Tuesday, May 10 2005 17:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq today (May 10, 2005) said that he was willing to step down from the post of Chairman provided leader of the rival faction Syed Ali Shah Geelani does the same and called upon individual factions to restore the erstwhile structure of the conglomerate.

A day after Pakistan asked both the Hurriyat factions to unite, Mirwaiz told reporters in Srinagar, "I am ready to resign as the Chairman of the Hurriyat provided Geelani does the same. The individual factions have to be dissolved and the erstwhile structure of the Hurriyat restored".

Hurriyat is ready to go to any extent if unity is based on principles for achieving the goal, he said at the end of the meeting of the executive committee in Sringar.

"People want the separatists to unite to take the movement to its logical conclusion. We had intensified the unification efforts over the past 15 to 20 days but nothing substantial has come up so far," he said.

Mirwaiz said that the parties who had stayed outside the fold of the either faction of Hurriyat Conference following the split in 2003 should also join the unified Hurriyat in the larger interests of the people of the State.

"Unity cannot be achieved by issuing statements or forming committees. All of us will have to sit together and discuss the ways and means of forming a united platform.

"If the response from Geelani and his faction is positive, we will try to convene such a meeting as early as next week. Issues like new structure of the executive, general council and working committee can also be debated in case there are new suggestions," he added.