WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (AFP) ­ Frustrated by decades of Indian rule over their Himalayan homeland, three Kashmiri lawyers arrived here this week seeking US pressure to let Kashmiris decide if they want independence.

R.M. Dufail, Muhammad Amin and Zamarud Habib ­­ members of the All­Party Huriyat Conference (APHC) ­­ urged US legislators to act quickly on resolutions in both houses calling for a negotiated settlement to long­running strife in Kashmir.

"We are saying, let the people of Jammu and Kashmir be given a chance to . . . determine their future," Amin said.

US officials and legislators fear tensions over Kashmir, which have twice erupted into war between India and Pakistan, could eventually push the two neighbours into a deadly confrontation. To worsen matters, both are considered capable of exploding nuclear weapons.

But relative to other foreign­policy issues, congressional aides say, Kashmir is not a high priority in Congress, and neither of the non­binding resolutions on Kashmir will likely be considered before January.

Nonetheless, Amin said, the half­dozen lawmakers and staff with whom his group met all understood that "Kashmir is really an old, outstanding issue that must find a solution, and that in South Asia, peace cannot return on a permanent basis unless and until we solve it."

The APHC wants more contact between the Indian­ and Pakistani­held parts of Kashmir, talks between the Indian and Pakistani premiers on the issue, and an internationally monitored referendum on the future of the territory.

The State Department views all of Kashmir as disputed territory requiring talks between India and Pakistan. Washington would mediate if it were asked, one US official said, but India doesn't want that.

Kevin Binger, an aide to Representative Dan Burton of Indiana, who has fought to get Kashmir on the congressional agenda, cited some concern on Capitol Hill but said other issues generally loom larger.

"People in Washington gravitate to what affects the United States most, like Bosnia and Iraq," he said. "The level of awareness on Kashmir isn't nearly what it ought to be. Certainly there are a lot of atrocities being committed there that don't make it into the press."

Once an independent principality, Kashmir ­­ often described as one of Asia's most scenic regions ­­ was divided between India and Pakistan after the subcontinent was freed from British rule in 1947.