LAHORE, March 24: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy will hold a public meeting in Faisalabad on March 31, to renew its mass contact drive.

The drive had been suspended due to engagement of the alliance’s constituents in Senate polls and later due to the Iraq crisis, ARD president Nawabzada Nasrullah told newsmen here on Monday. Deputy information secretary Munir Ahmad was also present.

The Nawabzada said a summit meeting of the ARD components would be held in Faisalabad on March 30 to discuss the issues pertaining to the US aggression against Iraq, dwindling future of the United Nations and the Legal Framework Order.

He said no invitation for the public meeting would be extended to the parties out of the ARD’s ambit.

When a reporter asked if the ARD’s Faisalabad rally and MMA’s Lahore rally could be compared to judge which alliance was more popular among the masses, he said it would not be right to compare the performance of the two alliances.

“Showing solidarity with the Iraqi people is a virtuous thing, and we will welcome even if the PML-Q organizes any meeting in this regard,” he said.

He rejected the assumption that the PPP, the major constituent of the ARD, had views on the Iraq crisis different than those of other parties.

Fearing Pakistan would be the next US target, he said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had said on the record that Pakistan should be taken after Iraq.

He chided Gen Pervez Musharraf’s statement that no-one would come to our rescue in bad time and termed it a confession of the military dictator about the failure of his foreign policy.

He said Washington’s unilateral decision of attacking Baghdad had endangered the survival of the UN. He criticized US officials for threatening to establish another world body if the UN did not give a green signal to its war on Iraq.

He said the MMA had not taken the ARD leadership in confidence over talks with the PML-Q on the LFO. However, he emphasized that the two alliances had unanimous views on the issue, while the lawyers community was also with them.