 Indian Kashmiri separatist leaders indicated yesterday they might abandon their 57-year-old stance on holding a referendum in the divided Himalayan region after meeting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella group of some two dozen parties, said a solution could emerge from outside a series of decades-old United Nations resolutions calling for a plebiscite. Until now the separatists have always backed the resolutions, which were adopted from 1948 onward, as the only acceptable path to end the bitter dispute over the scenic territory. "It looks as if we are moving toward a negotiated settlement. We have to move from our traditional positions," Farooq said after a group of moderate separatists met Musharraf late Tuesday. |