SRINAGAR, 31 October — The governor of Indian-administered Kashmir invited a coalition headed by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed to form a government in the troubled Himalayan state.

Governor G.C. Saxena said Sayeed, a former Union home minister, will be sworn in as Kashmir’s chief minister Saturday.

"I am satisfied. They are in a comfortable majority and I have received the letter of support from many parties," Saxena said in Srinagar. "I am inviting Sayeed to form a government," he said.

Sayeed staked the claim to office after two weeks of wrangling between his regional People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its coalition partner, the main opposition Congress party.

The two parties together swept out of power Kashmir’s dynastic National Conference in the Sept. 16-Oct. 8 election.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the regional head of the Congress, said the coalition had the support of 52 legislators, eight more than the number needed to establish a clear majority in the 87-member Kashmir state legislature.

Sayeed, who has offered to hold peace talks with Kashmiri militants, said he would put in place a ministerial council only after his government is sworn in.

"We are trying to sort out the nitty gritties of forming the government," Sayeed said of his administration.

Under the coalition agreement, the PDP will head the government for three years with the Congress taking over the chief ministership for its remaining tenure of three years.

The PDP and Congress have drafted a program calling for the "reorientation" of the counter-insurgency police, the Special Operation Group (SOG), who have been accused of human rights abuses, and the repeal of India’s tough Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which critics charge is used disproportionately against non-Hindus.

The Congress yesterday urged rebels in Kashmir to lay down their arms and promised them "justice" if they did so.

"We would like to talk to those who have doubts in their minds," said Azad, referring to militants who are fighting Indian rule in the state. "Let them give up guns. We will make these boys understand and make them part of the mainstream."

"I assure justice will be given to them," Azad said in a speech to party workers in Srinagar.

Hundreds of Congress supporters were on the streets of Srinagar to welcome Azad at the airport after his return from New Delhi, where Congress and the PDP agreed to form a coalition government in Kashmir.

However, the main rebel group, Hizbul Mujahedeen, said yesterday it was skeptical of the incoming government’s "apparent goodwill steps" and vowed to continue the insurgency.

"It is being projected that Sayeed’s ascent to power would bring some relief to the people through non-implementation of POTA and the winding up of SOG," Hizb said in a statement by its operational chief, Saiful Islam. "Though these steps seem to be heart-warming, these do not constitute the solution to the basic issue (over Kashmir)," Hizb said.

The group called instead for a UN-held referendum letting Kashmiris decide their fate or talks involving Kashmiris and India and Pakistan, which both hold parts of the Himalayan state.