NEW YORK, Sept 28: Azad Kashmir President Sardar Mohammed Anwar Khan on Monday called on the Organization of Islamic Conference to send a fact-finding mission to occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to newsmen after his meeting with the OIC contact group on Kashmir, he said the organization sent a fact-finding mission last year to Azad Kashmir and "now a similar mission should be sent to occupied Kashmir."

He said the Pakistan-India joint statement issued here "offers an element of hope to Kashmiri people". He cautioned that Kashmiris should not be left out of any agreement on the issue.

He lamented that the Kashmir freedom struggle had been marginalized following the 9/11 attacks on the United States. "While state terrorism by countries like Israel is being condoned, freedom struggles are being deemed terrorist movements," he said.