ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) will launch the second phase of "Remove Musharraf Campaign" in the second week of March, sources said here on Wednesday.

They said the formal announcement regarding the second phase of the countrywide protest drive would be made after a meeting of the heads of ARD component parties in Lahore after Ashura.

In the meeting, the sources said, ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim would brief the leaders about the decisions taken at the recently held PPP meeting in London.

They said PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto had expressed her satisfaction over the outcome of the first phase of the campaign, in which camps were set up in different parts of the country from Feb 13 to 20, and believed that the time had come to mobilize the public to launch the decisive phase of the campaign.

In the second phase, the sources said, the ARD would announce a schedule for public meetings. They said keeping in view the past experience on the LFO issue the ARD had decided to raise the issues of public interest in its campaign to encourage public participation.

They said there was no possibility that the alliance would ask the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) to join its drive. ARD secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, when contacted, said the alliance had already announced that it would hold a public meeting in Sahiwal and March 7 had been fixed.

However, he said the date would be finalized in a day or two after consultations with the PPP leaders. Talking to Dawn at the chamber of opposition leader in the Senate, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani said the ARD would expand the scope of protest campaign and public meetings would be held not only in big cities, but in small towns, villages and districts too.