Ansari steps down as Hurriyat chairman

Hurriyat Conference chairman Moulana Mohammad Abbas Ansari yesterday stepped down from the post of chairman to continue efforts of unity among the separatist leaders and appointed founder chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Umer Farooq as interim chairman of the amalgam.

Ansari, who had offered to step down on may 21, on Wednesday asked Mirwaiz to restart unity efforts and establish contact with all executive council members to restore the constitutional shape of the body, Hurriyat said in a statement issued after a meeting which lasted just over an hour.

The amalgam said fresh elections for the post of chairman would be held once the unity process was completed.