, let me say i heard this long fabricated angle from this participant -- i would like to know where there has been an incitement to violence from the former prime minister ? where has he incited people to violence ? as a matter of fact, throughout the six days of this march,

there was not even a small little particle that was disturbed. none at all. and all the other things that he said -- that this government was voted in, i'm sorry. it was not voted in simply because of the circumstances with which this country has -- this government has taken shape. they bought legislators to work with them. money circulated. our coalition partners were taken away from us and put into their camp. unfortunately, i would strongly contend that whatever this gentleman has said is nothing but a composition of lies. i think it is important to note [indiscernible] as far as your question is concerned, yes, sir -- mohammed jamojoom: i'm sorry to interrupt. i will come back to you but i do want to give masood a chance. i want to ask your opinion about

what has happened. has this assassination attempt made imran khan more popular than ever before ? how much will this help him and his political future ? masood akhtar: i guess so. i guess so. it certainly has added to his popularity. let us face it -- his narrative of corruption regarding the government leaders has carried with the people. the majority of the people in pakistan right now are supporting his narrative. that is the situation. having said that, i think this assassination attempt was in coming. we forecast it. i'm glad you played the audio of imran khan's statement about the

threat to his life. if there was a threat for his life, despite the fact that he is very brave saying he would die for the cause, his party should have ensured his security. punjab is his province. they should have ensured that he had bulletproof glass in front of where he stands. building should have been or key building should of been occupied. the group should not be stopping in unknown areas. most importantly, if there was a threat, the intelligence has failed. is there a consequence ? i think whoever planned it picked up an impoverished guy, religious zealot who could not afford a weapon and he has given weird statements and they were played on the national television.

and the pti people should have realized that this could happen. they realized it and thank god imran khan is safe otherwise this really would've divided -- destabilized pakistan. the irony is that our democracy is still not going well. we are not a democratic country, number one. we are a religious country. there is no total human equality. the consequence is that whoever comes to power, they treat the opposition as unequal's and when that happens the trouble starts. mohammed jamojoom: regarding the march and the rallies from lahore to islamabad, how concerned are you that they are going to continue ? are you concerned it will create more tension going forward ?

haider zaman qureshi: certainly it is the pti's choice whether to up the tempo. or do an internal catharsis. some sanity should prevail. i do not expect a lot of sanity because they have not shown that. maybe they can get some more brownie points short-term and sympathy. but it has certainly been established that the party is irresponsible and its security has miserably failed. the chief minister of punjab who is a coalition partner has failed. they should have put in adequate snipers. there was no security plan. the way he is moving, he is exposed. a lot of high profile public officeholders -- the pakistan peoples party -- whoever planned

it or did it spontaneously -- look at the incompetence. they take imran khan to a hospital that is not a government hospital. the fir has not been lodged. there are a lot of things to look inward at four pti. look at 24 may and the actions. it all says how violence was carried out and how people went into red zone and how the supreme court orders and high orders were flouted and how people with weapons were brought into the red zone and the

diplomatic area. they say something else but they do not walk the talk. and now yesterday the supreme court of pakistan and the islamabad high court required from the former prime minister in writing that he gives an affidavit owning up what the lawyers said because the lawyers have chickened out. the lawyers gave assurance before the supreme court of pakistan on the 24th of may on behalf of the pti are now running away and the general secretary of the party is also running away. they have people whose audio has been in each. mohammed jamojoom: i'm sorry to interrupt but we are running out of time. i will give you a chance to respond to what he was saying but i also want to ask from your vantage point, is the march from lahore to islamabad going to

continue ? and i need to follow-up with you once more with regard to the evidence that pti has said will be presented as far as who is behind the assassination. when will it be presented to the public ? raoof hasan: in response to what has been said, it is inappropriate to be judgmental about rings that one is not aware of. this gentleman is not aware of the security precautions we have taken. the lodging of the fir is concerned, that was discussed today. the problem is that in this country, and i think we need more time. what is the polarization about ? the people's party and other parties have looted and

plundered this country. khan came into power saying he would have justice for all. unfortunately, this is where the country is divided. these people constitute the mafia that has taken pakistan. khan is fighting the mafia appeared in the three years and eight months he was in power he fought the mafia. the institutions of the country have been corrupted to an extent that they cannot stand on their own feet. since they were the ones that would be the victim, they nurtured the conspiracy. it acknowledges there was interference in the affairs of pakistan. i could go on, i have facts and

figures. do you want me to answer them now ? host: i would let -- haider zaman qureshi: i would like to respond. mohammed jamojoom: you can see even from this comp -- even from this conversation how fraught the situation in pakistan is. is there a chance for any kind of statecraft to be happening ? can we see politicians sitting down, talking to each other to calm the tensions ? or will it just get worse ? masood akhtar: i think there are few chances of people sitting together. the situation is very bad.

but we must realize the basic problem. though zella -- the zealot who attacked -- one of his ministers got a bullet in the arm from a religious zealot. his defense minister [indiscernible] i am afraid imran khan and his ministers, the government was unwise to launch an fir which is a religious law. imran khan and his ministers had to -- the high court. this is the basic problem. unless and until both sides sit together and decide that this is a country that is going to be

run only with the form of democracy, we will have a radical problem. on the 25th of may, the pti -- that is not true. before that, when imran khan was in power and all three parties launched, imran khan -- they must take a breather and step back. they must talk to one another. mohammed jamojoom: i'm going to give you a chance to respond but i want to ask you a version of this in question. is there a chance political

parties can sit down together and de-escalate the tensions going on in pakistan ? haider zaman qureshi: that is the only way out. when he was in office he never sat down with the opposition regarding india or other issues he does not have a very good history of dialogue. he believes in confrontational politics. he does not believe in dialogue. i wish sanity prevails and statecraft comes into play. coming to the looting and the plunder -- that comment that was made -- heads of state gifts

were sold and mr. imran khan has been declared by the election commission of pakistan, to be the most corrupt person. he has been guilty of selling state gifts gifted to him by brotherly nations or heads of state level. he has been guilty in illegitimate funding and his party has been declared -- and the azam about high court has not suspended that verdict. and he himself, his party is involved in corruption in punjab. i don't know how sitting in a glass house -- [indiscernible] mohammed jamojoom: i'm sorry -- haider and raoog, i'm sorry.

we have run out of time so we will have to leave the conversation there. i want to thank our guests very much. and thank you to you for watching. you can see the program any time by visiting our website and for further discussion go to our facebook page. you can also join the conversation on twitter. from the team here in doha, goodbye for now. ♪ ♪

eric tlozek: the lowest place on earth, the dead sea, is slipping away. it's been the site of dramatic biblical stories, and the area is still contested today. david elhayani: this is the promised land by god to the jewish. eric: for millennia, treasured for its healing powers. male: i have skin issues, and the sea, when you're in it for a couple hours, it almost takes everything away. female: you're flowing. it's feeling wonderful, like, ooh. eric: modern-day pilgrims still come to bathe in the