Kashmir truce 'must not to be rejected'

Various Kashmiri leaders from both sides of the line of control (LoC) met formally in Islamabad yesterday to discuss the short-term ceasefire offer by New Delhi and agreed that it should not be categorically turned down even as visiting Kashmiri leader Abdul Ghani Lone met Pakistani Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf.

It was Lone's first formal meeting with any Pakistani leader since he arrived in the Pakistani capital to attend the marriage of his son with the daughter of JKLF leader Amanullah Khan.

"General Musharraf desires a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute if Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee comes up with a realistic approach," Lone told reporters after his meeting with the chief executive.

"The Indian government should show sincerity in ceasefire offer so that all parties to the Kashmir conflict join the dialogue process," the APHC leader quoted Gen. Musharraf as telling him in the one-and-half hour long meeting.

Lone said he apprised the chief executive of the situation in Indian Kashmir and also discussed with him the Indian ceasefire offer. He said he also informed Gen. Musharraf about the meeting between the leaders from Azad Kashmir and Indian Kashmir in Islamabad on Saturday. He said Gen. Musharraf told him that Pakistan trusts the Kashmiri leadership and if they want they can talk with India.

Lone said he insisted on the inclusion of Kashmiris in any talks on the Kashmir dispute, saying that tripartite talks could find a solution to the problem. Lone told reporters any step for the dismissal of any government in Pakistan affects the Kashmir issue, saying a strong government in Pakistan can project the Kashmir cause.

The Lone-Musharraf meeting was held after a formal sitting of the Kashmiri leaders from the two sides of the line of control, which divides Pakistan and India. Yesterday's meeting, the first of its kind in Islamabad, reportedly said that the Indian offer of ceasefire was a positive step and it should not be altogether rejected.

"Abdul Ghani Lone described the Indian ceasefire offer as insufficient but still welcomed it and described it as a positive move," an insider said asking not to be quoted. But the hawks, led by Jamaat-e-Islami AJK leader Abdul Rasheed Turabi, differed on the issue.

Informed sources told Gulf News that the Kashmiri leaders chose not to ask the freedom fighters to put an end to the war but in the meantime, some formula would be decided to respond to the Indian offer.

The Kashmiri leaders met in Islamabad with Lone in the chair. He and former prime minister and president of Azad Kashmir Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan addressed the meeting. Although the Kashmiri leadership differed on many a point, it decided to meet once more, possibly on Tuesday to further its discussion.