TLP calls off Islamabad sit-in after accord with govt

ISLAMABAD: The Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) called off its sit-in at Faizabad Interchange Monday night after reaching an agreement with the federal government on expulsion of French ambassador and banning of all imports from France on the issue of publication of profane sketches in France.

The agreement said that the French ambassador in Islamabad would be expelled from Pakistan in two, three months after getting final approval from the parliament, and sanctions would be imposed on all kinds of imports from France at the government level.

From the government side, Interior Minister Brig (retd) Ejaz Shah, Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri and Chief Commissioner Islamabad Amer Ali Ahmad signed the agreement. From the TLP, Dr Mohammad Shafique Amini (Ameer TLP Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa), Syed Inayatul Haq Shah (Ameer North Punjab) and Allama Ghulam Abbas Faizi (Nazim-e-Aala North Punjab) were signatory to the agreement.

Both sides reached the agreement on mutual understanding and consensus, written in the agreement. The government would release all activists of the TLP immediately, who were arrested during a clash between the police and the protesting people, and it would withdraw all cases registered against them.