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Militants reject Hurriyat's truce call

During a meeting held by the Kashmir chief of the Hizb, Abu Jindal, it was decided to continue with armed activities and cause the upcoming elections in the state to "flop", according to the News And Feature Alliance, a Srinagar-based news agency.

Besides Jindal, two other Hizb commanders -- Irfan-ul-Zaman and Gais-ud-din -- attended the meeting, a statement faxed to the agency said.

Expressing satisfaction over the continued armed activities by its cadres, the leaders warned all separatist leaders to seek an assurance from the Centre about holding a plebiscite in the state before entering into any dialogue.

The statement came close on the heels of a decision taken by its leader and chairman of the United Jihad Council, Salahuddin, asking Hurriyat leaders not to visit Pakistan "as it could imply a split because a series of high-profile Hurriyat leaders have been arrested".

Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat had said in Srinagar last week that its delegation would try to broker a ceasefire with the militant groups in Pakistan.

However, Salahuddin rejected any move by the Hurriyat to broker a ceasefire.

"I have not been consulted. If a delegation of Hurriyat Conference comes here, we will welcome but they should know that there will be no talks on ceasefire," he said.

"We will never initiate this action and even thinking that ceasefire should be a pre-condition to initiate talks is wrong," Sallahuddin said.

Another pro-Pakistan outfit, the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, had also dismissed dialogue as a means to break the present deadlock in the state saying that only gun could solve the Kashmir issue.

It claimed that two dozen militants of the outfit had sneaked into Kashmir in the last few days.

"Nobody can stop mujahideens from crossing the Line of Control, as they enjoy full control over it," the outfit's deputy chief commander, Tahir-ul-Islam, had said.

PTI

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