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--- South Asian News, October 15, 2002 ---

Breaking News/Newswire

* President Kalam (India) turns 72 (PTI): President A P J Abdul Kalam turned 72 today. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee rang up Kalam, who is on a two-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh and greeted him and wished many happy returns of the day. Madhya Pradesh Governor Bhai Mahavir and Chief Minister Digvijay Singh have extended hearty greetings to Kalam. http://in.news.yahoo.com/021015/20/1whbt.html

* Time magazine report aimed at harming Indo-Bangla ties (PTI): Bangladesh has described as "figment of imagination" a report that the country is a "hotbed of terrorists waging war against India" and said it is aimed at destroying friendly relations between the two neighbours. The report is a "figment of someone's wildest imagination" aimed at harming "friendly and smooth relations between India and Bangladesh," a spokesman of Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said reacting to the report in the latest issue of US-based 'Time' magazine. The spokesman, quoted by the official BSS news agency, said the government of Bangladesh "vehemently and categorically denies the content of the report". http://in.news.yahoo.com/021015/20/1whbd.html

* Bhutto hints at deal with anti-US parties (AFP): Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was considering forming a coalition with an anti-US party after their unexpected success in last week's elections, according to a British daily. Bhutto told The Guardian Tuesday that she would be prepared to do a deal with the Islamic right, and not as expected with the main pro-military party, if the MMA moderated its policy of closing down all US bases in Pakistan."We can do business with anybody who reflects the spirit of the constitution," Bhutto said, according to the paper. http://in.news.yahoo.com/021015/6/1wh3b.html

* No room for Al Qaeda in India Kashmir Revolt (reuters): Mohammad Azam Inqilabi still remembers getting cream, jam and honey on the battlefields of Afghanistan -- courtesy of American money -- when he left his native Kashmir to join Islamic militants fighting there. That was back in the 1980s when the militants were fighting against the Soviet occupation, before they turned against their former U.S. supporters, ultimately spawning the al Qaeda network. But beyond a common Islamic faith, Inqilabi and other Kashmiris say they do not share much else with the hard-line fundamentalists who took root in Afghanistan and were blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AOct14.html



--- South Asian News, October 15, 2002 ---

In Pakistan, gunmen ambush a family killing seven people with automatic weapons over a land dispute. Hardline Islamic parties that have emerged as potential coalition partners in Pakistan say they would seek to impose Islamic law in the country and ask U.S. troops to leave. In India, at least 23 people are feared drowned after two boats collided and capsized on a river. The editorial section looks at the people's choice as shown in Kashmir and Pakistan election results and what it means for the future in the region.The business section reports a software industry recovery in India.

Top Stories

* Seven shot dead in dispute over land in Pakistan (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post) (MSNBC) (CNN) (San Francisco Chronicle) (Star Tribune) (Tampa Bay Online) (News Day) (Sanluisobispo.com) (Kentucky.com) (Mercury News)
* Pakistan Islamists want U.S. troops out (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (Washington Times) (Washington Times) (Washington Post) (Monterey Herald) (ABC News) (Philadelphia Inquirer) (MSNBC) (Boston Globe)
* U.S. wary of Pakistani parties' ascent (Omaha World-Herald)
* 15 Pakistan soldiers injured in road accident in Kashmir (Wall Street Journal)
* Islamic win won't hurt Pakistan policy - Musharraf (MSNBC)
* Religious leader in Pakistan sets moderate tone after vote (NY Times)
* Pakistan's religious right holds coalition talks (Kentucky.com) (Mercury News) (Sanluisobispo.com)
* Pakistani fundamentalists' election success raises concerns (Anchorage Daily News) (Christian Science Monitor)
* At least 23 feared drowned as boats capsize in India (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post) (MSNBC) (Monterey Herald) (ABC News) (San Francisco Chronicle) (Star Tribune)
* Chances fade for coalition in India-controlled Kashmir (Wall Street Journal)
* Muslim group ends protest with rally near India PM's house (Wall Street Journal)
* 3 policemen killed in land mine blast in southern India (Wall Street Journal)
* Kashmir's national conference party chief quits federal post (Wall Street Journal)
* After election, Kashmir unlikely to toe Delhi's line (Chicago Tribune)
* Tamil Tiger arrives to prepare for Sri Lanka talks (Wall Street Journal) (MSNBC)

