Second round of PM, Hurriyat Conference talks commence

New Delhi, May 3 (UNI) The second round of talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a six-member moderate Hurriyat Conference delegation, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, began here this evening.

The meeting, being held seven months after the first round of parleys between the Prime Minister and the amalgam leaders on September 5 last year, commenced at 1900 hrs at Dr Singh's 7 Race Course Road residence.

Dr Singh is being assisted by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, and other senior officials at the meeting.

The six-member Hurriyat delegation comprises Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Ghani Lone, Fazal Haq Qureshi and Aga Syed Hassan, besides the Mirwaiz.

The Hurriyat will present ''fresh and concrete'' proposals to the Prime Minister.

The meeting will play a ''crucial role'' in Hurriyat leaders' decision to participate in the May 25 Kashmir roundtable in Srinagar.

The parleys are being held against a backdrop of the massacre of 35 Hindus in separate incidents in Doda and Udhampur districts in Jammu region on Sunday and Monday, which the Hurriyat Conference Chairman termed as an ''act of terrorism''.

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