Vajpayee is an apostle of peace: Hurriyat chief

All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Moulvi Abbas Ansari is eagerly awaiting the meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"After the response that we got from Advaniji in the two and a half hour meeting with him on Thursday afternoon, we are now eagerly waiting to meet Vajpayee who is an apostle of peace. He is a true statesman who wants to usher in an era of peace and bring tranquillity in Jammu and Kashmir," Ansari told rediff.com

"He appointed Advaniji to hold talks with us on the political level, which has been our demand all along. We had a good meeting and are encouraged by the government's response," he said.

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Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, former chairman of APHC, said he has been getting positive feedback about the talks.

"I have been getting phone calls from friends and relatives is positive. I have spoken to other political leaders in the valley and they too have also commended the results. We could not have expected better results in the first meeting itself," he said.

The Hurriyat leaders admitted that they had requested Advaniji to arrange a meeting with Vajpayee so that they could thank him for giving them the opportunity to place their point of view before the Union government.

They also said Advani agreeing meet them again was an important indicator that the government was making sincere efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue.

"We hope that soon our demand of a tripartitee talks would also be accepted," Mirwaiz said. He rejected the allegations made by the separatist elements that the Hurriyat Conference has sold their interests.

"We are only carrying forward what they have been trying to achieve through barrel of gun," he said.