Editorial/Op-Ed

* Kashmiris are heard at last (Wall Street Journal)
* Religion and political identity gathering storm in Pakistan (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Falwell upbraided on Islam remarks (The Hartford Courant) (San Francisco Chronicle)
* AIDS Seen as Threat to World (Long Island Newsday)

Business/Technology

* Indian software sector sees recovery (Washington Times)
* India: the land of 44 million cell phones? (Business Week Online)


Top Stories

* Seven shot dead in dispute over land in Pakistan

Islamabad -- Gunmen ambushed a family over a land dispute, spraying them with automatic weapons fire and killing seven people, police said Tuesday. The victims - including five members of the same family - were walking to a court in Narowal to face charges that they had participated in a killing over a plot of land just outside of town.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Shooting.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-shooting1015oct15,0,979808.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AOct15.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/10/15/pakistan.shooting.ap/index.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/10/15/international0342EDT0470.DTL
http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/3366197.html
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAW1JHIB7D.html
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-shooting1015oct15,0,4139286.story
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/4287795.htm
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/world/4287795.htm
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/news/world/4287795.htm

* Pakistan Islamists want U.S. troops out

Islamabad -- Hardline Islamic parties which have emerged as potential coalition partners after a general election in Pakistan said on Monday they would seek to impose Islamic law in the country and ask U.S. troops to leave. Talks over who would form a coalition in parliament gathered pace, with the focus of the outside world on whether the Islamic front, which recorded stunning gains in last Thursday's poll, would be part of the government or in opposition.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021015_000778-search,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-pakistan-election.html
http://www.washtimes.com/world/.htm
http://washingtontimes.com/world/.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AOct14.html
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/4282834.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20021014_270.html
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/4282834.htm
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/288/nation/Pakistan_hard_liners_want_US_troops_out+.shtml

*U.S. wary of Pakistani parties' ascent

Islamabad -- Even as newly powerful Islamic political parties denounced the presence of American troops on Pakistani soil, a contingent of U.S. soldiers arrived Monday for new joint exercises, the first since Washington lifted sanctions on Pakistan earlier this year. The rise of the religious parties has sent a shudder through Washington, which is heavily reliant on Pakistan in its war on terrorism. The exercises will focus on small-arms training and small-unit tactics and will last about three weeks, the U.S. Embassy said. Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, will lead an American delegation to Pakistan this week to witness part of the exercises, the Pakistani military said.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=54&u_sid=533242

* 15 Pakistan soldiers injured in road accident in Kashmir

Muzaffarabad, Pakistan -- A Pakistan Army truck tumbled off a mountain road in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir, injuring 15 soldiers, four of them seriously, police said Monday. The accident, caused by a mechanical failure, occurred late Sunday in the rugged Rashian area near the border with India, 31 miles southeast of Muzaffarabad, a police official said on condition of anonymity. The soldiers where hospitalized.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021014_001741,00.html

* Islamic win won't hurt Pakistan policy - Musharraf

Istanbul -- Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said on Monday the surprise gains by Islamic parties in last week's polls would not affect the country's commitment to the war on terror. Musharraf also said Islamabad favoured a peaceful solution to the question of Iraq's alleged development of weapons of mass destruction.

