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Breaking News/ Newswires

* Pakistanis to elect parliamnets after three years of military rule (AFP): Pakistanis head to the polls Thursday for the first general elections since President Pervez Musharraf's 1999 coup, with opinion polls showing a tight race between banned ex-premier Benazir Bhutto's party and a new pro-government party. Voters will choose from 7,054 candidates to elect a national assembly and four provincial assemblies which were suspended and later disbanded by General Musharraf after he seized power. Musharraf, the army chief, promised since his coup to restore the parliaments, reform institutions and build "genuine democracy", charging that the four civilian governments before him had ruined Pakistan with corruption and misrule. http://in.news.yahoo.com/021009/6/1w6rx.html

* Bengal Minister wants to probe in Mother Teresa miracle (IANS): A West Bengal minister has demanded an investigation into a miracle attributed to Mother Teresa that has strengthened her case for sainthood. The Vatican last week recognised as a miracle the reported curing of an abdominal tumour on a tribal woman from West Bengal, saying it paved the way for the founder of the Missionaries of Charity to be beatified, which would take her a step closer to sainthood. But a West Bengal minister and several rationalists in the state are sceptical of the miracle attributed to the Albanian-born nun who made India her home. http://in.news.yahoo.com/021009/43/1w6qg.html

* India, Libya to boost bilateral trade (IANS): After a seven-year gap, India and Libya held talks here Wednesday to remove impediments to forging better economic ties. Since 1995-96, trade and investment relations between the two have slid, Saad Mustafa Mujber, assistant secretary for cooperation affairs and leader of the Indo-Libyan Joint Commission, told a two-day Indo-Libya Joint Commission meet. "We are trying to make up for the seven-year gap. It is incumbent on both the countries to make up for the lost opportunities," he said. http://in.news.yahoo.com/021009/43/1w7xb.html

--- South Asian News, October 09, 2002 ---

Pakistani police along with U.S. FBI agents conduct raids in a refugee camp in search of suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members. Pakistan prepares for elections which will test the strength of Musharraf's grip on power. In India, the Election Commission reports a high voter turnout in the last round of the four-phased Jammu-Kashmir elections that were marked by militant threats and attacks. The editorial section brings an article from the Wall Street Journal discussing about the cynicism of Pakistanis in holding the electorate process in Pakistan and the irregularities involved in it.

Top Stories

* Pakistan, U.S. raid camp for al Qaeda suspects (NY Times) (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post) (Washington Times) (San Antonio News) (MSNBC) (ABC News) (Burlington County Times) (News Day)
* Hard-line Islamic candidates hoping to make gains in Pakistani elections (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post) (MSNBC) (Burlington County Times) (Las Vegas Sun) (News Day) (Orange County Register)
* U.S. to resume diplomacy in South Asia, Powell says (NY Times)
* Pakistani president vows election will be fair (MSNBC)
* Pakistan pro-govt, opposition parties in close race (Wall Street Journal)
* Profiles of key players in Pakistan election (MSNBC)
* Musharraf may cross election hurdle, but at a cost (NY Times) (Washington Post) (MSNBC) (ABC News) (Kentucky.com)
* Elections to test the strength of Musharraf's grip on power (USA Today)
* No single party to emerge winner in Pakistan polls (Wall Street Journal)
* Skepticism prevails as Pakistan prepares to vote (Seattle Times)
* Missiles herald Pakistani election (Christian Science Monitor)
* Key facts about Pakistan's election (MSNBC)
* Female candidates try to energize demoralized electorate (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Pakistan arrests five for attacks (NY Times) (LA Times)
* Pakistan says arrests Indian agents ahead of poll (MSNBC)
* India hails elections in Kashmir (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post) (Philadelphia Inquirer) (Monterey Herald) (Miami Herald) (News Day) (Orange County Register) (Burlington County Times)
* High turnout reported in last phase of Kashmir elections (Wall Street Journal) (Seattle Times) (Voice of America)
* Nepal police suspect rebels in bomb blast; no injuries (Wall Street Journal)
* Nepal parties keen to meet king to end crisis (MSNBC)
* Nepalese politicians still in limbo after PM's ousting (Wall Street Journal)
* Sri Lanka terror law detainees pledge death fast (MSNBC)
* Protesters ask Sri Lanka to release Tamil rebel suspects (Wall Street Journal)

