March 18, 2007	Sunday	Safar 28, 1428

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LAHORE, March 17: Police on Saturday arrested over a dozen of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders and activists on the premises of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and hours later released them. An anti-terrorist court in Dharampura, however, sent 29 workers to jails on a 14-day judicial remand who were arrested on Friday.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, who were detained by the police on Friday, were released late on Friday, police sources said.

Those who were jailed are from the PML-N, MMA and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI). The Punjab JI spokesman said in a statement that Liaqat Baloch had been shifted from Shahdra Irrigation Rest House to Ravi Sifon Rest House following one-month detention orders.

Lahore JI Ameer Ameerul Azaam and union council nazim Majid Zahoor were sent to the camp jail, Ganj Baksh JI Ameer Ziauddin Ansari to Mianwali Jail and Khalid Ahmed Butt, Hamid Serwar and Waheed Gull to Bahawalpur jail.

Acting Punjab JI Ameer Azhar Iqbal Hassan claimed that 50 more JI activists, including ameers of Multan and Mandi Bahauddin, had been arrested.

The Punjab PPP spokesman claimed MNAs Yasmeen Misbah and Mehreen Raja and Naseem Firdous and Sikandar Shah, 20 lawyers from the People’s Lawyers Forum and 16 activists had been detained at the Civil Lines police station.

Punjab PML-N President Zulfikar Khan Khosa, MNAs Malik Pervez, Sardar Ayyaz Sadiq and Saad Rafique and MPA Mujtaba Shujaa and others had been released.

MULTAN: Police arrested 24 protesters of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal here on Saturday.

Reports said a large number of MMA workers had gathered at Daulat Gate when a police contingent, led by ASP Fayyaz Ahmed, DSP Karamat Malik and TPO Hafiz Kashif, asked them to disperse and started arresting protesters. The entire MMA leadership succeeded to escape except JI district amir Rao Muhammad Zafar who was one of the arrested people.

Police also arrested Rao Zafar Iqbal, MMA deputy secretary-general, from his house.

ASP Fayyaz Ahmed said the police arrested 17 people.

SHEIKHUPURA: Dozens of opposition leaders of Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib and Ferozewala were rounded up by the police to prevent them from participating in lawyers rallies at Lahore on Saturday.

The arrested included PML-N leaders Naveed Kalyar, Munawar Latif, Seth Idrees, Dr Ali Abbas, Haji Khalid Husain, MMA’s Maulvi Jaffar Husain and Hafiz Qamar Ali.

Naveed Kalyar who had been detained at city A-Division police station, said army rulers had weakened all institutions in the country and opposition parties would continue their struggle for the restoration of democratic norms.