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

* Religious leader in Pakistan sets moderate tone after vote

Islamabad -- Qazi Hussain Ahmed, a Pakistani religious leader whose sudden popularity here is making generals in Islamabad and Washington nervous, says he has a message for the American people. We do not dislike you, he says, we dislike what your president is doing. "This is not against America," Mr. Ahmed said. "This is against the wrong policies of America."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/15/international/asia/15STAN.html

* Pakistan's religious right holds coalition talks

Islamabad -- Pakistan's resurgent religious right, which posted huge gains in last week's general election on a fiercely anti-American platform, held a series of coalition talks Tuesday with leaders of rival parties. Fazal-ur-Rehman, secretary-general of the hard-line Islamic Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) movement of six religious groups, met the leaders of the two largest parties in last Thursday's poll in the capital Islamabad.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/world/4288795.htm
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/news/world/4288795.htm
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/4288795.htm

* Pakistani fundamentalists' election success raises concerns

Islamabad/Nowshera, Pakistan -- Pakistan's masses have sent a clear signal of simmering resentment over the U.S. war on terror which is playing out in their own back yard. The Muttahida Maklis-i-Amal (MMA) - an alliance of five fundamentalist Islamic parties which opposes the U.S. hunt for al-Qaida terrorists here and wants to impose strict sharia or Muslim law - surpassed even the wildest of expectations in last Thursday's general elections.

http://www.adn.com/24hour/world/story/576942p-4508182c.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1015/p06s01-wosc.html

* At least 23 feared drowned as boats capsize in India

Ranchi, India -- At least 23 people were feared drowned on Monday after two boats collided and capsized on a river in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, officials said. They said the boats, carrying about 50 passengers, crashed in midstream on the river Rukha, about 20 km (12 miles) from the state capital Ranchi. ''Twenty-three passengers are reported missing while the remaining 27 who were on the boats managed to swim out of the water,'' said Jaishanker Tiwary, deputy commissioner of Ranchi.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021014_003564-search,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-India-Boat-Accident.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-india-boat-accident1014oct14,0,1318896.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AOct14.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/4282589.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20021014_914.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/10/14/international1235EDT0560.DTL
http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/3364554.html

* Chances fade for coalition in India-controlled Kashmir

Srinagar, India -- The chances of coalition government in India-controlled Kashmir faded Monday, as leaders of opposition parties differed over who should get the state's top post and whether to hold talks with separatist Islamic militants. Meanwhile, the ruling National Conference, which has dominated Kashmir politics for more than 50 years, declared it is still in the running to form a government, although the election result was seen as a rejection of the party.

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

* Muslim group ends protest with rally near India PM's house

New Delhi -- A Muslim group demanding that Hindu fundamentalist groups be banned and that victims of religious riots be compensated finished 13 days of protests in New Delhi Tuesday with a sit-down rally by 3,000 people outside the prime minister's house. Members of the group, the Jamiat Ulama-Hind, have held protests on Parliament Street every day since Oct. 2, forcing the closure of main intersections in the capital. It has demanded action against Hindu groups that it says were behind anti-Muslim riots that killed 1,000 people in western Gujarat state earlier this year.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021015_000720-search,00.html

* 3 policemen killed in land mine blast in southern India

Hyderabad, India -- A remote-controlled land mine exploded in southern India killing three policemen and wounding one Tuesday in an attack police blamed on Maoist-Leninist guerrillas. The officers had gone to the Guntur district, 350 kilometers east of Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state, to investigate a suspected rebel attack Monday night on Vemavaram village and were leaving the area when the mine exploded.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021015_000435-search,00.html

* Kashmir's national conference party chief quits federal post

Srinagar, India -- Kashmir's National Conference chief Omar Abullah quit the post of junior foreign minister in India's federal government, saying he needed more time to devote to activities in the state. The government did not say if his resignation had been accepted. The ruling National Conference, which has dominated Kashmir politics for more than 50 years, declared it was still in the running to form a government, although the election result was seen as a rejection of the party.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021014_005964-search,00.html

