Moderate Kashmir leader resigns

Mr Ansari has been under intense pressure from militants

The leader of the main separatist group in Kashmir has quit to try to restore unity, organisation officials say.

Moulvi Abbas Ansari said he was stepping down as chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference.

Analysts say the move is aimed at bringing back hardline elements that left the conference in protest at its talks with the Indian government.

The next talks are proposed for this month but hardliners insist they must also involve Pakistan.

Separatists have been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir - which both Pakistan and India claim - since 1989. Around 40,000 people have been killed since then.

During the recent thaw in India-Pakistan relations, moderates in the Conference have held two rounds of talks with Delhi, but in doing so caused the organisation to split.

Temporary chairman

The BBC's Altaf Hussain, in the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, Srinagar, says the Conference's executive council was meeting on Wednesday amid intense pressure from militants to pull out of the talks.

[The Indian government] says one thing one day and another the next day Moulvi Abbas Ansari

Indian Prime Minster Manmohan Singh's Congress-led government had said it planned to hold more talks this month, although a date has yet to be set.

Mr Ansari, considered a moderate, said he was stepping down in favour of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who will act as temporary chairman.

Elections for a permanent leader will be held after attempts are made to bring back hardline factions including the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Jamaat-e-Islami and People's League.

However, the council stressed afterwards it was still committed to a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem.

A statement released after meeting read: "The Kashmir problem can be resolved only through a meaningful dialogue."

Conference spokesman, Ghulam Hassan Majrooh, hinted that the next round of talks with the Indian government could be delayed.

He suggested they might depend on whether India's new government fulfilled the commitments made by its predecessor.

Hours before resigning, Mr Ansari told the Reuters news agency the new Indian government "says one thing one day and another the next day".

"The previous government had begun to implement measures to ease the situation in Kashmir. But the new government has reintroduced frisking, house-to-house searches, [sparking] again the same violence," Mr Ansari said.