According to the Daily Times, this decision was reached during the annual meeting of the group, which was held on the sidelines of the 58th UN General Assembly session in New York on Monday.

Representatives of the Contact Group's member countries - Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Niger and Pakistan - attended the meeting.

The Secretary General of the OIC, Dr. Abdelouahedi Belkeziz, who in his report recalled that the Kashmir issue has always and would always be on the OIC agenda, chaired the meeting.

A delegation of Kashmiri representatives also attended the meeting at the invitation of the secretary general. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President General (retired) Sardar Mohammad Anwar Khan led it, the Daily Times said.

The other members were Farooq Rehmani and Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai.

The Pakistan delegation headed by Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri was briefed about the situation in Indian administered Kashmir and the need to resolve the Kashmir dispute according to UN resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Participants at the meeting also welcomed the visit of the four-member OIC Fact Finding Mission to AJK from April 21-24 2003, and appreciated the cooperation extended to it by the Pakistan and AJK governments.

It also welcomed Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's proposal for a cease-fire along the Line of Control (LoC) and in the Valley, but regretted that India had not responded positively to the proposal.