PM invites moderate Hurriyat for talks on May 3

New Delhi, Apr 28 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today invited the moderate Hurriyat Conference for the next round of talks on May 3, ahead of the second Kashmir roundtable in Srinagar next month.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced that Dr Singh will meet representatives of the Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Wednesday.

Talking to UNI after receiving the invitation in Srinagar, the Mirwaiz termed as ''good and appropriate'' the Prime Minister's decision.

''It is a good and appropriate decision. The main problem is between New Delhi and the Hurriyat Conference. Therefore, New Delhi should hold talks with the separatists only,'' the Mirwaiz said.

He said the second round of talks with the Prime Minister will be in continuation with the ''triangular dialogue process'' between India, Pakistan and the Hurriyat Conference.

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the moderate Hurriyat leaders, to be held seven months after their first round of parleys, will play a ''crucial'' role in the separatist leaders' decision to attend the May 25 roundtable.

The moderate Hurriyat Conference had conveyed through intermediatories involved in back channel negotiations, that the amalgam first wanted to hold a one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister before deciding on attending the roundtable.

The Hurriyat Chairman said, ''We will put forth our views at the meeting and review the progress made on the matters that had been raised in our first round of talks with the Prime Minister on September 5, last year.'' He said a joint session of the Executive Council, the highest decision-making body of the moderate Hurriyat Conference, the Working Committee and the General Council, would be held on Monday to name the delegation that would meet Dr Singh.

He said the Hurriyat leaders have met the Pakistani leadership, including President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, several times after the last year's parleys with Dr Singh.

''At the meeting, we will also discuss the outcome of our talks with the Pakistani leadership,'' Mirwaiz Farooq added.

Meanwhile, the Hurriyat sources said the delegation would comprise the same five moderate amalgam leaders who had held the first round of talks with the Prime Minister.

Besides the Mirwaiz, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Ghani Lone and Fazal Haq Qureshi had met Dr Singh.

The sources said the same delegation would again meet the Prime Minister on May three.

However, they said two more senior Hurriyat leaders -- Nayeem Ahmed Khan, who is the Chairman of the National Front, and Aga Syed Hassan, the head of the Anjuman-e-Shara-i-Shian, -- would also press for their inclusion in the high-profile delegation.

The sources said the separatist leaders wanted to hold discussions with the Prime Minister to explain their stand on several issues, including the roundtable.

Almost all top separatists, including the Hurriyat leaders, did not attend the first roundtable, held at the Prime Minister's 7 Race Course Residence on February 25.

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