Mirwaiz: I have no authority to issue passports

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, has denied news reports that appeared in a leading national paper saying that he did not want travel documents to be issued to rival APHC group chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani when an AHPC delegation visited Pakistan in 2005.

"I am surprised and shocked by the report. Who am I to dictate to the government or United States administration? What authority do I have on whether Geelani should be given passport or not," Mirwaiz told rediff.com in an exclusive conversation from his residence in Srinagar.

Finding himself involved in a major controversy, Mirwaiz said as far he knows Geelani had applied for a visa with the Pakistan embassy.  "Unless he had a valid passport he could not have applied for a visa," he claimed.

"When we went to Pakistan in 2005, we insisted that he should be part of our delegation. But he declined to be a part." he said.

According a senior official of the American embassy, Mirwaiz had said it would be big mistake to make Geelani as a member of the delegation.

"The authenticity of WikiLeaks have been beyond doubt, as they form part of the official communication between the US state department officials who are posted abroad and the state department. Hence, we can give credence to them," said a close aid of octogenarian separatist leader.

In his defence, Mirwaiz kept on insisting that the travel documents lie with the government and US can help only in getting the visa in case someone has a valid travel document.

The WikiLeaks report said that corruption was a way of life in Kashmir and leaders cutting across the party lines accept money both from India and Pakistan.

"This is a totally false impression. The cables are part of the communication between the US government and a US state official who did not understand the things in the right perspective. We condemn such cables," Mirwaiz retorted.