ISLAMABAD, May 25: The federal cabinet on Wednesday welcomed the proposed visit of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (Ansari faction) to Pakistan and expressed its desire that Syed Ali Gilani also boards the landmark bus journeying from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad. The government of Pakistan has invited the APHC leadership to visit Azad Kashmir and Pakistan by the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus on June 2 to avail the opportunity of interaction with the AJK as well as Pakistani leadership and discuss possible means of solving the Kashmir dispute.

The cabinet, which held its meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in the chair, decided that the government will accord warm welcome to the APHC leaders when they set foot on the federal capital via Azad Jammu and Kashmir where they will be received by the state leaders.

Briefing newsmen after the cabinet meeting, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that “in our view” Syed Ali Gilani, who heads radical faction of the APHC, had a major role in the political struggle of Kashmiri people and it would have been more suitable had he also joined the touring party.

The minister said that he had predicted sometime back and “I still stand by my statement” that two to three years were very important insofar as the solution of the Palestine and Kashmir problems was concerned. “In my opinion, President Bush has a major role to play in both the issues.”

About the non-implementation of the 7th Wage Board Award for newspaper employees, Prime Minister Aziz said he will himself talk to Chaudhry Shujaat before reconstituting a special committee on the matter, Mr Ahmed said.

He said he wanted the issue to be resolved through the consent of both the parties and Chaudhry Shujaat would have been more suitable person than anyone else for the arbitration.