ELECTION 99
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

EU team visits Jammu and Kashmir

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

A six-member European Union delegation is currently on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the Valley.

The delegation comprising Benjamin Bassin, ambassador of Finland, Claude Blanchrmaison, ambassador of France, Manuel Marcelo Curto, ambassador of Portugal and Micheal Barrie, EU Commission ambassador, arrived here yesterday.

The delegation met the acting chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq at the Hurriyat headquarters.

The Mirwaiz, who replaced Sayed Ali Shah Geelani as interim chairman of the separatist group following Geelani's arrest under the Public Safety Act, briefed the delegation about the situation in the Valley.

Later while talking to newsmen, the Mirwaiz said he told the delegation that APHC would "persuade the militants in Kashmir for a cease-fire if the Government of India agrees to a political settlement of Kashmir dispute."

The Mirwaiz said the recently held Lok Sabha polls figured in the discussions. "We also informed the delegation about the atrocities committed by the security forces."

The EU delegation also met former union home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Governor Girish Chander Saxena, chief secretary Ashok Jaitley and the director general of police.

Meanwhile, life was paralysed in the Valley today in view of a general strike called by the APHC. It was on this day in 1947 that first batch of Indian troops landed in Kashmir. Shops remained closed and traffic was off the roads.

Tell us what you think of this report