Kashmiri Separatists Seek Role in Kashmir Peace Talks

The moderate faction of Indian Kashmir's main political separatist alliance says it will urge Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to include them in talks with India on the future of the divided region.

The chairman of the alliance, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, says he intends to tell General Musharraf that the Kashmir dispute cannot be solved without the inclusion of Kashmiris.

The Pakistani leader is due to meet the separatists in New Delhi during a visit Sunday to watch an India-Pakistan cricket match.

The two South Asian nuclear rivals have twice gone to war over Kashmir since they gained independence from Britain. But their relations have improved since the launch of a peace process last year.

The process received a boost last week when the two sides re-opened a historic bus route across the military line-of-control for the first time in nearly 60 years.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.