LAHORE, Jan 25: The MMA has agreed to form a 10-member committee for devising some way to allow participation of women in marathon in the city. The agreement was reached at a meeting between Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and an MMA delegation led by Liaquat Baloch here on Wednesday.

Baloch told reporters at an all parties conference here that the MMA and the government would have equal representation on the committee which would meet on Thursday (today).

He denied the impression given in media reports that the religious alliance, in an earlier meeting with the chief minister on Tuesday evening, had agreed to the proposal that women could run half an hour before men on the same route.

He would not say why the alliance did not issue a press release to give their stance when the government had issued its own.

Some PML-N and MMA leaders attending the APC exchanged hot words and the former threatened to come on road against the latter if the alliance tried to “sell out” the marathon issue.

Mr Baloch said the chief minister was told that if the government had to make women run in any case, it should arrange the event for them inside the stadium where entry of men should not be allowed.

He said the authorities were told in clear terms that the MMA would use all its resources if women participants were allowed to run in the open on city roads in the international marathon.

Besides the MMA and the PML-N, the Jamaatud Daawa, the Azmat-i-Islam Movement and the Muttahida Talaba Mahaz were other participants in the APC hosted by the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith.