Kashmir separatists set to make historic trip, defy hardliners

SRINAGAR, India, Wednesday (AFP) Moderate Muslim separatists in Indian Kashmir are to travel to Pakistan Thursday for talks about the disputed region's future, defying fierce opposition from hardliners and rebels.

The 11 separatists will travel aboard a bus service launched two months ago that crosses the Line of Control - the de facto border dividing Kashmir between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.

"Going to Pakistan will be a big step toward resolving the Kashmir issue," said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the region's top Muslim cleric and head of the moderate wing of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference separatist alliance.

Security will be on high alert for Thursday's bus run, the fourth so far since the start April 7 of the service opposed by some rebel groups who have threatened to turn the buses into "coffins."

"The meeting with militants will be at the top of our agenda. We also want to know the stand of the Pakistani people and politicians in getting the Kashmir issue settled," Farooq said.

Separatists sources say the moderates will carry a message to militants that the "role of the gun is over" and urge a ceasefire in Indian Kashmir where tens of thousands have died in insurgency-related violence.