December 30, 2007	Sunday	Zilhaj 19, 1428

LAKKI MARWAT, Dec 29: The district chapters of the Pakistan People’s Party and Jamaat-i-Islami held separate demonstrations to protest against the assassination of former prime minister and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.

Through megaphones, the PPP leaders requested shopkeepers to close their businesses and join the protest.

The traders then closed down their shops and took part in the demonstration.

The protesters marched through the main Grand Trunk Road known as Bannu-D.I. Khan Road and reached the Parade Ground where they offered funeral prayers in absentia for Ms Bhutto. The Jamaat-i-Islami activists took out a protest procession in the Serai Gambila locality and staged a sit in on the Indus Highway. Speaking at the gathering, Abdul Samad Khan and Maulana Fazlullah condemned Ms Bhutto’s assassination and termed it an assault on the stability of the country.

The JI’s district secretary-general said that the party would also organize demonstrations against the assassination on Dec 30 and 31 in Serai Naurang and Lakki Marwat, respectively.

Meanwhile, the district chapter of the Awami National Party announced that the party would stop its election-related activities in the district.

The ANP condemned the killing of PPP leader and demanded that the conspiracy behind her assassination be made public.