Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, acting chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), and Yasin Malik, the chairman of his own faction of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), met Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) Supreme Commander Syed Salahuddin separately in Islamabad late on Sunday. Syed Salahuddin is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, which had rejected talks with the visiting APHC leaders. Sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times that the HM supreme commander made it clear to Mirwaiz and Malik that if Syed Ali Shah Geelani was not included in the peace process, the Hizb would not accept any solution of the Kashmir issue. Sources said that Mirwaiz asked Syed Salahuddin to persuade Geelani to join the trilateral talks which started with the APHC leaders' visit to Pakistan. Sources added that both Kashmiri leaders called for forming a unanimous opinion reflecting the Kashmiris' wishes and they agreed with the HM leader to continue armed and political struggle until a resolution to the Kashmir was found.
Dilating upon the Pakistan-India peace process with special reference APHC leaders' visit, Syed Salahuddin, Mirwaiz and Malik decided to continue efforts to unite the APHC and bring the popular and serious Kashmiri leadership on board to make peace process more effective, sources added. Sources said that role of APHC components which did not have popular support in Kashmir were also discussed in the meetings. It is expected that Mirwaiz and Malik might hold another meeting with President Pervez Musharraf.