December 05, 2007	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 24, 1428

LONDON, Dec 4: The week-long visit of former ISI chief Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi and former junior information minister Senator Tariq Azim on what appears to be a PR job for President Musharraf has provoked a vast section of Pakistanis living here to mount a counter-campaign.

The Campaign Against Martial Law in Pakistan (CAMLP), a recently formed group of Pakistani students, lawyers, doctors, journalists and civil society activists in the UK, have sent protest notes to all those British officials and non-officials who have consented to meet the two styling themselves as Musharraf’s special envoys.

The group has also chalked out an elaborate programme to stage protest demonstrations in front of all the meeting venues where the two would be visiting to present their version of what is happening in Pakistan.

On Tuesday, the two met Lord Mark Malloch Brown, Minister of State for Africa, Asia and United Nations, MP Khalid Mahmood, members of All Party Parliamentary Group, Mike Gapes, Chairman Foreign Affairs Committee of House of Commons and members of Pakistani community.

On Wednesday, Tariq Azim would be participating in a panel discussion on ‘The plight of Pakistani media under emergency rule’ at the Foreign Press Association.

The Pakistani media’s case would be presented by Ali Dayan of Human Rights Watch and Mr Azim will defend Musharraf’s current media policy.

On the same day, the special envoys would meet the members of the Pakistan-British Trade and Investment Forum at the Asia House.