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Armitage in Islamabad
Jamali allays fears of Hurriyat leaders

Islamabad, May 7
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage arrived here today for talks with Pakistani leaders on regional security and a thaw in ties between Islamabad and New Delhi, officials said.

Mr Armitage is due to meet President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali tomorrow and also hold detailed talks with Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, they said.

The senior US official is due to travel to Afghanistan on Friday from where he will proceed to New Delhi.

Mr Armitage's visit assumes significance as the new Indo-Pak peace process appeared to have hit snags. India today gave a cool response to confidence-building measures announced yesterday by Mr Jamali and left little doubt of its disquiet over Pakistan not addressing the issue of cross-border terrorism.

Meanwhile, in an apparent attempt to allay fears that Pakistan was prepared for a compromise on the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Jamali today assured a delegation of Pakistan-based Hurriyat Conference leaders that his government would continue to extend "moral, political and diplomatic support for Kashmiris' struggle".

Meeting the Kashmiri leaders a day after he announced a series of measures to improve ties with India, Mr Jamali said the Kashmiris struggle for their rights would not go in vain.

Yesterday, while announcing measures to normalise ties with India he had said, "I want to assure my Kashmiri brothers and sisters as well as the people of Pakistan that at all stages, their interests will be of supreme importance". Meanwhile, Pakistan's hardline Islamist alliance MMA called for the inclusion of Kashmiris in the proposed Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir.

MMA leader Liaqat Baloch said, "The only solution to the Kashmir problem is that India recognises it as a dispute and then resolves it through tripartite talks among India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris". PTI, AFP