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Govt clears Hurriyat leaders' travel to Pak

The Union government Thursday gave clearance for issuing of passports to four Hurriyat leaders following a request by them to travel to Pakistan, informed sources said in New Delhi.

The sources said the impounded passport of Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat will be restored and a fresh passport will be issued to Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yaseen Malik.

The move follows a request made by these leaders through unofficial intermediaries for release of travel documents for travelling to Pakistan to hold talks with the militant leadership there.

They said the decision was taken during a meeting of top officials of the home ministry on Wednesday evening which also discussed the ongoing ceasefire in the state.

The sources said fresh travel documents would be issued to Malik, who had applied for them in September.

They said travel documents of Shia leader Maulana Abbas Ansari, whose passport was impounded recently after his visit to Doha, and Abdul Bani Lone, who had been issued a country-specific passport, would also be restored.

Travel documents of Jamaat-e-Islamia leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, which had been impounded after his separatist actions, has not been restored as he had not made any request. Former Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq already has travel documents.

PTI

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