Geelani released from house arrest

After being put under house arrest here for nearly three weeks, Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was released as Delhi Police withdrew its personnel from his South Delhi home this evening.
Describing his detention as "illegal" and an act of "high-handedness" on the part of the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir government, 83-year-old Geelani said he will be chalking his future strategy in a couple of days including a decision on his return to Kashmir Valley .
Geelani, who has a two-room flat near Malviya Nagar, was placed under house arrest on the morning of February nine, the day when Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged in Tihar jail.

"The police withdrew at 7 PM this evening," he said,
Along with Geelani, moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was also kept under house arrest but he was released last week.
Geelani claimed that police personnel, both men and women, had at one stage camped inside his flat for nearly two days.
Both the Hurriyat factions led by Geelani and Farooq had also given a strike call in protest against the execution of Afzal.
Geelani had termed the execution of as "unfortunate" and claimed that Afzal was not involved in the 2001 Parliament attack.