SRINAGAR, Nov 21: An Indian government-backed private committee will visit Srinagar to hold fresh talks with Kashmiri leaders, a senior leader said on Thursday.

Shabir Shah, head of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), said committee members would arrive in Srinagar on Friday to hold talks with him and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).

“The committee members were scheduled to come today (Thursday), but they had to postpone their trip by a day to attend some work in Delhi,” said Shah, who has already held several rounds of talks with the committee both here and in New Delhi.

The Kashmir committee, headed by former Indian law minister Ram Jethmalani, first held talks with Hurriyat and Shabir in Srinagar in August followed by other meetings in New Delhi in August and September.

In the preliminary meetings Jethmalani had delivered an invitation for talks from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his deputy, Lal Krishna Advani.

But when Shah visited New Delhi in late August he was denied an audience with Advani. However, he did meet Defence Minister George Fernandes.—AFP