SIALKOT, July 25: Dr Firdous Aashiq Awan, a member of the National Assembly from the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and the federal parliamentary secretary for Cabinet Division, joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Wednesday.

Ms Awan told journalists that she quit the PML due to her differences with National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Ameer Husain.

She expressed confidence in the leadership of PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto, and said she would contest the upcoming general election against Ameer Husain from the PPP platform.

Anniversary: Lawyers on Wednesday observed a day-long mourning and boycotted courts to mark the fourth anniversary of the Sialkot jail shootout in which four civil judges and five prisoners were killed.

On the appeal of the District Bar Association (DBA), lawyers wore black armbands and held ‘Quran Khawani’ for the judges who were taken hostage by inmates during their visit to the jail on July 25, 2003, and later killed in a crossfire between police and the inmates.