NEW DELHI, June 3: All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) on Monday formally inducted Bilal Lone, son of assassinated Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone, into the group’s seven-member executive council. Bilal is the eldest son of the late leader.

In an obvious show of unity, all the major leaders of the group attended the meeting, Star news reported.

After his father’s death on May 21, Bilal was elected the President of the Supreme Council of the People’s Conference, his father’s political party.

After the ceremony in Srinagar, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, regarded as a moderate voice within the pro-freedom alliance, said that the group planned to write letters to the leaders of India and Pakistan, appealing for peace and a dialogue process to resume between the two.

“I have made a suggestion to the Hurriyat that we should write separate letters to both Prime Minister Vajpayee and General Musharraf to resume the dialogue process. We are aware that the situation along the borders is causing the loss of innocent lives on both sides. War is no solution to this crisis,” the Mirwaiz said.—J.N.