ISLAMABAD, Feb 22: The leaderships of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) are expected to hold another round of talks on Wednesday (today) to discuss modalities for cooperation between the two alliances in the anti-government drive.

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, ARD Secretary- General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said he had received a call from MMA Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed in which he expressed the desire to hold a meeting between the two alliances as early as possible.

Mr Jhagra said after talking to ARD Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, he had informed Qazi Hussain Ahmed that the meeting was possible on Wednesday as majority of the leaders would be available in Islamabad due to the National Assembly session.

It may be mentioned that Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri of the MMA had called on Makhdoom Amin Fahim in Islamabad on February 16 and both the sides agreed to continue the dialogue.

They had also decided to convene a meeting of the heads of the alliances on February 21 to finalize the details and mode of future interaction and working relationship between them. However, the meeting could not be held due to unavailability of Amin Fahim.

In the February 16 meeting, the ARD and the MMA had agreed in principle to launch a joint struggle against Gen Pervez Musharraf for keeping dual offices as well as for the restoration of 1973 Constitution as it was on October 12, 1999.

Meanwhile, sources told Dawn that the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) was the main hurdle in the formation of a grand opposition alliance. The sources said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the other component party of the ARD, was willing to join hands with the religious parties' alliance and was trying hard to convince the PPP leadership as well.

It may be mentioned that after a meeting between Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Amin Fahim on February 16, PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan with PTI Chairman Imran Khan held a separate meeting with the MMA chief at the latter's residence. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was also present in the meetings between the MMA leaders and Nawaz Sharif in Jeddah.

Sources in the PPP told Dawn that the party had in principle agreed not to join hands with the MMA due to its past record and failure of the religious parties' alliance leadership in removing reservations of the party.

When contacted, a senior PPP parliamentarian confirmed that there was almost no possibility that the ARD would form any formal alliance with the MMA. When asked as to why the PPP was not announcing it categorically, he said no one wanted to be held responsible for breaking the relationship between the two opposition alliances.