Kashmiris To Discuss Peace Position In Crucial Meeting
SRINAGAR (AFP) - Kashmiri political leaders said they would hold a crucial meeting Sunday to thrash out a unified position on the Indian army's ceasefire in the region and future peace talks.
"If peace talks [with the federal government] do not bear fruit now, then such negotiations may not take place at any other time," said Abdul Ghani Lone, a senior leader of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, which groups two dozen Kashmiri groups.
Lone said Thursday the Hurriyat leaders did not have any substantial differences of opinion and just needed to chalk out a common strategy.
But another senior Hurriyat member, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated there were divisions within the group.
"It is an important meeting ... we will have to also discipline some of our members who have been unnecessarily creating confusion by giving divergent statements," he said.
All the leaders of the Hurriyat executive - except pro-independence leader Yaseen Malik - are already in the Kashmir summer capital Srinagar to prepare for Sunday's meeting.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee declared a unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir on November 27th to coincide with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The Hurriyat, which favors three-way talks involving Pakistan, India and Kashmiris, have found themselves in a difficult position as pro-Islamic groups have rejected the ceasefire as a propaganda ploy.
The conflict in Indian-controlled Kashmir has claimed more than 34,000 lives since it erupted in 1989.
India blames Pakistan for providing military backing to Kashmiris. Pakistan denies the charge but offers open diplomatic support to what it terms Kashmir freedom fighters.
