RAWALPINDI, July 18: Information and Media Development Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has said that no Pakistani was involved in the bomb blasts in London. Talking to journalists at a function on Saidpur Road, the minister said Pakistan had always opposed extremism and supported efforts aimed at countering terrorism at global level and it would continue doing so.

About nomination of candidates for the local government elections, he said Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s decision in this regard would be final.

“We have served people and now we can proudly ask for votes,” Mr Rashid said. He said he would go to every ward to meet people and muster their support.

He said the chief minister would inaugurate a hospital in the city and President Gen Pervez Musharraf would open the National College of Arts before elections.

The minister said he would sit in the Lal Haveli daily to hear public complaints.

Provincial Local Governments and Rural Development Minister Mohammad Basharat Raja said he had succeeded in getting an allocation of Rs300 million approved for development and provision of facilities in Rawalpindi, Rs200 million for Murree, Rs200 million for Gujjar Khan and Rs100 million each for Kahuta, Kotli Sattian and Kallar Syedan. He said there were no factions of the Pakistan Muslim League in Rawalpindi.