Islamabad: Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen, the biggest terrorist group in Kashmir, on Wednesday offered a conditional ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, which is scheduled to begin next week.
Hizb renewed it's conditional ceasefire offer, saying if the Centre announces a ceasefire, they would respond to it accordingly.
They had offered a ceasefire 15 days ago, but Centre has yet to respond to them.
Chief spokesman for the Pakistan-based group, Ehsan Elahi, said the limited ceasefire depended on troop reductions on its side of the Line of Control.
"If the Government agrees to scale down troop presence, stop human right violations and release all political prisoners, we will also consider a ceasefire in attacks against them during Ramadan," Elahi told The Associated Press.
Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, begins in late September.
India had, on September 12, said it is ready for a permanent ceasefire with terrorist groups in the Kashmir Valley if they renounce violence.
The offer came before the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf in Cuba, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit.
At the summit last week, Singh and Musharraf agreed to continue dialogue and seek a solution for Kashmir.
Both countries agreed to set up a joint mechanism to deal with terrorism.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has said that if terrorist groups gave up violence, India would be willing to agree to a ceasefire.
''From the government's side, I will be happy to respond to a ceasefire, which should not be limited to Ramadan, but can be extended even beyond that period in case the terrorists declare to shun violence,'' the statement said.
Last month, another Hizb spokesman, Junaidul Islam, told the Srinagar-based local news agency, Kashmir News Service, that the group was never against talks with India.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
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