Srinagar, May 27: With peace overtures between India and Pakistan gaining momentum, a three-member delegation of the United States Embassy in New Delhi today discussed the Kashmir issue with Hurriyat leaders here. Immediately after arriving here on a four-day visit to Kashmir valley, the US team comprising political counsellor Mathew G Boyse, secretary political affairs William P Hurd and Kailash Jha visited JKLF headquarters at Maisuma.
The team held a prolonged meeting with JKLF chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik, sources said.
Malik, also an executive member of the Hurriyat Conference, discussed possible solutions to the issue with the visiting delegation for nearly an hour and a half, the sources said.
Later, the delegation drove straight to the residence-cum-office of Muslim Conference leader and Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat at Wazirbagh, they said.
The details of the meeting were not immediately known.
The visit of the US team and its meeting with separatist leaders assumes significance in view of the on-going peace moves by both India and Pakistan.
The delegation is expected to meet other separatist leaders including Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmed Shah.
It will also meet government functionaries during its stay here.
Bureau Report