Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik on Friday spoke to militant outfit Lashker-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and they agreed to cooperate with each other in their activities in Jammu and Kashmir [Images].

They agreed on this course of action when Saeed spoke to Malik on telephone, said a statement issued by Jamat-ud-Dawah, a group set up by Saeed after the Pakistan government imposed a ban on the LeT.

Malik said the protests led by Hurriyat leaders had sent out a "message to the whole world" and the "Kashmir freedom movement had taken a new turn after the current economic blockade". However, he said the "attitude of Pakistani rulers is very disheartening and disappointing" for Kashmiri Muslims.

Earlier in the day, while delivering a sermon after Friday prayers in Lahore [Images], Saeed called for an immediate end to operations by Pakistan's military in the Swat valley of the North West Frontier Province, Bajaur Agency and other tribal areas.

He also said Pakistani nation "has had to pay for Pervez Musharraf's [Images] warped policies of enlightened moderation and friendship with India and America".

He also criticized Pakistani rulers for "maintaining a criminal silence" on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Reports in the Pakistani media have said that there had been an increase in the activities of outlawed groups like the Lashker-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed following Musharraf's resignation on Monday.