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NEW DELHI,Tuesday (AFP)-A move is afoot to defuse one of India's most explosive religious flashpoints, the Ayodhya temple-mosque row, through talks rather than law courts, according to government and ruling party sources.

"It is a very serious move and has the blessings at the highest level," one source told AFP. "For the first time, negotiations are being held totally leaving aside the political parties. It's a religious interface."

The sources said over past months, secret parleys have been held between leaders of Hindus and Muslims, "and a very large, influential group of Muslim leadership is moving forward."

The Muslim Personal Law Board, a nodal body concerned with Indian Muslim interests, has denied categorically, however, that its leaders are involved in any talks. Despite the public denials, the sources insist that talks are indeed taking place but that "names of groups and leaders" cannot be revealed at this stage.

The Ayodhya issue, which has defied a solution for more than five decades, revolves around a claim by Hindus that the Babri mosque was built in the northern city of Ayodyha in the 16th century by Mughul emperor Babur after destroying a temple to mark the birthplace of their god Ram.

A court recently ordered that land beneath the ruins of the mosque be dug up to determine whether a temple had once existed on the site, a process which is still ongoing. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has launched and relaunched formal and informal talks on the issue several times, and created a special unit known as the "Ayodhya cell" in the prime minister's office.

A spate of talks have concluded without success, although the most recent initiative - termed "track II" by political observers - is by far the most serious.

According to a tentative plan being mulled by both sides, if Muslims agree to Hindus building a temple on the site of the razed mosque, they could be given land to build a mosque at an alternative site, five kilometers (three miles) from the temple's sanctum sanctorium, the sources said.

Another 100 mosques in the area closed in the wake of the Babri mosque demolition could be reopened.

Members of the Muslim leadership, the sources said, were willing to move forward if talks proceeded along these lines.

"They have said if these assurances are given, they are willing to talk further," one source said.

Vajpayee on Sunday openly asked parties to ignore the Ayodhya issue.

"It is clear that the Ayodhya issue can be resolved only when it is freed from politics and when political parties stop looking at it from the point of view of who gains and who loses," Vajpayee said.

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