In significant remarks, Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has called for an end to armed struggle to resolve the Kashmir issue as it has only created "more graveyards", and said the dialogue process should be given a chance.
Mirwaiz, who is heading a three-member Hurriyat delegation to Pakistan, said, "The dialogue process to resolve the Kashmir issue should be given a chance as efforts through military means have not achieved any results except creating more graveyards."
With the new strategy, Hurriyat would convince India to arrive at a more agreeable settlement, he said on Friday night at a dinner hosted by Pakistan-occupied Kashmir Prime Minister Attique Khan. The delegation also met with President Pervez Musharraf.
Observing that peaceful negotiations were the only way out, he criticised the hardline Hurriyat faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, which is opposed to the dialogue process.
"Some people involved in the struggle could still have some reservations, but as far as the All Parties Hurriyat Conference is concerned, we are not prepared to sacrifice any more of our loved ones," he said.
"We have already seen the results of our fight on the political, diplomatic and military fronts, which have not achieved anything other than creating more graveyards," he was quoted by local daily Dawn as saying on Saturday.
The Pakistan president had during Friday night's meeting with the Hurriyat delegation said "elements" hostile to the peace process, who attempted to create misunderstandings on Pakistan's stand should be "strongly countered and rejected."
