July 26, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 25: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy on Friday declined to confirm its participation in the Sunday’s government-opposition talks, instead setting a 24-hour deadline for the government to clarify its position on the LFO and the president’s uniform.

Sources, who attended the ARD meeting on Friday, said that the alliance had empowered Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan to decide whether or not to attend the government-opposition meeting in this regard after attending the All-Parties Conference, called by the PML-N in Islamabad on Saturday.

Sources said that the Prime Minister’s House was informed about the ARD decision on telephone by a senior alliance leader soon after the press briefing by the Nawabzada.

They said the ARD would try to convince the Muttahida Majlis- i-Amal (MMA) to boycott the talks if the government did not clarify its position within the time limit set by the alliance in this regard.

Earlier, ARD chief Nawabzada Nasrullah told journalists that he had asked the government to clarify its stand on the LFO before initiating talks with the opposition.

He said that the ARD had taken exception to the contradictory statements of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and the PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on both the issues.

Flanked by president of the People’s Party Parliamentarians Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Pakistan Muslim League-N’s acting chief Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, the Nawabzada said that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s statement in this regard could not be ignored as he was the head of the ruling party.

Expressing doubts about the government’s seriousness in its offer for talks, he said that there was no use in going to the talks if the government did not want to discuss the issue of the president’s uniform. “The opposition parties will not go to talk about the weather conditions,” he said.

Reiterating the ARD’s stance, he said that the alliance did not recognize President Gen Pervez Musharraf as the legitimate president of the country and that the LFO could not become part of the Constitution without the approval of the parliament.

Referring to press reports about an underhand deal between the government and the MMA, the veteran politician said that the ARD had no reason to doubt MMA’s sincerity as leaders of the religious alliance had signed the declaration adopted during the last APC, which they themselves had convened in Mansoorah.

He also announced launching of agitation against the government by holding a public rally at Liaquat Bagh on the Aug 14 while announcing the formation of a nine-member committee to make arrangements in this regard with secretary-general of the PPP Jahangir Badar as its convener. Former PML-N MNA Syed Zafar Ali Shah was appointed as the deputy convener of the committee.