US eager to resolve Kashmir issue once and for all: Mirwaiz

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Hurriyat leader denies holding meeting with Chidambaram
* Obama admin asks Stephen Cohen to study Kashmir issue

NEW DELHI: The US is eager to resolve the Kashmir issue once and for all, All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told The Hindustan Times on Tuesday.

Without naming anyone, the Hurriyat chairman said the seriousness on the part of the US could be gauged from the fact “it has identified individuals to study the Kashmir issue with new global realities”.

According to a report, Indian-held Kashmir’s (IHK) separatist leaders held secret talks with India in a sign of efforts to resume peace talks to end a decades-old insurgency.

Mirwaiz held talks with Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram in New Delhi at the weekend, The Hindu newspaper reported. The newspaper said the meeting lasted for two hours.

Any sign of peace talks may help reduce tension in the state, the focus of conflict between India and Pakistan. The Hurriyat has urged New Delhi to pull out troops, release prisoners and end human rights violations before resuming peace talks.

Denial: Farooq denied holding a meeting with Chidambaram in New Delhi, but said there have been “some back-channel contacts between the Hurriyat and the government”.

Dialogue between the government and the separatists broke down in 2006. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered to resume talks last month during a visit to IHK.

Officials say more than 47,000 have been killed in the past 20 years in Kashmir, where anti-India sentiment still runs deep.

With violence down in recent years, India began withdrawing troops from Kashmir’s main towns and handed over law and order to the police, giving signals they were getting ready for peace talks.

Separately, according to The Hindustan Times, the United States (US) might be denying direct mediation on the Kashmir issue, but it has opened up diplomatic channels with the Hurriyat Conference to push for a final settlement.

Top US State Department members were in touch with Mirwaiz during his New York visit in September, when he went there to attend the Organisation of Islamic Countries meeting. The members work in close association with US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.

Study: The Obama administration has asked security expert Stephen Cohen to study the Kashmir issue. He has already presented a paper to the administration in his regard. reuters/daily times monitor

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg7_4