Hizb-ul Mujahideen threatens to step up Kashmir operations

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 27. The United Jehadi Council Chairman and the chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, has said that his organisation would step up its operations against the Indian forces and installations in Kashmir if the Indian Government is not willing to declare Kashmir a disputed territory and signal readiness for a tripartite dialogue.

In a statement issued here Syed Salahuddin hailed the decision of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to reject the offer of talks on Kashmir made by Delhi and maintained that ``result- oriented talks'' are possible only if Pakistan is also involved in the process.

The Hizb chief said activists of his organisation would use `sophisticated' weapons to target the Indian forces and installations. He said the recent operation code named `Al Fatah' on April 23 and 24 carried out by his organisation should serve as a warning to the Indian Government.

In a separate statement the self-styled `central commander' of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Abdul Rehman Dakhil, has said that no third option and back-channel diplomacy would be accepted on the Kashmir issue. He said that India had no capability of stopping the Fidayeen (suicide missions) in Kashmir.

He said that very soon, the Fidayeen group of the Lashkar-e-Taiba would create a `new history'. Mr. Dakhil said that the United States had no interest in resolving the Kashmir issue. He alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to eliminate the political leadership of Kashmir.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad the `deputy supreme commander' of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Maulana Javed Kasuri, has warned that any pressure on jehadi outfits in the name of a deweaponisation campaign would not be tolerated.

Mr. Kasuri has said that the statements of the Pakistani Interior Minister, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Moinuddin Haider, regarding `jehadi' outfits could have a negative impact and Gen. Pervez Musharraf should take strong notice of these statements. He has also warned the Indian Government that if it caused any harm to Syed Ali Geelani or any other APHC leader, leaders like Mr. Bal Thackeray and Mr. L.K. Advani would also not be spared. He said the Indian ceasefire was a drama only to provide some relief to its forces.

In a related development, leader of the Kashmir Dukhtaran-e- Millat, Asia Indrabi has said that Kashmir's accession with Pakistan was the only solution of the long- standing Kashmir tangle. In his telephonic address to the Nawai Waqt (Urdu daily) Forum, she said the Hurriyat's visit to Pakistan would be harmful for the Kashmir cause as some of the leaders wanted to visit Pakistan only to convince the Mujahideen to accept the ceasefire.

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Section  : International
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