Behal is also a member of the legal cell of the separatist amalgam led by Geelani and a 'close associate' of the Hurriyat hawk.
From a Pakistan-trained militant to one of the prominent separatist faces in Kashmir, life has come a full circle for chief of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik, who was in limelight for varied reasons over the past three decades of turmoil in the erstwhile restive border state.
A three-member moderate Hurriyat Conference delegation, led by chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, would leave New Delhi on a five-day visit to Pakistan on Thursday.
Police said a case has been registered against the Hurriyat leader and others for preaching secessionism on Eid-ul-Azha at Sheedhi Chowk on Monday.
The statements made before a judicial magistrate had tightened the case against separatists.
The separatists left no stone unturned in making their differences obvious
The Hartal was in protest against the article published in a Denmark daily "Jyllands Posten" against Prophet Mohammad.
Senior separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Ahmad Shah were placed under house arrest as the funeral of a youth, found dead under mysterious circumstances in New Delhi, was carried out amidst tight security in Srinagar on Thursday.
Denying any ambition of capturing power, Geelani said, "I am neither struggling for power, nor for any office. I want to see my nation free. If I die in the struggle it is my fortune," he said.
Geelani was operated at Tata Memorial Hospital on Monday and the doctors had successfully removed the malignant tumour from his only surviving kidney.
The strike called by separatist groups against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday evoked a partial response in the Valley.
He said the recently held round table conference in New Delhi and the Pugwash conference in Islamabad sent clear indications that a meaningful peace process is afoot to resolve the long pending Kashmir issue.
Several senior separatist leaders have rejected outright their participation in any such meet at the moment.
Moderate Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq on Monday joined his hardline rival Syed Ali Shah Geelani to oppose the concert being organised by the German Embassy next month in Srinagar.
'I am a misunderstood person in Pakistan,' L K Advani tells Hamid Mir.
Saeed called Geelani in Jammu and Kashmir and "expressed his concern" over the health of the Hurriyat leader, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an organisation founded by Saeed and seen as the parent of the LeT, said in a release from Lahore.
"There is [a] strong difference of opinion with Geelani. If he cooperates and removes this difference it would be fine. Otherwise, he will slowly be isolated."
The team of Pakistani journalists called on separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Geelani also condemned Pakistan government for accepting moderates as representatives of the Kashmiris.
Chairman of the hard line faction of the Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani, on Tuesday, called for a Kashmir bandh on Wednesday to protest the killing of three boys by the army.
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "hardline" approach on Kashmir and rejected the contention that the separatists are to blame for the stalling of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks.
"I got the invitation from the Pakistan High Commission on Tuesday," Geelani said.
India on Friday made it clear to Pakistan that it should not go ahead with the meeting of its NSA Sartaz Aziz with Hurriyat representatives in New Delhi when he comes to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, saying it will not be "appropriate".
From the necessity of talking to Hurriyat separatists to appointing a tehsildar, Dineshwar Sharma heard it all during his visit to the valley
The probe agency said the 12,794-page chargesheet has been filed against 12 persons including Hafiz Saeed, the head of banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen head Syed Salahuddin for conspiring to wage war against the government (Section 121 of Indian Penal Code) by carrying out terrorist and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and dozens of Shia mourners were on Thursday detained as police scuttled separatist plan to mark the fourth day ceremony of slain trucker Zahid Bhat and stage a Muharram procession in violation of prohibitory orders.
Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference, and hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Tuesday described the Narendra Modi government's decision to call off foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan as an unfortunate 'knee-jerk reaction'.
'Masarat Alam is today one of the the undisputed leaders of Kashmir's Islamists. And all he had to do was to get someone to hold up a flag. He has accurately placed us and we can look forward to many more years of this from him.'
Authorities imposed restrictions in several downtown localities early Saturday, as separatists called bandh against the beef ban hit life in Srinagar and elsewhere.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti warned that there could be a backlash if the force loses patience.
The sudden arrest and immediate release of Kashmiri separatist leaders who are to meet Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz introduced an intriguing element into the scheduled talks he will have with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on terror on next week.
Former Research and Analysis Wing chief AS Dulat has claimed that everybody in Kashmir makes money off the unstable situation in the region, alleging that it is 'in their DNA'.
The upcoming Indo-Pak National Security Adviser-level talks appeared to be on the verge of being aborted with both sides locked in a confrontation over Kashmiri separatist leaders.
Defying Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani's diktat to Kashmiris against joining police service in the Valley, thousands of youths have opted for the job of special police officer.
Sajjad is the younger son of Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone who was assassinated on May 21, 2002, by militants
'The Modi government has turned the basic fundamentals of its Pakistan policy on its head.' 'It means an admission that its hands-off-Hurriyat policy was flawed and it is ready to engage with Pakistan without minding if the Kashmiri separatists talked to the Pakistani government,' says Rajeev Sharma.
Violent clashes broke out between a group of youths and security forces in parts of the city on Saturday, leaving a youth and a policeman injured in stone pelting as separatist groups called a strike in Srinagar condemning the police action on Jamia Masjid on Friday.
An independent legislator, Engineer Abdul Rashid on Wednesday said that he will press for the release of all political prisoners and return of the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict, Afzal Guru in the upcoming budget session of the state assembly.
An invitation by Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit to all the Kashmiri separatist leaders "for consultations" in Delhi ahead of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks has touched off a controversy with the Bharatiya Janata Party calling it "most unfortunate" and "old tactics".