ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: Rejecting allegations that the centre hijacked the recent elections in Azad Kashmir, the federal Kashmir Affairs Minister Tahir Iqbal has ruled out the possibility of re-polling.

“It has become a fashion for the losers to allege that the elections have been rigged,” the minister said while talking to Dawn here on Monday.

He said he had neither received any instructions to help bring any party into power, nor issued any orders to functionaries in Azad Kashmir to this respect. He termed ridiculous a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report suggesting that intelligence agencies had played an active role in manipulating the polls results.

He dispelled the impression that the appointment of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir chief election commissioner as chief justice of the AJK Supreme Court was a `reward’ and said it had nothing to do with the elections.

He said the criticism on meetings of Muslim Conference leaders with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the appointment of advisers on Kashmir Council prior to the elections was uncalled for. “They had not met the president and the prime minister to seek any favour and the meetings as well as appointment of advisers were routine matters,” he remarked.

The minister refuted allegations that the Muslim Conference had been brought into power to pave way for devouring the funds meant for reconstruction in the region hit by last year’s earthquake.

He said the reconstruction funds were being used judiciously through a transparent mechanism.

Responding to a question, he said the government was not working on any plan for dividing Kashmir and accusations about a covert deal in this regard were baseless.

He said Gen Musharraf’s proposal of demilitarisation and self-governance was meant for finding a permanent solution to the problem and not a formula in itself.

He said the readiness on the part of Pakistan to find some `out of the box’ solution to the Kashmir problem did not mean deviation from the country’s principled stand on the issue.

He, however, said the United Nations had become weaker than ever and there was no possibility of implementation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir for another 60 years.

He said resumption of the peace process between Pakistan and India was a positive sign and the disputes over Siachen and Sir Creek could be resolved at a faster pace. “The solution of these problems will help melt a lot of ice,” he said.

In reply to a question, he said it was not possible to set a timeframe for taking the Kashmir dialogue to a logical conclusion.Mr Iqbal rejected allegations of cross-border terrorism and infiltration and asked India to desist from vitiating the atmosphere.

He expressed Pakistan’s readiness for strategic intelligence sharing with India.

Answering a question, he said Pakistan would not hand over Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed to India.

“He is not involved in of terrorism,” the minister remarked.

He said there was no justification of criticising the role played by some banned outfits in relief and reconstruction activities in Azad Kashmir after the earthquake.