LAHORE, Jan 17: The ARD candidate to Faisalabad district naib nazim slot joined the ruling PML and withdrew his candidature here on Tuesday. He withdrew his candidature after meeting Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi. The CM welcomed Sheikh Yousaf into the party fold and said his inclusion would politically strengthen the PML in Faisalabad.

Mr Yousaf said he was joining the PML because he was impressed by the political and economic strategy of the CM. demand: Leaders of various opposition parties at a meeting here on Tuesday called for an end to military operation in Balochistan and repatriation of Nato forces from the country.

Punjab Tehrik-i-Insaaf president Javed Iqbal presided over the meeting which was participated in by Zulfikar Khosa, Zaeem Qadri, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Tariq Farooqi, Azhar Iqbal Hasan, Amin Zaki, Jamshed Butt, Hafiz Attique and others.

The participants said that the present government should step down for its failures. — Staff Reporter