ISLAMABAD, June 7: President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday had a marathon session with the Hurriyat and leading Kashmiri leaders from occupied Kashmir that ended late on Tuesday night on an upbeat note. There are strong indications that the president may meet the Kashmiri leaders again in the next few days for further discussions on certain proposals aimed at finding a solution to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, it is learnt.

“The meeting went very well and we are extremely satisfied,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the APHC Chairman who is leading the nine-member Kashmiri delegation, told this correspondent after the meeting.

“There was complete unanimity between the APHC and President Musharraf that status quo on Jammu and Kashmir was completely unacceptable and that the peace process has to be consolidated,” he said.

A very optimistic Mirwaiz declared that he was confident that things could now move on positively on the Kashmir front.

He disclosed that they had discussed with the president two or three proposals in great detail, conveying that they were being seriously considered. However, he did not go into the specifics of these proposals.

“The president heard our suggestions very carefully and told us that we are on the same parameters,” is all he said when pressed further.

He said the president strongly supported the view that time for the inclusion of Kashmiris in the dialogue process had come.

“The president completely backed us on the inclusion in the dialogue process and we discussed in what way the APHC could be engaged in the process, the APHC chairman stated.

“President Musharraf assured us of his complete support in seeking a resolution to the Kashmir dispute and said he was behind us,” Mirwaiz added.

He indicated that the Hurriyat leaders would meet the president again before leaving for Srinagar for further discussions on some proposals that they were working on.

Before the talks ended, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also joined in at the Aiwan-i-Sadr and stayed for the dinner that followed, it is learnt.

An official statement issued after the meeting said the president apprised the Kashmiri leadership about the efforts being made by Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.

The president underlined that a resolution of the Kashmir issue would only be possible if it was acceptable to all three parties. Any solution had to be in accordance to the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, he stated.