Editorial/Op-Ed

* Pakistan's phony polls (Wall Street Journal)

Business/Technology

* Foreign companies want Pakistan to speed reforms (Wall Street Journal)
* Delta to move some work to Asia (Chicago Tribune)

Top Stories

* Pakistan, U.S. raid camp for al Qaeda suspects

Peshawar, Pakistan -- Pakistani police assisted by U.S. FBI agents raided a refugee camp on Tuesday in search of suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members, but despite two arrests they did not find the men they were looking for. A senior police official said the pre-dawn raid lasted three hours and targeted the Shamshatoo refugee camp, about 35 km (22 miles) east of the city of Peshawar in North-West Frontier Province.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/international/09COMM.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-pakistan-alqaeda-arrests.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-terror-sweep1008oct08,0,2233012.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AOct8.html
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=190&xlc=833547
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20021008_294.html
http://www.phillyburbs.com/apNews/apStory.asp?ArticleNo=74575
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-terror-sweep1008oct08,0,3244622.story

* Hard-line Islamic candidates hoping to make gains in Pakistani elections

Islamabad -- Running on anti-American sentiment and sympathies for the Taliban, hard-line Islamic parties are fielding hundreds of candidates in hopes of making gains against supporters of President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf galvanized conservative Muslims by abandoning the Taliban and joining the U.S.-led coalition after the Sept. 11 attacks, allowing U.S. forces to use bases in Pakistan for operations in Afghanistan.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Islamic-Candidates.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-islamic-candidates1008oct08,0,6828389.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AOct8.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA
http://www.phillyburbs.com/apNews/apStory.asp?ArticleNo=74591
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2002/oct/08/100800295.html
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-islamic-candidates1008oct08,0,3588231.story
http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=6176§ion=NATION_WORLD

* U.S. to resume diplomacy in South Asia, Powell says

Washington -- The United States will resume diplomatic work to encourage dialogue between India and Pakistan after this week's Pakistani elections, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday. Powell, speaking to international news agencies, played down the significance of Tuesday's missile test by Pakistan, saying it was part of a known development program and did not launch a new arms race between the South Asian rivals.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-southasia-usa.html

* Pakistani president vows election will be fair

Islamabad -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, under fire from political opponents accusing him of trying to rig this week's general election, said on Tuesday the poll would be transparent and fair. Thursday's election marks the official transition from military to civilian rule three years after General Musharraf took over the running of the country after a bloodless coup.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA

* Pakistan pro-govt, opposition parties in close race

Islamabad -- A leading opposition party was running neck-and-neck with a party allied to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, according to a survey released Wednesday, the day before a nationwide election since the military ruler seized power three years ago. The Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was projected to win 80 seats in Thursday's vote for the national assembly, one more than the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League Qauid-e-Azam, according to a survey of 520,000 people throughout Pakistan.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021009_001677-search,00.html

* Profiles of key players in Pakistan election

Islamabad -- Pakistan holds elections for parliament and four regional assemblies on Thursday, in a move designed to hand over power from military to civilian rule. General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, will remain as president for another five years after the polls, and has changed the constitution to give himself the power to dismiss the elected parliament.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA

* Musharraf may cross election hurdle, but at a cost

Islamabad -- Pakistan's military ruler President Pervez Musharraf might get what he wants in Thursday's parliamentary election, but victory may come at a considerable cost, analysts and diplomats say. The poll is supposed to mark the handover from military to civilian rule three years after Musharraf took power in a coup. But that process has already been subverted after the army general awarded himself another five years as president, together with the power to dismiss an elected parliament.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-pakistan-election.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AOct9.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20021009_10.html
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/world/4243116.htm

* Elections to test the strength of Musharraf's grip on power

Khaglanwala, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, faces the biggest test of his leadership Thursday when voters go to the polls to choose provincial and national legislators. Musharraf, a general who seized power in a coup three years ago, will remain president regardless of the outcome of the voting. He won another five years in office in a referendum in April that critics said was rife with fraud.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/-pakelections-usat_x.htm