* After election, Kashmir unlikely to toe Delhi's line

Srinagar, India -- For months, the state assembly election in volatile Kashmir had been an invisible boundary between the current India-Pakistan standoff and whatever will follow--talks, troop withdrawal, even a potential war. Now that the voting has ended, the mood in India is conciliatory as officials bask in international praise for an election that was by all accounts fairer and more representative than previous polls in Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-oct15,0,6305154.story

* Tamil Tiger arrives to prepare for Sri Lanka talks

Colombo -- The highest-level Tamil Tiger official in more than a decade to pass through Colombo airport arrived on Tuesday to meet the rebel leader before sitting down with the government for talks to end two decades of war. Anton Balasingham flew from London to the island's sole international airport -- attacked just 15 months ago by the Tigers -- and then was bundled on to a Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter to Wanni, a rebel-controlled area in the north.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021014_002325,00.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA


* AIDS Seen as Threat to World

Two decades into the AIDS pandemic, HIV is being seen as a threat not just to individual health but also to the stability of the world economy and politics ..... The head of India's national AIDS program, Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, denounced the intelligence report as "alarmist," but admitted that at least four densely populated states already have infection rates above 1 percent of all pregnant women. India has set ambitious goals for its AIDS programs, but lacks a coherent infrastructure for executing prevention and treatment efforts. If India's programs can be solidified, Ghosh said, by 2006 the country will have 9 million people living with HIV. If those programs remain fragmented, she said, the number could reach 14 million, with 1.9 million deaths annually.

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/ny-hsaids132965985oct15,0,5398198.story?coll=ny%2Dnews%2Dprint

Editorial/Op-Ed

* Kashmiris are heard at last

In the five decades India and Pakistan have struggled over Kashmir, neither side has been truly interested in consulting Kashmiris themselves on which state, if either, they wanted to be part of. It may still be a long time before the residents of the vale get a say on that big question, but at least they are now getting a voice in their local government.

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

* Religion and political identity gathering storm in Pakistan

After three years of military rule, Pakistani voters have spoken. The message from the Oct. 10 elections is ominous, with immediate implications for U.S. policymakers: For the first time in Pakistan's history, religious parties have won significant popular support.Muttehidda Majilis-e-Amal -- an electoral alliance of six major religious parties centered around Jamaat-i-Islami -- has won majority of seats in both the North-West Frontier Province and in Baluchistan -- two of Pakistan's four provinces -- as well as 45 seats of 272 available in the country's National Assembly, including seats from the key cities of Islamabad and Karachi.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/15/ED149484.DTL

* Falwell upbraided on Islam remarks

Recent criticism of Islam by the Rev. Jerry Falwell and other evangelical Christian leaders has set off riots in India, helped religious parties win elections in Pakistan and undermined public sympathy in Islamic countries for the U.S. war on terrorism, experts said Monday.Falwell apologized over the weekend for calling Mohammad, the founder of Islam, a "terrorist" in an interview broadcast by the CBS News program "60 Minutes." "I sincerely apologize that certain statements of mine ... were hurtful to the feelings of many Muslims.

http://www.ctnow.com/hc-falwell1015.artoct15.story
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/15/MN202684.DTL

Business/Technology

* Indian software sector sees recovery

Calcutta, India -- The Indian information technology sector appears to be coming out of its slump. If the optimistic guidance from IT companies on future performance are any indication, this sector, which has been going through tough times over the past two years, could well have put the worst behind it. But what really is setting the software sector aficionados' hopes on fire is its latest quarter performance.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm

* India: the land of 44 million cell phones?

As Motorola's managing director in India, Narendra Nayak is used to being overshadowed by his counterparts in China. Motorola Inc. (MOT ) has poured $3.4 billion into making handsets and semiconductors there, while India has seen just a trickle of investment from the maker of phones and chips. The reason is simple: India has fewer than 8 million cellular subscribers, compared with China's 190 million.

http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_42/b3804151.htm

Other Stories

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--- South Asian News, October 15, 2002 ---

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