6, April 2005	Wednesday	26 Safar 1426

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ISLAMABAD, April 5: The leaders and activists of Pakistan People’s Party are all set to receive Asif Ali Zardari on April 16, at Lahore airport, and there is no change in the programme. This was stated by People’s Party Parliamentarians Secretary-General Raja Pervez Ashraf while speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday. The PPP leader dispelled the impression that Mr Zardari might change his scheduled return to the country.

“Some elements with certain vested interests are spreading rumours that Mr Zardari is not coming back. We, categorically, make it clear that he is coming to Pakistan on April 16, and the party has completed its preparations in this regard,” Mr Ashraf said.

Party activists from all parts of the country will go to Lahore to give the spouse of Benazir Bhutto a rousing welcome, Mr Ashraf said. It is the party’s constitutional right to welcome its leader, he said and warned the Punjab government against creating any hurdles in this regard.

Talking about the arrest of PPP MPA from Nawabshah Ghulam Qadir Chandio, he criticized the Sindh government in general and the chief minister in particular for, what he called, harassing people on political grounds.

He claimed that the MPA’s arrest aimed at giving advantage to the chief minister in the forthcoming local government elections.