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Geelani rejects India's invitation for talks
 Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the hardline leader of Kashmir's main separatist alliance, said on Saturday he won't participate in next week's talks with India aimed at resolving the Kashmir dispute. Geelani, the leader of the pro-Pakistan separatist group Jamaat-e-Islami, said he declined an invitation from the Indian Home Ministry to participate in the talks scheduled for May 24-25 in Srinagar. "We are declining the invitation because we don't believe that such a conference could settle the Kashmir dispute. India should allow a vote for self-determination," Geelani told The Associated Press. Other key separatist leaders, including Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, Yasin Malik and Shabbir Shah, said they haven't received an invitation from the Indian government. New Delhi and Islamabad began talks in 2004 to resolve the dispute, but they have not yet achieved a breakthrough. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plans to travel to the Jammu and Kashmir next week and meet with both pro-India and anti-India groups. Posted by: Fred 2006-05-21 |
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