Moderate Kashmiri leader seeks unity with hardliners

The moderate leader of Indian Kashmir's largest political separatist group pledged Tuesday to seek reconciliation with hardliners who broke away six years ago.
"I will work for the unification of separatist camp," Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told AFP on Tuesday, a day after he was re-elected chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference -- an amalgam of more than a dozen separatist parties.
The Hurriyat split in 2003 after moderates led by Farooq angered hardliners by declaring themselves open to talks with New Delhi on the future of the Muslim-majority Kashmir region.
Both factions claim to be the real Hurriyat.
Farooq's camp has held several rounds of talks with the government. The hardliners, led by Syed Ali Geelani, insist they will only join a dialogue if India declares Kashmir a "disputed territory" and involves Pakistan in the talks.
The issue of divided Kashmir has triggered two wars between India and Pakistan, both of whom claim the region in full.
Tens of thousands have died since armed militants launched a separatist insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1989.
Farooq said the alliance would "intensify efforts to strengthen the separatist movement" at the local and international levels.
"We will approach human rights organisations and international agencies for a resolution of Kashmir issue. We will increase pressure on the Indian and Pakistani administrations," said Farooq, a cleric who delivers regular sermons in the region's main mosque.
His father, also a cleric and leading separatist, was assassinated by unknown gunmen in 1990.