STORY: The court order prevents security forces from arresting Khan for failing to show up in court over a case in which he is charged with illegally selling state gifts given to him while he was prime minister. Khan denies the charges.

"Until fair and free elections are held and until our party gives us new directions, we are standing here like a wall of steel," said Khan's supporter, Mohammad Ali Khan. "Any bullet, any storm, has to pass through our bodies before it can go in."

The order, which according to Khan's aide Fawad Chaudhry, had extended an order to halt the police operation until Friday (March 17), defused a surge in violence that saw supporters of the former prime minister fighting pitched battles with security forces.