ISLAMABAD, June 14: A meeting of opposition parties, except the PPP, agreed on Thursday to launch a movement next month against the government of Gen Pervez Musharraf.

The meeting, convened by the Muttahidda Majlis-i-Amal, was attended by PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan, PONM leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai, ANP leader Zahid Khan, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Liaquat Baloch.

During the movement which would continue till the end of August, public meetings and rallies would be held across the country to mobilise the masses and to put pressure on the government to hold free and fair election.

The meeting also announced a day-long strike in Karachi on Friday to protest against the May 12 killings.

The meeting appealed to PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto to personally attend the London Multi-Party Conference to put up a combined opposition challenge to Gen Musharraf’s regime.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Maulana Fazl said that all opposition leaders had agreed to resist Gen Musharraf’s attempt to get re-elected from present assemblies, fight for independence of judiciary and media, and free and fair elections under an independent election commission.

In reply to a question about the Balochistan and the NWFP governments, the MMA leader said: “Rest assured, the provincial governments of Balochistan and the NWFP will be no hurdle to combined opposition’s decisive movement against the government.”

He said the meeting had decided that efforts would be made to launch a formidable national democratic movement and persuade Ms Bhutto to personally lead the PPP delegation at the MPC to give a clear message to rulers about unity in the ranks of the opposition.

The Maulana said that the meeting also expressed concern over deteriorating law and order situation in tribal areas and in Karachi, adding that the rulers had failed to rid the country ot the menace of terrorism despite having toed American dictates in its so-called war on terrorism.

The meeting took serious notice of 8-10 hours’ loadshedding across the country, and expressed its sympathies with the people in their suffering because of the “incompetence of the government.”

The meeting condemned what it called mass arrests of political leaders and workers across Punjab and Sindh.