ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan has vehemently denied rumours about the presence of Al Qaeda elements, Osama Bin Laden or his men in Kashmir.

In an interview with the Arabic daily ‘Al-Ahram’ of Cairo, he said: “It is absolutely incorrect. The people of Jammu and Kashmir were not that foolish to shelter Al Qaeda elements and thereby invite the wrath of the super power and provide it a pretext for intervention.”

As a responsible member of the Government of Azad Kashmir, he said: “I reaffirm that all that has been circulating in this regard is baseless and there are no Al Qaeda elements or their training camps on the soil of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Mr Khan said that India has been trying to label the people of Kashmir with terrorism because they have refused to accept its presence on their soil.

“There is a great difference between the lawful right of resistance and terrorism,” he said, adding: “We demand freedom to rule ourselves in Kashmir. We are not at all terrorists. We are not asking for Indian territories, but our demand is to have the right to self-governance, the right to self-determination and a halt to all abuses of human rights in the (IHK) state”.

In response to a question about the current standoff and the likelihood of India going for all-out war, the AJK PM said: “If India ever thought of crossing the Line of Control, there are over 250,000 retired officers in Azad Kashmir and they would march into Jammu and Kashmir and all parts of the State occupied by India. No one can prevent any Kashmiri from crossing into the other side and it will be difficult for us also to stop them.”

HE SAID: “Kashmiris refuse to accept the idea of making LoC the permanent boundary-line between India and Pakistan. They would prefer death over partitioning of their land.”

He cautioned against the Indo-Israeli attempts to cooperate for the sake of controlling the region up to Arabian Gulf.

AJK premier described the implementation of UN resolutions by both India and Pakistan as the simple solution for the Kashmir problem.

He said: “the United States, Russia and China have their roles to play to defuse tension because any escalation of the situation between India and Pakistan would adversely affect the stability and security of the entire region.”

Elections in Jammu and Kashmir, he said: “would be held under Indian military supervision and that is why they can never be free or fair.”

Talking to the daily, Pakistan’s ambassador Anwar Kemal — whom it described as “the most active ambassador in Egypt” — stressed that the LoC can never be turned into a permanent boundary-line.

The ambassador said: “President Pervez Musharraf has never declared his acceptance of LoC as permanent boundary between the two parts of Kashmir as was being claimed by certain quarters”.—APP