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Hurriyat leaders meet Kasuri

By K J M Varma in Islamabad
June 07, 2005

President Pervez Musharraf met visiting Kashmiri separatist leaders in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Musharraf is understood to have shared with them some ideas on the resolution of Kashmir issue while the separatist leaders emphasised on the inclusion of Kashmiris in the Indo-Pak dialogue process aimed at settling the problem.

Earlier, foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told the separatist leaders that it cannot 'force' India to include them in the dialogue process to resolve the Kashmir issue, official sources said.

Pakistan has been trying to persuade India to include 'genuine' representatives of Kashmir in the dialogue but has not been successful, Kasuri said.

He was addressing reporters after meeting Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and eight other leaders from the Kashmir valley, including Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yaseen Malik, in Islamabad.

"Let us walk before we run. We cannot force India to include the Kashmiri representatives in the dialogue," he said.

Kasuri, however, said Pakistan has been trying to put 'diplomatic pressure' on India in this regard.

During the meeting, which took place hours before their talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the separatist leaders discussed the ongoing peace process and their demand for their inclusion in the dialogue to make it trilateral.

Kasuri also vehemently denied allegations by hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani that Pakistan followed a US-drawn roadmap on Kashmir.

He said similar allegations were made in the past over Iraq, but Pakistan neither voted for the US invasion of Iraq nor dispatched its army to Baghdad at America's request.

Geelani had turned down Pakistan's invitation for the visit to the country and Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

Also read:
Hurriyat leaders send confusing signals
BJP seeks govt clarification on Musharraf's statement

K J M Varma in Islamabad
Source: PTI
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