RAWALPINDI, May 5: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference president, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, has stressed on continuous negotiations between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.

He was speaking at a 'meet the press' at the Rawalpindi Press Club here on Wednesday. The AJKMC leader showed considerable flexibility in his stand on Kashmir issue and said options other than the UN resolutions can be explored to solve the lingering Kashmir dispute. But the Kashmiri leaders as well as people should be taken into confidence, he stressed.

He was all supportive for President Pervez Musharraf's stand on the issue. He also emphasised early resumption of talks on the issue. Mr Qayyum, however, underlined the importance of armed struggle in Kashmir and said it could not be stopped. It should not be equated with terrorism either, it is a freedom struggle, he said.

He said the US government got scared after the 9/11 incident and so it had been trying to confuse freedom movement with terrorism. But the American people don't support their government's stand, he added.

"They know the armed struggle in Kashmir is a liberation movement and not related to terrorism." About the Indian elections, he said these would have great impact on the future of Kashmir. These elections will shape Indian position on the Kashmir issue, he said.

To a question, he said there was no specific solution which could be applied to the Kashmir dispute. Such a solution could be found only through continuous talks, he noted.