Voters support Kashmir divisions

Pakistan's Musharraf is scheduled to talk about Kashmir at the coming summit

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan -- Voters in the Pakistani part of disputed Kashmir have chosen a party that has pledged to intensify the drive to end Indian rule.

Election Commission officials said Friday that the right-wing Muslim Conference of Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan won 21 of 40 seats in the state assembly elections, held Thursday.

Its closest rival, the former ruling Pakistan Peoples' Party, got 15 seats, while independent candidates won three, the Associated Press reported.

One seat was won by the Pakistan Muslim League.

In 1996, the Muslim Conference had lost to the liberal Pakistan Peoples' Party.

The Pakistani part of the Himalayan Kashmir region, known as Azad Kashmir, enjoys autonomous status, and its constitution declares that Pakistan should take control of Indian-held Kashmir.

The hard-line Muslim Conference strongly supports that goal.

Islamic Pakistan and mostly Hindu India have fought two wars over Kashmir, which was divided between them in 1947.

India accuses Pakistan of training and funding the Islamic separatist militants that are fighting in Indian-held Kashmir. Pakistan rejects the charge.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf will visit India on July 14-16 for a summit with his Indian counterpart aimed a resolving the two countries' long-standing dispute over Kashmir.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.