The people and governments of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, he said, were anxiously awaiting their arrival and would give them an enthusiastic welcome on arrival, as they were the "true representatives of the people of Kashmir".
He told a questioner that Syed Ali Shah Gilani, several times head of the Conference, and a leader of the political party that equals the Jamaat-i-Islami in Pakistan, is included in the invitation. Gilani had recently been distancing himself from the reactions of his other colleagues to the current trends in the Pakistan-India parleys over the solution of Kashmir, and sometimes his utterances had sharp overtones giving impression that he was going to drop out of the APHC.
Jalil Abbas Jilani told a questioner that Gilani was held in great esteem in Pakistan and was a respected leader of Kashmir, and he had been extended an invitation along with others.
Prominent among the other leaders will be the young Mir Waiz Omer Farooq, who is not only a political factor but a religious leader also.
Replying to the mode of their travel and also the route the APHC leaders were likely to take, the spokesman expected them to use the Kashmir bus service for their arrival. He said that the invitation was extended to the Kashmiri leaders long time ago and had been lying pending.
Now that a direct bus service has been started across the Line of Control, he hoped they would use this medium for travel. For return journey, he said any other route or mode could be used.
The spokesman said that as the guests of the Pakistan government, the APHC leaders would be free to go anywhere they wanted to. The same facility, he explained, was also available to other Kashmiris, who used the bus service, and after taking permission from local authorities, they could visit other places where their relatives lived.
ADVANI DUE ON 30TH: He said the leader of the India's BJP parliamentary party, Lal Krishna Advani, is arriving in Pakistan as guest of the government on May 30.
Jilani said that Advani is arriving in response to an invitation from foreign minister Khurshid M. Kasuri.
His programme in the federal capital includes calls on President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, National Assembly speaker, Senate chairman and also the foreign minister.
Although the spokesman did not say so, Advani is likely to visit Karachi and some other places in Sindh where he was born before independence.
CHRISTINA ROCCA: Jilani told a questioner that the upcoming visit of the US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca was a follow-up of the visit of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to discuss a large number of bilateral relations.
Jilani also refuted that American helicopters had intruded into Pakistani territory and their fire killed some civilians. He said it was not correct except that an operation within the Afghan territory against some "militants" did take place and the helicopters did not cross into Pakistani area.
But since the operation took place very close to the border some shells did fall on the Pakistani side but those did not do any damage.
The matter, he said had been taken up with the American authorities. As announced earlier, Islamabad has also taken up the question of "desecration of the Holy Quran" in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere with the Americans and lodged a strong protest.
He denied that Christina Rocca was visiting Pakistan in connection with the Pakistan-India dialogue on Siachin Glacier, saying that the visit had no connection with the bilateral talks with India, for which dates were fixed much earlier.
ME CONFLICT: Answering a question about the manner in which Pakistan could play a role in solving the Arab-Israel conflict, the spokesman said that a visit from Pakistan to occupied Jerusalem and the disputed territories in the Middle East has been proposed by Mahmood Abbas, who visited Islamabad last week. The Palestinians thought that the visit could "strengthen their cause".
The Israelis have moved their capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem some years back, that has come under heavy criticism from the Muslim nations.
Pakistan supported the legitimate cause of the Palestinians and would be ready to make a go for a step that will help their cause, he added.