LAHORE, July 6: Defa-i-Pakistan Council (DPC) leaders said here on Friday that the July 8 long march on Islamabad would be the starting point of a movement against the government for taking a decision to restore Nato supplies.

Speaking at a joint press conference here, they said a camp set up by the council on The Mall was removed and then erected after issuance of a no-objection certificate by the district administration. They said the long march would not be the last anti-government event, as it would give birth to a movement against the government. They said a multi-party conference had been convened on Saturday (today) to take important decisions on Nato supplies. They said Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar, Imran Khan and Maulana Fazlur Rehman had been invited to the conference.

If they were against the restoration of the supplies and wished to contribute to the survival of the country they would participate in the event, they said. The conference, they said, would make it crystal clear that who was siding with the US and who was fighting for the cause of the country.

Those present at the press conference were Maulana Amir Hamza, Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, Abdur Rauf Farooqi, Amirul Azeem and Qari Yaqoob Sheikh.

Earlier, police objected to the camp set by the council at Charing Cross on The Mall without an NoC. The organisers were given time to get permission and when they failed to do so on time, they were made to pull down the camp.

However, the council was allowed to set up the camp after the district coordination officer issued the NoC, police said.

Also, component parties of the Defa-e-Pakistan Council set up camps in various city localities to motivate the masses to join the march. Administration committees were also formed to make arrangements for the long march.

Organisers say at least 3,000 volunteers will guard the long march and teams of doctors and paramedical staff will accompany the marchers.