LAHORE, May 7: All ARD parties will jointly accord a warm welcome to Shahbaz Sharif on his return to Lahore from London on May 11. An ARD procession to be co-led by Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Raja Zafarul Haq will start from Nila Gumbad and reach Lahore airport where Shahbaz is scheduled to land by about 6pm.

This was decided at an ARD meeting of the Punjab organization held under the chairmanship of Qasim Zia here on Friday. PML-N leader Saad Rafiq thanked all ARD components for taking part in arrangements being made to receive the former chief minister.

The meeting condemned the arrest of some 500 workers whose whereabouts they said were being kept secret. The participants said legislators were also on the hit list, and they too would be apprehended during the next few days. They believed that the government would not be able to stop ARD's procession from reaching the airport.

They also condemned the suicide bombing at a Karachi mosque in which over a dozen people were killed. They said the incident had established the failure of the government.