ISLAMABAD, Feb 22: Leaders of the combined opposition will meet here on Thursday to decide whether to join the proposed parliamentary delegation going to Brussels for talks with European parliamentarians on the issue of blasphemous cartoons.

Speaking at a news conference, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch said on Wednesday that formation of any parliamentary team without parliament’s consent would be meaningless.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had, in his meeting with the visiting OIC Secretary-General Dr Ekmeleddin, announced to send a parliamentary team to Brussels to open dialogue with European MPs.

ARRESTS: Speaking to newsmen, Mr Baloch claimed that as many as 2,300 leaders and workers, including MNAs Mian Aslam, Hanif Abbasi, Saad Rafiq, Zamurrad Khan, MPA Waqas Khan, Dr Muhammad Kamal and others held during the last Sunday demonstrations had been sent to down country prisons in Mianwali, Sahiwal and other places in Punjab.