April 10, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1428

SRINAGAR, April 9: The chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has said that withdrawing of Indian troops and repeal of all the black laws from the occupied Kashmir would create a conducive atmosphere to moving forward towards final settlement of the dispute, reports Kashmir Media Service.

In an interview, replying to a query about President General Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula on Kashmir, Mirwaiz said the proposal was based on a realistic approach and provided basics to find a final solution to the dispute.

The APHC leader said the status quo was not going to work on Kashmir and that despite the peace process between Indian and Pakistan, Kashmiris were still being killed.

He called for a step-by-step approach on resolving the Kashmir dispute. The Hurriyat chairman emphasised that demilitarisation should not be confused with relocation or redeployment of forces but complete withdrawal of the troops from the occupied Kashmir. Mirwaiz regretted that some political parties in the occupied Kashmir were out to confuse the present situation to get political mileage.

He expressed disapproval of the formation of various committees by India to resolve the dispute and said those committees had also been formed in the past, but without a result.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called for inclusion of the Kashmiri representatives in the dialogue process to make it a fruitful exercise. He pointed out that Pakistan had shown flexibility and urged India to reciprocate.—PPI