Geelani invited for Kashmir conference in UK

Srinagar, Nov 1 (UNI) Breakaway Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been invited by the London-based Justice Foundation Kashmir Centre to attend a two-day international conference on Kashmir in the United Kingdom (UK) from November 28.

Mr Geelani would take a decision about his UK visit on his return here from New Delhi where he has gone for a medical check-up, breakaway Hurriyat Conference spokesman Ayaz Akbar said.

In its invitation letter to Mr Geelani, the Justice Foundation Kashmir Centre said it was holding its third conference on Kashmir -- ''60 Years of the Kashmir Dispute - A Way Forward'' -- in the Palace of Westminster, UK, on November 28 and at the House of Commons on November 29.

Mr Geelani and his wife were issued passports in March this year on the directions of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh following repeated appeals from various quarters.

The authorities had impounded Mr Geelani's passport in 1981 and since then his applications for issuing a fresh passport or travel documents had been repeatedly turned down. However, he and his wife were allowed to perform the Haj pilgrimage last year.

The passport was issued to enable him to visit the United States for treatment.

However, the United States later denied him visa on the ground that he had refused to renounce violence as a weapon to achieve ''independence'' of Kashmir.

UNI