08 February 2005	Tuesday	28 Zilhaj 1425

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has postponed its meeting scheduled for Tuesday (today).

Sources attribute the postponement to non-availability of alliance chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim and acting parliamentary leader of PML-N Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

A People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) source told Dawn that chairperson Benazir Bhutto had asked Mr Fahim to reach Dubai on Tuesday for some important consultations.

Ms Bhutto wanted to discuss some important issues with him before leaving for Saudi Arabia.

Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari are likely to leave for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah in a few days. They would also meet PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in Jeddah.

The sources said Ms Bhutto would discuss the possibility of joining hands with the MMA in the anti-government movement. They described the non-availability of Nisar Ali Khan as another reason for the postponement of the meeting. He is on an official visit to the UK with a parliamentary delegation.

Chaudhry Nisar was to brief PPP leaders at the meeting about contacts of his party and the religious alliance with Nawaz Sharif. He was present in Jeddah during the meetings of MMA leaders with Mr Sharif.

When contacted, ARD deputy information secretary Munir Ahmed Khan said the meeting would now be held on Feb 15 in Islamabad.

Mr Khan said the PPP had taken the leaders of the PML-N and other component parties of the alliance into confidence before announcing the postponement of the meeting.

Meanwhile, the PPP parliamentary group met here on Monday at the Parliament House.

PPP secretary-general Raja Pervez Ashraf presided over it in the absence of Makhdoom Amin Fahim. Party's 44 MNAs attended the meeting. They discussed the Balochistan situation in detail and vowed to raise the issue in the forthcoming National Assembly session with full force.

The meeting also voiced its concern over the law and order situation in the country. The MNAs opposed the establishment of cantonments in Balochistan and demanded arrest of the culprits involved in the rape of a women doctor in Sui.