ISLAMABAD Feb 28: The parliamentary delegation to discuss the issue of the blasphemous cartoons with European parliamentarians in Brussels is likely to leave on March 4, informed sources told Dawn on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had proposed in a meeting with OIC Secretary-General Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu last week to send a parliamentary delegation comprising both treasury and opposition MPs to meet the European parliamentarians to discuss the situation after the publication of the blasphemous cartoons by some European newspapers.

According to the plan, the delegation under the federal minister for religious affairs will meet the EU parliamentarians and discuss the sacrilegious caricatures, which had triggered world-wide protests.

The official delegation will try to convince the European countries to shun from supporting countries directly involved in the sacrilege and also to denounce the act that had hurt the religious sentiments of over a billion Muslims.

It will also call for enactment of a suitable international law prohibiting anyone from sacrilege or blasphemy in future and by making it a punishable offence.

The delegation is likely to visit Jeddah headquarter of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to meet and brief the OIC secretary-general.

The combined opposition has rejected the offer to join the government delegation to protest against police action against anti-cartoon demonstrators.

The government has sent a delegation of religious scholars along with officials of the religious ministry to the UK to take up the issue with the British foreign minister and try to persuade European countries to give assurance that no such incident would occur in future.