Ailing HC chairman Geelani being taken to US for treatment

Sriangar, Mar 11 (UNI) Ailing Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference (HC), will be taken to the United Statesfor specialised treatment.

Mr Geelani, suffering from cancer, his wife and son were given passports by the Regional Passport Office (RPO), here, on the directions from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, following appeals by the Hurriyat Conference and a number of mainstream and separatist leaders.

Their passports were sent from here to Delhi yesterday, a spokesman of the HC Aiyaz Akbar told UNI. ''As today is a holiday on account of Sunday, we will apply for visa in the US embassy in New Delhi tomorrow,'' he said.

He said the decision to take Mr Geelani to the US was taken after consulting almost everybody in Jammu and Kashmir and abroad.

He said a number of offers were made by different countries and individuals, but consensus was rached on he us.

The passports were issued to betrio after they submitted fresh applications in the RPO here last week.

Mr Geelani's passport was impounded by the authorities in 1981 and since then his applications for issuing fresh passport or travel documents were denied. However, he was allowed to perform the Haj pilgrimage last year along with his wife.

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