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Musharraf agrees to meet Hurriyat leaders

Mukhtar Ahmad In Srinagar

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has assured the separatist All-Parties Hurriyat Conference that Islamabad will continue to 'extend its full moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri people in their just struggle'.

In a letter to APHC chairman Abdul Gani Bhat, copies of which were released to the press on Thursday afternoon, Musharraf said, "I look forward to an opportunity to meet you and other leaders of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference during my visit to India."

"I have asked the Pakistani high commissioner to make necessary arrangements in this regard," the letter added.

Prof Bhat had sent two similar letters to both Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and General Musharraf on June 22 seeking meetings with both, before or after the Agra summit.

Replying to questions, the APHC chairman said, "We are still awaiting a reply from the Indian government."

"I don't think that a prime minister with vision will block the passage to sanity," he added.

But Bhat said he was hopeful for a positive response from India.

Asked why the Hurriyat wrote identical letters to Vajpayee and Musharraf, Bhat said, "We have reached a stage where we will have to take measured steps and not speak words, which will vitiate the atmosphere in the region."

He strongly denied that the APHC has been marginalised or has become irrelevant in the valley.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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