The hard-line Hurriyat Conference today appointed jailed separatist leader Masrat Alam Bhat as the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference. The announcement has been made by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the APHC statement issued to media said. Bhat, though in jail for the past decade, was serving as General Secretary of APHC.

The statement said Shabir Ahmad Shah and Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar were elected as vice-chairmen.

The Hurriyat said the appointments were temporary till elections are held according to the Hurriyat constitution. The Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Geelani, who died on September 1, was elected as the lifetime chairman of the amalgam.

Bhat is accused of spearheading 2010 agitation and was arrested in 2010 and since then he is under preventive custody with the government slapping Public Safety Act on him each time after it is quashed by the High Court.