Hurriyat rejects PM's Kashmir roundtable

The two-day meeting to be chaired by Singh from Wednesday is the second such effort this year to widen the dialogue process in Kashmir, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in an Islamic revolt against Indian rule since 1989.

The All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, an alliance of two dozen political separatist groups, said it would not be a part of the "crowd".

"The Hurriyat considers that the crowd comprising political hypocrites and Ikhwanis (former militants), with no agenda, can hardly produce a result in terms of the permanent settlement of the Kashmir problem," Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told a news conference.

"Thus it was decided unanimously not to attend."

The Hurriyat decision came a day after eight people, including two Islamist militants, were killed and 20 wounded when a gunfight broke out at a political rally in the heart of Srinagar.

On Saturday, militants issued a threat to disrupt the conference and asked political separatists to stay away from the meeting.

Prime Minister Singh has said he would go ahead with the talks despite the spectre of violence.

Indian Kashmir's summer capital was under tight security yesterday following deadly attacks by rebels and ahead of peace talks by the prime minister that will not include a key separatist group.

Both local and federal police set up check points across the city and were frisking people and searching cars for explosives.

Two Islamic groups, al Mansurain and Lashkar-e-Toiba, claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack in a telephone call to the local Current News Service.

Muslim rebels opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir have tried to disrupt high-profile events in the past by staging attacks, including car bombings.