Kashmir stone-pelters to be freed: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: A group of interlocutors will be appointed to hold a dialogue on the Kashmir issue and youths arrested in the recent stone-pelting incidents will be freed soon, home minister P Chidambaram announced after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) here on Saturday.

The CCS decisions were made on the assessment of the 39-member all-party delegation which visited Jammu and Kashmir recently, he said.

However, there was no announcement on the demand for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act ( AFSPA) from at least a few districts of the state.

Suggestions on the AFSPA have to be taken first by the Unified Command in the state, Chidambaram said.

The all-party delegation visited the state following a cycle of violence, which has rocked the Kashmir valley since June 11. At least 108 people, mostly youths and teenagers have been killed in firing by security forces on stone-pelting street protesters during the past three and a half months.