Mirwaiz to attend Pugwash conference in Cairo

Srinagar, Nov 7 (UNI) Hurriyat Conference (moderate faction) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq will attend the six-day Pugwash international conference at Cairo in Egypt from November 10.

The Mirwaiz will attend the 56th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs in Cairo from November 10-15 this year, a Hurriyat spokesman said at the end of an extra-ordinary meeting of the amalgam here this morning.

He said Pugwash International, a Nobel Prize winning non-governmental organisation, had invited the Mirwaiz for the conference. The invitation has been accepted and the Hurriyat Chairman would attend the conference, the spokesman added.

Islamic scholars and intellectuals would take part in the seminar to discuss issues of ''Islam and the West''. The Mirwaiz would also speak on the topic.

Besides discussing the moral issues facing the Islamic world, the seminar would also deliberate on misleading campaigns about Islam and the negative attitude of western world towards it.

Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti and Peoples Conference Chairman Sajjad Gani Lone have also been invited to the conclave. For five days, the participants would discuss various aspects of the conference theme: ''A Region in Transition: Peace and Reform in the Middle East''.

Ms Mufti would be speaking on the topic ''Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process'' at the conclave.

Though the conference would focus on West Asia, there would be a panel discussion on the Kashmir issue as well on the sidelines where the participants from the state would put across their viewpoints.

UNI AG HS VV1932