Tens of thousands protest at UN office in Kashmir

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SRINAGAR, Aug 18 (Reuters): Tens of thousands of Muslims marched past the United Nations office in Indian Kashmir Monday, protesting against New Delhi's rule in the disputed Himalayan region.

Demonstrators shouting "Oh tyrants and oppressors leave our Kashmir" marched to police barricades within a few hundred meters of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) office in Srinagar, summer capital of Indian Kashmir.

The organisers, Kashmir's main separatist All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference alliance, handed over a petition against Indian rule.

A row over land for Hindu pilgrims visiting a shrine in Kashmir has snowballed into full scale anti-India protests, uniting separatists and reviving calls for Kashmiri independence.

Marches last week led to police killing at least 22 Muslim demonstrators, including a senior separatist leader, inflaming passions in one of the biggest separatist protests since a revolt against Indian rule broke out in 1989.