Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan chairman Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman called a countrywide shutter-down strike after 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal over the petroleum levy, stating the government would have to decrease the petroleum costs.

Talking to a news conference in Lahore, Hafiz Naeem said their campaign was going in the best possible way and added that the government will have to cut down the pricing of petroleum goods.

He claimed the country cannot move forward in the presence of flour and sugar mafias and appealed to the people to come up and join their resistance. He also added that farmers were not obtaining fertilisers at affordable costs while government officials were utilising costly automobiles using taxpayers’ money.

The Jamaat-e-Islami head stated they would observe a country-wide strike after 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal, adding that negotiations would not be held on the basis of assurances to halt the sit-in. He said the sit-in will continue until the government practically accepted their requests.

Hafiz Naeem also stated the petroleum levy, which he called a type of extortion tax, should not be enforced under any circumstances and the government would have to cut petrol prices.

If their demands were not accepted they would march on Islamabad, they said. No one could stop them and no Jamaat-e-Islami worker would hesitate to make sacrifices.

It may be recalled that Jamaat-e-Islami has been organising sit-ins outside governors’ residences around the country against the petroleum levy, with the protests entering their eighth day today.

Gold prices increased in domestic and foreign markets, with the rate of gold in the international bullion market shooting up by $57 an ounce to $4,604.

The gold price in Pakistan went up by Rs5,700 per tola, reaching Rs482,936.

The price of 10 grams of gold too went up by Rs4,972 to Rs414,039.

Meanwhile the price of silver was constant. Silver Rs7,379 per tola and Rs6,326 per 10 grams.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will travel to the United Kingdom on Monday for a five-day official visit aimed at advancing Pakistan-UK relations and discussing issues of mutual interest, the Foreign Office said on Sunday.

Dar will hold talks with UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister of State for Pakistan Stephen Doughty during his stay, according to the FO.

The deputy prime minister is also scheduled to meet other senior British government officials.

A key issue on Dar’s agenda will be the situation of Pakistani crew members being held by Somali pirates. The Foreign Office said he would meet the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation to discuss the matter.

The crew members are aboard the oil tanker MT Honour 25, which was seized by pirates off Somalia’s Puntland region on April 21. The vessel has 17 crew members, including 10 Pakistani nationals.