* No single party to emerge winner in Pakistan polls

Islamabad -- Pakistanis go to the polls Thursday to elect its first Parliament in three years amid charges that the vote is stacked in favor of candidates loyal to President Pervez Musharraf. However, financial markets are hoping a victory for pro-Musharraf groups will ensure continuity in economic policy and a return to democracy will help attract foreign investment. The election will return Pakistan to democracy three years after Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021009_001298-search,00.html

* Skepticism prevails as Pakistan prepares to vote

Rawalpindi, Pakistan -- Raja Zafar ul-Haq, a candidate in parliamentary elections scheduled for tomorrow, said he has reason to be skeptical of claims by President Pervez Musharraf that the contest will help pave the way for restoration of "real democracy." Three times in the past month, he said, the electricity has mysteriously failed just as he prepared to address campaign rallies, plunging the crowd into darkness.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134551174_pakvote09.html

* Missiles herald Pakistani election

Islamabad -- Most world leaders probably wouldn't consider testing nuclear-capable missiles as a constructive way to stir up political enthusiasm ahead of national elections. But in Pakistan, two recent missile tests illuminate multiple political goals. In a poor country where most people are uneducated and also staunchly proud of their nuclear-weapons program, rattling the saber at arch-rival India is always a good way to bring out the voters.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1009/p06s01-wosc.html

* Key facts about Pakistan's election

Islamabad -- About half of Pakistan's 140 million people are eligible to vote in Thursday's parliamentary election that is designed to return the country to civilian rule. The election will be the fifth in Pakistan in 14 years and is taking place after almost exactly three years of military rule under President Pervez Musharraf.Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup on October 12, 1999, and extended his rule as president for five more years through a controversial referendum in April. He then awarded himself more powers by amending the constitution.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA

* Female candidates try to energize demoralized electorate

Islamabad -- Nauzat Amir trundled up and down the cracked stairs of an Islamabad apartment complex last week, carrying a bundle of posters and flyers for her political party, the Pakistan Muslim League. Her target? Women who will cast ballots on Thursday for members of both houses of the national parliament and Pakistan's four provincial legislatures. But even though a record number of candidates are female, women voters are likely to be as apathetic as men over a system that has failed them miserably

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/09/MN136194.DTL

* Pakistan arrests five for attacks

Peshawar, Pakistan -- Working closely with FBI agents, Pakistani police Tuesday captured five suspects wanted in connection with a spate of recent attacks on Christians, authorities said. The men -- three Afghans and two Pakistanis -- were captured in a pre-dawn raid on the Shamshatoo refugee camp, about 20 miles east of Peshawar, police said.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Arrests.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-arrests1008oct08,0,5109817.story

* Pakistan says arrests Indian agents ahead of poll

Islamabad -- Pakistani police have arrested five men trained by Indian intelligence to carry out bomb attacks to disrupt Thursday's parliamentary election, police and media said on Tuesday. The three suspects from near Srinigar, summer capital of Indian-ruled Kashmir, were detained on Monday night 70 km (44 miles) east of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, superintendent of police Inayatullah Farooq said.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA

* India hails elections in Kashmir

Srinagar, India -- The final round of elections in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday was hailed by New Delhi as a vote for democracy and a demand for peace, but separatists called the balloting "a verdict on nothing." Though the fourth day of voting for 87 legislative seats in Jammu-Kashmir state began with violence at a polling station, it ended with local officials Tuesday reporting a turnout of 46 percent, considered strong given the bloodshed and separatist calls for a boycott.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021008_004224,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Kashmir-Elections.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-kashmir-elections1008oct08,0,2131942.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AOct8.html
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/4233521.htm
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/4233521.htm
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4233521.htm
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-kashmir-elections1008oct08%2C0%2C7300005.story
http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=6176§ion=NATION_WORLD
http://www.phillyburbs.com/apNews/apStory.asp?ArticleNo=74463
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/search/sfl-akashmir09oct09.story

* High turnout reported in last phase of Kashmir elections

New Delhi--The Election Commission reported a high voter turnout Tuesday in the last round of the four-phased Jammu-Kashmir elections that were marked by militant threats and attacks. "The polling went off properly. It took place in all the polling stations," said Deputy Election Commissioner Sayan Chatterjee. "The focus is now on the counting exercise, which will take place on the 10th."

