Pak Foreign Sec to meet JK separatists in eve

New Delhi, Nov 14: Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan will meet Kashmiri separatists, including firebrand leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, here this evening.

A moderate Hurriyat delegation comprising Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Ghani Lone and Aga Syed Hassan, will call on Mr Khan, amalgam spokesperson Shaid-ul-Islam said.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chief Yaseen Malik and Democratic Freedom Party president Shabir Shah are also to call on the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, who is in India for talks with his Indian counterpart Shiv Shankar Menon.

Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who is at present attending the 56th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs in Cairo, is expected to arrive in the afternoon for the meeting, to be held at the Pakistan House, official residence of the Pakistan High Commissioner in India.

''If the Mirwaiz makes it in time, he will join the delegation.

Otherwise Prof Bhat will be the head of the Hurriyat team for talks with Mr Khan,'' he said.

The Foreign Secretaries of the two countries are meeting today and tommorrow, marking the resumption of the composite dialogue process, which had been stalled after the Mumbai bomb blasts on July 11 this year. They will hold discussions on various issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr Khan is in India as the head of the eight-member delegation comprising Additional Secretary (Asia Pacific) Akhtar Tufail, Additional Secretary (UN) Tariq Osman Hyder, Director-General (South Asia) Jalil Abbas Jilani, Director-General (UN) and spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, Director (India) Irfan Ahmad, Director (Kashmir Affairs), Mariam Aftab, Director (Foreign Secretary's Office) Moin-ul Haq and Assistant Director (India) Qamar Abbas.

Pakistan's outgoing High Commissioner to India, Aziz Ahmed Khan, and High Commissioner-designate Shahid Malik will also join the delegation for official talks with the Indian team.

UNI

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