08 January 2005	Saturday	26 Ziqa'ad 1425

KARACHI, Jan 7: The National Transport Ittehad, Karachi, an alliance of 18 transport organizations, announced here on Friday that all means of public transport - buses, minibuses, coaches, trucks, trailers, rickshaws, taxis , yellow cabs and inter-city buses would remain off the roads on Saturday in protest against the hike in petroleum prices.

The decision was taken at a meeting, chaired by Saleem Khan Bangash, which was attended by the representatives from all member organizations, an NTIK release said.

Meanwhile, the Karachi Transport Ittehad declared that a wheel-jam strike would be observed in Karachi on Saturday and warned that if the government forced transporters to bring their vehicle on the road, they would go on an indefinite strike.

The KTI announcement came in a statement issued after a meeting between its leaders and Chief Secretary at his office on Friday. The KTI delegation, led by Syed Irshad Hussain Bukhari, informed him that taxi, rickshaw and yellow cabs would not observe strike as these vehicles did not consume diesel. -PPI