New Delhi: After failing to woo Hurriyat Conference to the dialogue table, the Government is understood to have begun toying with the idea of talking to other separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir and sought the help of Textiles Secretary Wajahat Habibullah who created a furore by his advocacy of the US role in resolving Kashmir issue.

The Centre, after failing to bring moderate Hurriyat leaders like Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Abdul Gani Bhat, has now started seriously contemplating a move to rope in other separatist leaders like JKLF (Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front) chief Yaseen Malik and Shabir Shah and seek help from Habibullah who is considered to have good rapport with them, informed sources said.

The sources said Habibullah held a meeting with Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil along with Special Adviser to the Prime Minister M K Narayanan during which modalities for bringing other groups to the table were worked out.

Habibullah refused to divulge what transpired at the meeting and termed it as a "courtsey call".

However, the sources said Habibullah was in constant touch with small groups in the State though his acceptance within the larger groups like Hurriyat was not that much, the sources said and apprehended that this could further scuttle the chances of any early meeting with the Hurriyat Conference.

Habibullah, a JK cadre IAS officer, had come under severe criticism for his controversial remarks that the US could play a "crucial role" as a facilitator in solving the Kashmir issue keeping in view the "deep mistrust that Kashmiris have on India and their growing mistrust of Pakistan" in a report to the United States Institute of Peace.