APDM to boycott elections

LAHORE: Former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif said Thursday that an alliance of opposition parties will boycott elections in January and would try to persuade others including Benazir Bhutto to join them. "We are boycotting these elections," Sharif told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore after a meeting of the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM), which groups Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and other parties. "We will try to convince other political parties so that this boycott is effective," he said, adding they would call a meeting with leaders of other opposition groups including Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party.