ISLAMABAD, March 1: A meeting of the heads of the component parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) will be held in Lahore on March 10 to finalize a plan for the second phase of "Remove-Musharraf Campaign" , said Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, the alliance secretary-general.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, Mr Jhagra said that he had sent letters to the heads of all the component parties asking them to highlight issues which could be included in the agenda for the meeting.

The ARD leader said the meeting could have a very heavy agenda as several important events were taking place in the country in the name of war against terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation.

Mr Jhagra said the military operation in tribal areas, the ongoing investigations against scientists and other officials of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), recent increase in prices of petroleum products and general price-hike in the country were issues to be discussed in the meeting.

He said the ARD would launch the second phase of its campaign against the military government from March 11 with a public meeting in Sahiwal. Sources said the alliance chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim would also take other ARD parties into confidence regarding the PPP meeting held in London on Feb 20.

Meanwhile, sources said office-bearers of the provincial chapter of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-N had held a meeting in Lahore recently and finalized the arrangements for the public meeting in Sahiwal.

The sources said the PPP and the PML-N provincial leaders had also prepared a schedule for public meetings to be held in Punjab as part of the "Remove-Musharraf Campaign." This schedule, they said, would be put before the ARD leadership for approval.

They said there was no possibility of the ARD seeking cooperation of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) in its campaign. They said the MMA had "stabbed the combined opposition in the back" and the religious alliance leaders could not be trusted anymore.

"The ARD has the capability of running a forceful campaign against the government without MMA's support," PPP senator Raza Rabbani said when his attention was drawn towards a recent statement of MMA acting chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed announcing that the religious alliance would also launch a protest against Gen Musharraf.

He said the ARD and the MMA had cooperated in the past on minimum agenda on the LFO issue. However, he said, after entering a "deal" with the government, the MMA had in fact become a part of the government.

Mr Rabbani also denied reports that Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Amin Fahim had telephonic conversation. He said the MMA had itself parted ways with the combined opposition by choosing to "legitimize" the presidency of Gen Musharraf.

If the MMA leaders had any second thought and wanted to launch a protest drive, the PPP senator said, then first they would have to prove their credentials before the public.