MULTAN, July 4: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday arrived in Multan on a short visit to express his solidarity with former prime minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani over the kidnapping of his son Ali Haider Gilani.

Former prime minister, his brother Ahmad Mujtaba Gilani, PPP south Punjab Secretary-General Malik Amir Dogar and former PM’s media adviser Khwaja Rizwan Alam welcomed the president at the airport. Zardari drove straight to Gilani House where he held a meeting with Gilani and Ahmad Mujtaba.

The president also had lunch at the Gilani House and later went back to Islamabad.

A source said the former prime minister had informed the president that his family was not in Multan but he (Zardari) said he had finalised his schedule. He quoted the president as telling Gilani that the PPP stood by him in the hour of trial.

He said re-organisation of the party’s south Punjab chapter was also discussed at the meeting.

Gilani told Dawn that the current political situation of the country, the issue of the Seraiki province, re-organisation of the party and strategy that could be adopted by the president after the completion of his tenure also were discussed.