Tuesday, June 7 2005 07:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: After skipping a meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and visiting separatist Kashmiri leaders, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik has held separate talks with Aziz in Islamabad.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani yesterday (Jun 6, 2005) said Malik had a separate meeting with Aziz.

Malik associate Raja Lathif Tahir, who is coordinating the JKLF leader's programmes in Islamabad, said he did not take part in the talks with Aziz as "he pursued a separate agenda to project independence as an option instead of joining either India or Pakistan".

Tahir said Malik, however, would take part in the proposed talks between the Hurriyat leaders and President Pervez Musharraf likely to be held today (Jun 7, 2005).

Jilani, for his part, said it was for Malik to clarify why he stayed away from a marathon meeting separatist leaders, including those of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, had with the Pakistani Premier.

Malik did not attend a marathon meeting between visiting Kashmiri separatist leaders and the Pakistan Prime Minister two days after he bluntly criticised Kashmiri leaders in this country for "romanticising" militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

The foreign spokesman, however, refuted Malik's criticism made since his arrival at Muzaffarabad on June 2 that Kashmiris were not being consulted about major decisions by India and Pakistan.