Mirwaiz Hurriyat headquarters attacked in Srinagar

Srinagar, Feb 1 (UNI) Barely a few hours before the arrival of moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq from Pakistan, unidentified persons lobbed a hand grenade toward the amalgam headquarters here last night, sources said today.

They said the unidentified persons lobbed the hand grenade from the main road toward the Hurriyat headquarters in posh Raj Bagh area at around 2220 hrs last night.

The grenade exploded in the compound, damaging a Tata Sumo parked inside, the sources added.

However, no one was wounded in the grenade blast.

The attack came barely few hours before the arrival of the Mirwaiz and another moderate Hurriyat leader Bilal Ghani Lone here from their fortnight-long visit to Pakistan.

A three-member moderate Hurriyat delegation had left here for Pakistan on January 17 for talks with President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz besides opposition and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) leaders on the Kashmir issue.

The third member of the delegation, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, has decided to extend his stay in Pakistan by few more days.

A Hurriyat spokesman said the Mirwaiz and Mr Lone would be taken in a procession to the amalgam headquarters at Raj Bagh from the Srinagar airport.

Militants belonging to the Save Kashmir Movement (SKM) had earlier fired a rifle grenade at the residence of the Mirwaiz at Nigeen on January 15, which fell in the compound of a nearby house.

The outer compound wall and window-panes of the house, about 100 mt from that of the Mirwaiz, were damaged in the blast.

During his visit to Pakistan, Mirwaiz Farooq had called for giving up the ''armed struggle'' to pave the way for fruitful negotiations for a lasting settlement of the Kashmir issue.

The Mirwaiz stated this after a series of meetings with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and other leaders in Islamabad.

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