QUETTA, Sept 20: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has decided to convene an All-Parties Conference in the first week of October to evolve a strategy for complete rejection of the 17th Amendment and restoration of "real democracy and constitutional rule in the country."

Briefing newsmen in the Bugti House here on Monday after a meeting of the ARD, the chairman of alliance, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, stressed that the government must initiate talks with the Baloch political leadership to resolve the Balochistan issue peacefully and called for an end to military operation in the province.

MNA Begum Tehmina Daultana, Zafar Iqbal Jaghra, Nawabzada Mansoor Ali Khan, Senator Amanullah Kanrani, Syed Naubahar Shah, Munir Hussain Gailani, Nafis Siddiqui, Amanullah Khan and others were present on the occasion.

Mr Fahim stated that the ARD would welcome all political parties which rejected the 17th Amendment. In order to launch a political movement against military dictatorship the APC meeting would be convened before the holy month of Ramazan to struggle jointly for the revival of political social order.

To a question, he said the Muttihada Majlis-i-Amal would be invited to the APC if the religious alliance rejected the 17th Amendment, adding that the rejection of 17th Amendment would be the one-point agenda of the APC.

The ARD leader held civil and military bureaucracy responsible for the political instability and maintained that after the death of the Founder of Nation, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, they had been hatching conspiracies against democracy and constitutional rule.

He said the adoption of a resolution by the Punjab Assembly in favour of the military uniform was the darkest day in the history of democracy. However, he lauded the resolution passed by the NWFP Assembly against the uniform, adding that the withdrawal of the resolution in the Balochistan Assembly was victory of opposition parties in the assembly.

About the provincial autonomy issue, Mr Fahim said the ARD leadership would meet representatives of nationalist parties in Quetta on Tuesday. Similar contacts, he said, would be made in other provinces to ascertain their points of view to formulate a policy that satisfied related parties.

He said in today's meeting the ARD had decided to hold public meetings, address bar associations and attend the gathering of labour organizations and student bodies to mobilize the people against anti-democratic rulers.

Mr Fahim vehemently criticized military actions and arrests of political activists in Balochistan and emphasized that the government should immediately stop army action and free political workers, saying it should hold talks with Baloch leaders to tackle the issue.

The ARD leader while condemning the sentence awarded to PPP leader Yousuf Raza Gilani, alleged that the government was using NAB for political victimization. He said that corrupt people were sitting in the federal cabinet which exposed the dual standard of NAB.

He demanded that Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif should be allowed to return to the country. He also demanded that Makhdoom Javed Hashimi, Asif Ali Zardari, Yousuf Raza Gillani, Bismiullah Kakar and all other political leaders and activits detained or implicated in false cases should be released immediately.