Stop civilian killings, Mufti to security forces

Civilian killings at the hands of security forces must end, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said on Saturday.

"The Indian Army is doing lot of good work in Jammu and Kashmir," he said in New Delhi.

"They have taken one hundred orphans in their schools. They have also build bridges and helped in road links in remote areas. Good work done by the army is undone by a handful of overenthusiastic junior officers and arymen, who commit excesses and thereby make our task of administration all the more difficult."

The Mufti released IAS officer Pervez Dewan's book, entitled Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, at the J&K House.

He welcomed the Centre's decision to send the Indian cricket team to Pakistan and described the tour as a great confidence building measure. "I am a cricket lover and would like to see Sachin Tendulkar, [V V S] Laxman and [Rahul] Dravid batting against Shoaib Akhtar and other Pakistani fast bowlers."

He did not attach importance to Fazal Haq Qureshi's pulling out of the All Party Hurriyat Conference-Centre talks. "The peace talks will gain momentum. You will see in the coming days even those who wield guns joining the talks with the Government of India."

Asked if his party, the People's Democratic Front, would jointly fight the Lok Sabha polls with the Congress, the Mufti said talks were going on in this matter. "We have an alliance with the Congress and we are running the government [in J&K] with their support. We are talking to them. We have just six seats in the state for the Lok Sabha. But the world would be watching the elections in Jammu and Kashmir with interest," he said.