Yasin Malik ties nuptial knot in Pakistan

File photo of Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, in New Delhi October 4, 2006.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Kashmiri separatist leader who crossed into Pakistan two decades ago to fight against Indian rule has returned -- to marry a Pakistani artist.

Yasin Malik, 42, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, married 28-year-old painter Mushaal Mullick, who is studying at the London School of Economics, in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, on Sunday.

"There is a saying that a prayer sought from the core of the heart at the time of wedding gets fulfilled," the bearded, thin separatist said at the marriage ceremony as the bride looked on.

"The people of Kashmir, the people of Pakistan and the people of India have been suffering because of a problem since 1947 ... On this occasion I pray Allah provides a solution to this issue so that the people of these countries and Kashmiris live in peace."

Malik first crossed into the Pakistan-side of the disputed Himalayan region in 1988 to launch a militant movement against Indian rule but gave up the armed struggle in 1995 and decided to work politically for the "freedom" of Kashmir.

Both Pakistan and India lay claim over entire Kashmir but rule in part. They have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed region, since their independence from British rule in 1947.

India accuses Pakistan of arming, abetting and sending militants from across the border to fight its army but Pakistan denies the charge and says it only provides political, moral and diplomatic support to, what it says the "Kashmiri freedom movement".