LAHORE, Feb 22: Kashmiri leaders have demanded a probe into Samjhota Express blast by a neutral international agency.

Addressing a press conference at the JKLF office here on Thursday, Faisal Nazki of JKLF, Farooq Azad of JK People’s Muslim League, Ijaz Kiani of JK Jamaat-i-Islami, Sardar Akhtar of JK People’s Party, Raja Rafique of Muslim Conference, Syed Shahzad Alam of Muhaz Rai Shumari and Yousuf Chughtai of JK Human Rights Committee said an inquiry into the bomb blast should be held either by the United Nations or Saarc as India had turned down Pakistan’s offer of holding a joint probe.

They said the terrorist act that had caused such a heavy loss of human lives, was an attempt to sabotage peace process between the two countries and aimed at spreading hatred among their people.

The leaders said they supported the ongoing peace process and appealed to the people of both countries to play their role to foil the attempts of saboteurs and continue their efforts for maintaining peace in the subcontinent.

They urged intellectuals, writers, politicians, journalists, workers and peasants to exert pressure on their respective governments to resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

They said terrorism had already caused a heavy damage to the freedom struggle of the people of Kashmir and it posed a serious threat to peace in the region.