Khan: 'charade' of military courts is to jail me

STORY: Khan has hinted previously at the military's hand in a crackdown on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party but his comments in an interview at his Lahore home on Saturday night (June 3) were the most blunt yet.

A bruising year-long standoff between Khan, Pakistan's most popular leader according to polls, and the army, the country's most powerful institution, came to a head when military buildings and property were ransacked last month, allegedly by his supporters.

The political unrest has increased uncertainty in the nuclear-armed country of 220 million, which is also beset by financial turmoil. Its $350 billion economy is struggling to stave off default, control record inflation and deal with a plummeting currency.