LAHORE, June 22: All political forces have agreed to attend the All Parties Conference (APC) being convened by Jamaat-i-Islami at Islamabad on Saturday (tomorrow) to discuss the Karachi situation and launching of a movement against the government in September.

Disclosing this at a press conference here on Thursday, JI secretary-general Syed Munawwar Hassan said all political parties except the ruling PML had been invited to attend the APC.

PPP leader Makhdum Amin Fahim, Maulana Fazlur Rehman of MMA and Chaudhry Nisar Ali of PML-N were among those who had given their consent in this regard.

He said the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi provided a serious cause for concern because it was the financial capital of the country. As many as 25,000 people had been killed in Karachi during the past 21 years and murder and kidnapping had become the order of the day. The government had failed to trace culprits of the Nishtar Park blast even 10 weeks after the incident despite the fact that President Musharraf had ordered their arrest in 72 hours.

He said an APC on Karachi should have been convened by the government but it had failed to realise gravity of the situation so far. The Jamaat had taken the initiative and would convey the decision taken at it to the government.

Answering a question, he said preparations for launching an anti-government movement were going ahead successfully. Both the ARD and MMA were close to reaching an agreement on it. Other political parties were also expected to back the move.

Answering another question, he said Maulana Fazlur Rehman might have his own opinion on different issues but he had always followed MMA’s decisions in the past and would continue doing so in future as well.