LAHORE, Sept 22: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz arrived here from Islamabad on Wednesday on his first visit to the provincial metropolis amid tight security. Governor Khalid Maqbool, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, PML President Shujaat Husain and Secretary General Senator Mushahid Husain received the premier.

Security officials, it is said, surrounded the prime minister's plane and cars with tents. Members of the provincial cabinet and legislators and party leaders were also present, but the security personnel advised the prime minister not to meet them.

Instead, he was advised to drive to the Governor's House. However, Shujaat opposed the idea, saying the prime minister would meet everybody who had come to receive him.

On this, the prime minister was advised to go to the VIP Lounge by car, not on foot. However, the PML president brought the premier to the people waiting for him in the VIP Lounge. He shook hand with all of them.