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16:25 GMT, Friday, 5 September 2008 17:25 UK

Top Kashmir separatists detained

A Kashmiri Muslim shouts pro-freedom slogans during a demonstration against Indian rule in Kashmir, in Srinagar, India, Friday, Sept. 5, 2008

Muslims have protested against Indian rule in Indian-administered Kashmir following the detention of three senior separatist leaders.

Protests were held outside mosques across the Kashmir valley. Police used tear gas to break up some rallies.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik are all under house arrest again after being freed from detention on Monday.

Tensions are continuing after some of the region's biggest protests in years.

Charges

Mr Geelani told supporters who had gathered outside his residence that the protests should be absolutely peaceful.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani (l) and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq (r)

He has threatened to lead a "major agitation" if he and other activists are not released by the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, now under way.

Meanwhile, police say another prominent leader, Masrat Alam, was arrested on Thursday evening.

Two other detained separatist leaders - Shabir Shah and Asiya Andrabi - face up to two years in prison without trial after being charged with activities prejudicial to the security of India.

The protests began in June in a dispute over the transfer of land to a trust in charge of an important Hindu shrine.

A decision to drop the plans - which angered minority Hindus in the state - was reversed on Monday.

Officials now say 100 acres of land will be set aside for use by the Hindu trust, but only during the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine.

Some 40 people have been killed in the protests, most of them Muslim.



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