Pak invites Hurriyat leaders, visit from June 2
TNN | May 23, 2005, 11.35 PM IST
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan announced on Monday that it has extended an invitation to all the
leaders of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to visit Pakistan, a move
perceived to be aimed at bringing the Kashmiri leadership into confidence over
the recent peace initiatives with
India.
The Hurriyat leaders have been invited for a visit starting from June 2, and it would be their first ever trip to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. "People of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan-administered Kashmir) are anxiously waiting for their arrival. We hope they come as a very warm welcome awaits them," foreign office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told reporters.
"We have extended the invitation to all the Hurriyat leaders including Mr Geelani. He is a very well respected Kashmiri leader," Jilani said, while responding to a question whether hardline separatist leader Sayeed Ali Geelani was also invited.
The agenda and programmes will be finalised later on, he said.
However, sources said the Kashmiri leadership would hold talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and other officials regarding the ongoing peace initiatives between the two countries to resolve all the outstanding issues including Kashmir issue.
The leaders are likely to travel by Sringar-Muzaffarabad bus, whose service was recently resumed to facilitate movement among the divided Kashmiri families living on both sides of the LoC.
The Hurriyat leaders have been invited for a visit starting from June 2, and it would be their first ever trip to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. "People of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan-administered Kashmir) are anxiously waiting for their arrival. We hope they come as a very warm welcome awaits them," foreign office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told reporters.
"We have extended the invitation to all the Hurriyat leaders including Mr Geelani. He is a very well respected Kashmiri leader," Jilani said, while responding to a question whether hardline separatist leader Sayeed Ali Geelani was also invited.
The agenda and programmes will be finalised later on, he said.
However, sources said the Kashmiri leadership would hold talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and other officials regarding the ongoing peace initiatives between the two countries to resolve all the outstanding issues including Kashmir issue.
The leaders are likely to travel by Sringar-Muzaffarabad bus, whose service was recently resumed to facilitate movement among the divided Kashmiri families living on both sides of the LoC.