LAHORE, April 23: Punjab PPP Secretary-General Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas claimed on Monday that 700 of his party workers had been arrested across the province to prevent them from reaching Islamabad where they were scheduled to take part in a demonstration outside the Supreme Court building on Tuesday.

At a news conference at the Lahore Press Club, he said the arrests would not deter the party and a large number of leaders and workers would still reach Islamabad to express solidarity with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by joining the lawyers’ rally. Demonstrations, he said, would also be held at all the district headquarters.

The PPP leader said Gen Musharraf had destroyed all the state institutions after which he was left with no justification to stay in power. He demanded that the government should step down immediately.

Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas praised the judges of the Sindh and Peshawar high courts for receiving the chief justice. He hoped that the CJP would also be accorded a welcome by judges of the Lahore High Court.

Haji Azizur Rehman Chan, Abdul Qadir Shaheen and Ms Shahida Jabeen were also present at the news conference.