Hurriyat team meets Vajpayee

A five-member team of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (Ansari-led faction) calls on Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee here on Friday.
The meeting was held at the residence of Vajpayee, which lasted for around 40 minutes.
"We are very grateful that the prime minister took out time from his busy schedule," APHC leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said.
"Today's talks were a courtesy call and we hope that a new beginning for peace and resolution of occupied Kashmir has been made. We'll take it forward," Mirwaiz said.
He welcomed Vajpayee's talks with President General Pervez Musharraf during the Saarc Summit in Islamabad.
"We believe that Vajpayee's leadership will play a big role and that a new beginning will be made that India, Pakistan and the people of occupied Kashmir will live in peace and the solution will involve everyone."
He said the Hurriyat backed the steps taken by Vajpayee and Musharraf to normalise ties between India and Pakistan.
"We are with them, the people of occupied Kashmir and the leadership is with them," Mirwaiz said.
Friday's formal call followed substantive talks on Thursday between the Hurriyat leaders and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani.
Mirwaiz said Hurriyat hoped that the talks on Thursday had made a new beginning in the efforts to restore peace in occupied Kashmir.
During the ice-breaking talks, Advani and the APHC agreed that violence from all sides must end and said the second round of negotiations would take place in March.
Advani also said there would be a "rapid review" of the cases of political prisoners.
Kashmiri analyst Tahir Mohiudin said the talks had "begun on a satisfactory note".
"For the first time India has agreed to hold step-by-step talks to resolve occupied Kashmir dispute," he said, adding that Advani's assurance on reviewing cases of detainees "was a big concession".
However, a group of freedom fighters on Friday rejected calls for an end to violence.
"We will not silence our guns against Indian occupation troops and their paid agents," Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen's field commander General Mohammed Umar said in a statement circulated among the local newspaper offices.
Jamiat is one of a dozen groups fighting Indian occupation troops in occupied Kashmir. It wanted to merge occupied Kashmir with Pakistan.
Umar said the group would continue fighting Indian occupation troops "until we achieve our goal of forcing India out of occupied Kashmir."
Before the talks Jamiat had threatened the APHC with a "bad end" if they 'bowed' before India.