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021008_002740,00.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134551244_kashmir09.html
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=2926B055-C0FF-4929-A43CD6FAE61D82D9

* Nepal police suspect rebels in bomb blast; no injuries

Kathmandu -- Suspected Maoist rebels exploded a bomb in a building that houses Nepal's commerce and industry association in Katmandu on Tuesday, but there were no casualties and little damage, police said. Some windows of the Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry were shattered in the blast from explosives that had been planted in a restroom.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021008_003588,00.html

* Nepal parties keen to meet king to end crisis

Kathmandu -- Nepal's main political parties said on Wednesday they were still keen to hold talks with King Gyanendra over forming an interim government -- just hours ahead of a deadline set by him to finalise a new council of ministers. They said it was now up to the king to either meet them or unilaterally name a temporary administration, a move they warn could put the throne on a collision course with the government.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA

* Nepalese politicians still in limbo after PM's ousting

Kathmandu -- Nepal's constitutional monarch kept top political leaders waiting in vain for a meeting Tuesday even as hundreds of people took to the streets protesting his firing of the prime minister last week. The politicians waited for two hours for the audience with King Gyanendra to propose the name of a new leader and seek inclusion in an interim government that could conduct parliamentary elections.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021009_000697-search,00.html

* Sri Lanka terror law detainees pledge death fast

Colombo -- Sri Lankan prisoners being held as suspected terrorists refused on Tuesday to end a week-old hunger strike, saying they do not trust government ministers' promises to expedite their cases. More than 100 ethnic minority Tamils began the fast to protest against their detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, a government device to combat separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA

* Protesters ask Sri Lanka to release Tamil rebel suspects

Colombo -- A protest march by thousands of students and workers shut down schools, shops and offices in a northern Sri Lanka town Tuesday, as 140 people - jailed for suspected links with Tamil Tiger separatists - entered the eighth day of a hunger strike. The hunger strikers want quick trials or immediate release. Their fast could threaten a cease-fire between the government and the Tigers, an activist said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021008_004409,00.html

* Sri Lanka Tamil rebels agree to release six soldiers

Colombo -- In a move that eases fears of a breakdown in Sri Lanka's seven-month-old cease-fire, Tamil rebels have agreed to release six soldiers held captive for two weeks after the government released two insurgents, a cease-fire monitor said Wednesday. Police arrested the two rebels Sept. 2, on charges of carrying weapons into government-controlled areas - an action prohibited under the Feb. 22, Norwegian-brokered cease-fire.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021009_001932-search,00.html



Editorial/Op-Ed

* Pakistan's phony polls

Tomorrow's parliamentary elections in Pakistan will not lead to the restoration of democracy. They could, however, lead to civil unrest and confrontation between Pakistan's powerful military and its civilian politicians. Continued military influence is likely to increase hostility between Pakistan and India and undercut efforts to root out Islamic extremists, who have been the armed forces' political allies in the past.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB-search,00.html

Business/Technology

* Foreign companies want Pakistan to speed reforms

Karachi, Pakistan -- Foreign companies investing in Pakistan want the new government to accelerate economic reforms and improve security, said the head of the country's main foreign business organization Wednesday. "If the new government goes for populist policies that reverse some of the corrective economic measures taken by the current government then that would be a wrong signal," Kamran Mirza, president of the Overseas Chambers of Commerce & Industry, or OCCI, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021009_001689-search,00.html

* Delta to move some work to Asia

Atlanta -- Delta Air Lines will send some reservations work to India and the Philippines to save up to $15 million a year. The Atlanta airline reached an agreement with two companies to handle some customer reservations functions in order to free its own reservations center employees to handle customers' more immediate needs, Delta officials said Monday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-delta-reservations1008oct08.story

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