Separatist Militants Barricaded in Indian Mosque Retreat Peacefully

Separatist rebels barricaded inside Kashmir’s holiest shrine since Sunday left the building Tuesday, and police allowed them safe passage to their nearby headquarters, authorities said.

The rebels’ retreat helped defuse a crisis that had threatened to damage the Hazratbal mosque in Srinagar, which Kashmiri Muslims believe contains a hair of the Prophet Muhammad. The government feared widespread violence if the white marble shrine was damaged.

Indian police immediately took control of the mosque, and the chief priest and 10 prominent citizens inspected the glass vial containing the relic, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It was not clear whether authorities would try to apprehend the rebels or would let them go to avoid further violence.

The crisis began Sunday after a gun battle broke out between local police and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front militants, killing at least 11 people. Indian security forces surrounded the mosque, and the rebels barricaded themselves inside.

The rebels began leaving Tuesday in small groups and went to their headquarters outside the mosque complex, government spokesman Kulbhushan Jandiyal said.

He said all 17 holed up inside the mosque had departed by the end of the day.

There were conflicting accounts of how the battle began Sunday and how many people were killed.

Police in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, said 11 people--two policemen and nine rebels--died in the fighting, which they said began when the militants tried to bring weapons into the mosque.

But a rebel leader barricaded inside the mosque said in a telephone interview that 26 people died--14 rebels and 12 policemen.

The rebels said the fighting started when police tried to enter the mosque, which the militants had been occupying for the past year.

The government has demanded that all rebels in Jammu and Kashmir surrender by Wednesday evening and has urged the public to stop sheltering militants.