May 23, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 10,1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, May 22: Former prime minister and chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party Benazir Bhutto has condemned the brutal murder of All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Gani Lone in Srinagar on Tuesday.

Unidentified gunmen killed Lone on Tuesday as he attended a public function in Srinagar. Mr Lone was regarded as a moderate leader of the APHC who favoured a political solution to the Kashmir dispute rather than solution imposed by the militants.

In a statement on Wednesday the former premier said that she was shocked to learn about the brutal murder of the Kashmiri leader who she said was well-known to her and she had met him several times.

NAWAZ SHARIF: The former prime minister and exiled president of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Sharif has termed the assassination of Gani Lone an irreparable loss to the Kashmiri Muslims and the indigenous freedom movement.

In a condolence message from Jeddah which was released by his party here on Wednesday, Mr Sharif said that the deceased was a man of character with courage of conviction, a staunch Muslim, a committed leader and a seasoned politician who always defended and promoted indigenous Kashmir freedom movement and the interests of the Kashmiri Muslims with logic and reason.

SARDAR QAYYUM: Chairman Presidential National Kashmir Committee (PNKC) Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan has said that the gruesome murder of Abdul Gani Lone was a slap on the face of India’s so-called democracy and secularism.

In a press statement issued here on Wednesday, he said Lone had become a thaw in the eyes of India after taking strong position against the proposed elections that the Indian regime was planning to hold in the Held valley.

SARDAR ANWAR: AJK President Sardar Mohammad Anwar Khan has condemned the assassination of Gani Lone, saying that in his death the Kashmiri nation was deprived of a great leader, Our Correspondent writes from Muzaffarabad.

SIKANDAR HAYAT KHAN: AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan also condemned the killing of Mr Lone, who he said had sacrificed his life for the achievement of the rights of his nation.