WASHINGTON, May 22: The assassination of APHC leader Abdul Ghani Lone has been widely condemned here both by the Kashmiri community and the United States government, which viewed him as a moderate, who wanted to work for a political solution to the Kashmir question.

In a statement, issued on Tuesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell described Mr Lone’s murder as “a direct attack on hopes for a fair political process in Kashmir. His killers are clearly among those who oppose a peaceful political resolution there. This was a terrorist act designed to undermine the hopes of the Kashmiri people for free and fair elections without violence.”

The Washington-based Kashmiri American Council said the killing was aimed at destabilizing the resistance movement of the people of Kashmir, and pointed out that since his release in 1992, Mr Lone had charted a course of peace through negotiations between genuine Kashmiri leaders, India and Pakistan, mediated by a third party or a person of high international stature.

Mr Lone was in Washington early this month to explore the support of the United States in settling the Kashmir issue. He was believed to be an advocate of the idea of a dialogue between the leadership of all regions of Kashmir, between India and the Hurriyat, between India and Pakistan, and between India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri leadership for a final settlement.