Kashmiri militant vows to fight until secession

"No other solution is acceptable to us," United Jihad Council chairman Syed Salahuddin said in a statement published in the region's leading English language newspaper, Greater Kashmir.

Salahuddin's statement comes a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired a two-day peace conference in Srinagar.

"Militants will continue their struggle until they get freedom from India," he said.

"Independence is our right and we will get it."

On Thursday, premier Singh promised to set up five committees, including one that would look at "the special status" of Kashmir, a reference to the question of giving more autonomy to the restive Himalayan region within the Indian constitution.

Singh also had made a veiled appeal to Kashmiri militants in Pakistani Kashmir to come back, saying their cases would be reviewed favourably but stopping short of offering an amnesty.

He also vowed "zero tolerance" for custodial killings by Indian forces.

The Indian Express newspaper said Singh's comments showed "New Delhi's intention to reach out" to Kashmiris.

India says Kashmiri rebels cross into Pakistani Kashmir where they are trained and armed to carry out attacks in the Indian-ruled part of the Himalayan region where more than 45,000 people have been killed since the revolt broke out in 1989.

Militants had vowed last week to disrupt the latest peace talks in Kashmir by launching attacks in Srinagar.

On Thursday, four Indian tourists, including a child and a woman, were killed when a grenade was thrown at their bus, bringing to 15 the total number of people killed in the city since the militant warning.