KARACHI / LAHORE, May 26: The Sindh government on Saturday barred Imran Khan, the chief of the Tehrik-i-Insaf, from entering Karachi under the maintenance of public order (MPO) ordinance.

Talking to Dawn in Lahore, Mr Imran described the ban as unlawful and said he would visit Karachi as scheduled.

Mr Khan was scheduled to visit the Karachi headquarters of the Jamaat-i-Islami on Sunday afternoon.

“We have imposed a ban on the entry of Imran Khan under the MPO for 30 days,” Waseem Akhtar, adviser to the Sindh chief minister on home affairs, told Dawn.

The order followed a press conference by leaders of the MQM in which they criticised the PTI chief for making statements against the MQM chief.

The MQM leaders said at the press conference that they were doing their utmost to rein in enraged activists, adding that if Imran Khan continued to make `derogatory statements’, their efforts might fail.

Earlier at a press conference in Lahore, Mr Imran accused the MQM of having launched a character-assassination campaign in an attempt to stop him from pursuing a case against Altaf Hussain in London.

The PTI chief, who is also scheduled to visit Hyderabad, said if anything happened to him, President Musharraf and Altaf Hussain would be held responsible for that.