Pakistan PM invites Geelani for talks

Islamabad, Feb 5 (UNI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has invited Chairman of the breakaway faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani to visit Pakistan ''for a dialogue on the Kashmir issue.'' Prime Minister Aziz assured Geelani that Pakistan ''would never abandon the people of Kashmir.'' Mr Geelani, who still supports armed struggle for resolution of the Kashmir issue, had formed his own APHC faction after developing serious differences with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other Hurriyat leaders.

The Mirwaiz, who visited Pakistan last month, has been asking Kashmiri militants to give up armed struggle and join the dialogue process.

'The News' quoted Mr Aziz as saying here that Pakistan is in constant contact with the Kashmiri leaders across the divide.

He said out of box proposals put forward by President Pervez Musharraf like joint management of Kashmir could become a ''solid base for dialogue on the issue.'' He said Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri is to visit India this month for talks with his Indian counterpart on the composite dialogue progress.

Negotiations were also underway from other channels and ''all these efforts would yield positive results,'' Mr Aziz said.

UNI