Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Sunday said the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) will not proceed with its march towards Islamabad as negotiations with the group had "almost" succeeded.
On Saturday, the relatively less-equipped and poorly trained workers of the proscribed TLP had managed to bulldoze all security layers of the Lahore and Sheikhupura police and entered Gujranwala while chanting slogans and calling other activists to join them.
However, they had slowed down the march after leaving Lahore, and decided to spend the night in the suburban town of Muridke on GT Road.
The minister said that detained TLP workers, along with those placed on the Fourth Schedule, would be released. He said under an agreement signed with the TLP earlier, the issue of expelling the French ambassador will be taken to parliament for debate.
Editorial: The state only has itself to blame for its convoluted and opaque dealings with the TLP.
He said that a delegation from the proscribed group will arrive at the interior ministry on Monday for talks. "We will resolve their issues in a day or two," he said.