LAHORE, April 7: The Punjab PPP executive which met under the chairmanship of Qasim Zia on Thursday decided to set up camps near Lahore airport on April 14 where people coming from other cities to receive Asif Ali Zardari will stay. A “camp mela” would be started the following day on which a musical evening would also be held, information secretary Naveed Chaudhry said at a news conference after the executive committee’s meeting.

He said elaborate arrangements were being made to receive Zardari. All city zones would set up camps, he said.

The camps, he said, were also being set up on the Punjab borders with other provinces where the people coming to Lahore in connection with Zardari’s reception would be welcomed.

Adequate arrangements, he said, had also been made to facilitate the stay of PPP leaders and workers from other provinces and cities.

Naveed Chaudhry said a committee had also been set up under the chairmanship of Azizur Rehman Chan to look after the arrangements.

Asked whether the party had sought permission from the government to set up camps, the PPP leader said the venue fell in the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board which had been informed about the programme.

He urged the MMA to change the date for its Gujranwala-Lahore rally in view of the reception planned for Zardari on April 16.

He said the party had a sympathy with the MMA for the arrest of its leaders and workers from various cities. But in case it did not change the date of its rally, he said, it would mean the religious alliance was cooperating with the government.

About the visit of the party president to various parts of Punjab, he said it had been a great success. A number of people from the ruling PML had joined the PPP which meant that the party was very popular among the masses, he claimed.

He told a questioner that ARD parties would be welcome to receive Zardari.

Munir: PPP leader and ARD deputy information secretary Munir Ahmad Khan met PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari in Dubai on Thursday.

He briefed them on the arrangements being made for Zardari’s reception in Lahore.