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-- South Asian News, September 19, 2002 ---

Breaking News/ Newswire

* US see inflitration rising in Kashmir (IANS): The United States believes infiltration across the line of control into Indian Kashmir rose in August and September, the U.S. ambassador to India said on Thursday. Ambassador Robert Blackwill said the United States expected Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to honour a commitment to stop Islamic militants infiltrating into Indian Kashmir to join a revolt against Indian rule there. "Infiltration is certainly still going on. Our judgment is it is up in August and up in September," he told television channels, adding it had fallen in June and July. The Pakistan government announces the arrest of a man it suspects of masterminding the May 8 car bombing that killed 11 French engineers and three others. India rules out any reduction of troops along its frontier with Pakistan, where more than a million soldiers from the two nuclear-armed nations are massed and clashes are frequent. An editorial from Business Week presents comments from two Kashmiri leaders, Omar Abdullah and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, about reunifying the state. http://in.news.yahoo.com/020919/137/1ve91.html

* No movement across LoC in Kashmir: Musharraf (IANS): President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday Pakistan is "not allowing, sponsoring or encouraging any movement" across the Line of Control (LoC) into the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. "I want to categorically state that the government of Pakistan is neither allowing nor sponsoring, nor encouraging any kind of movement across the Line of Control, the working boundary or international border (with India)," Musharraf said. "Any claims to the contrary are motivated and false," he said in his inaugural address to a two-day Conference on Peace and Security in South Asia at the Institute of Strategic Studies,Online news agency reported. http://in.news.yahoo.com/020919/43/1veai.html

* Bhutto blasts military regime during US visit (AP): A democratically elected government can do a better job containing Pakistan's hardline Islamic militants than the current military regime headed, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has said. "I believe a democratic Pakistan is much more effective at dealing with the forces of extremism," Bhutto said at a news conference at Elon University yesterday. "I do believe that General (Pervez) Musharraf's regime should have handled the Taliban, should have handled al-Qaida before the attacks on America." Bhutto was in North Carolina to speak at a university symposium on globalisation. http://in.news.yahoo.com/020919/20/1vdun.html

* Indian arrested after Sept. 11 attacks sentenced to time served (AFP): An Indian national arrested en route to Texas on an Amtrak train a day after the September 11 attacks on the United States will be released after a judge sentenced him to time served. Thirty six-year-old Mohammed Jaweed Azmath, of Hyderabad, was arrested a year ago on a train heading for San Antonio, Texas, along with a compatriot, Ayub Ali Khan, identified by the government as Syed Gul Mohammed Shah. Federal agents detained the men as the Amtrak train neared Fort Worth, Texas on September 12, 2001, demanding they show identification and ordering both totheir luggage. Box cutters similar to those used by the perpetrators of the September 11 suicide attacks were found inside, plus 5,500 dollars in cash. http://in.news.yahoo.com/020919/20/1vdtu.html

Top Stories

* Pakistan announces arrest of alleged mastermind of May 8 car-bombing (Wall Street Journal) (Houston Chronicle) (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Times) (Washington Post) (MSNBC) (CBS News) (ABC News) (Fox News) (CNN.com) (Miami Herald) (Boston.com) (Boston Globe) (Seattle Times) (Las Vegas Sun) (Sun Spot) (Financial Times)
* As campaigning gets under way, opposition denounces Pakistan's parliamentary vote as a sham (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (MSNBC) (ABC News)
* Pakistan sentences 12 to death for tribal murder (MSNBC)
* India team heads for Kashmir fearing fresh violence (NY Times) (Washington Post)
* Tighter security in Kashmir ahead of Sonia Gandhi's visit (Wall Street Journal) (Washington Post) (Philadelphia Inquirer)
* India rules out troop reduction along border, rejects dialogue with Pakistan (NY Times) (LA Times) (MSNBC)
* Kashmir violence leaves 13 dead (LA Times) (ABC News)
* India's supreme court urged to impose direct presidential rule in Gujarat (Voice of America)
* More Pakistan Kashmir rebels enter India area - US envoy (Wall Street Journal) (USA Today) (MSNBC)
* Tribal Indian rebels say execute two drug dealers (MSNBC)
* Nationalist group says peace bid will split Sri Lanka (MSNBC)
* Sri Lanka peace talks progress (Wall Street Journal) (MSNBC) (Voice of America) (Philadelphia Inquirer)
* Tamil rebels drop demand for independence in major boost for peace (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (MSNBC) (ABC News) (Reuters Alertnet) (CNN.com) (Las Vegas Sun) (Boston.com) (Global Info)

Editorial/Op-Ed

* "There has been a huge change" (Business Week)
* "The human aspect of Kashmir is ignored" (Business Week)

Business/Technology

* India rejects speculation asset sales under review (Bloomberg)

Top Stories

* Pakistan announces arrest of alleged mastermind of May 8 car-bombing

Karachi, Pakistan -- The Pakistan government announced the arrest Wednesday of a man it suspects of masterminding the May 8 car bombing that killed 11 French engineers and three others. A government statement said the suspect was among seven Pakistanis arrested in raids early Wednesday in this sprawling port city. ''One of the apprehended terrorists is suspected to have masterminded the attack on a bus near the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi'' in which the French engineers died.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB-search,00.html
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/world/1580799
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/19/international/asia/19KARA.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Arrests.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-arrests0918sep18(0,3663436).story
http://washingtontimes.com/world/.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ASep18.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/18/world/main522447.shtml
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020918_475.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,63442,00.html
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/09/18/pakistan.france/index.html
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/2002/09/19/news/world/4103567.htm
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/261/world/Pakistan_announces_arrest_of_a%3A.shtml
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/262/nation/Suspected_bomb_planner_arrested+.shtml
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134537779_webpakistan18.html
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2002/sep/18/091806506.html
http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-pakistan-arrest18(0,5342139).story
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=&p=

* As campaigning gets under way, opposition denounces Pakistan's parliamentary vote as a sham

Islamabad -- As campaigning gears up for the first election since Gen. Pervez Musharraf seized power, Pakistan's opposition leaders are denouncing the process as window dressing for continued military rule. ''The next parliament will be just a show piece,'' said Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, head of the 15-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, which is fielding candidates for the Oct. 10 vote. ''Musharraf has overshadowed the parliamentary system.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020919_000545-search,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Elections.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-elections0919sep18(0,876337).story
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20020919_115.html

* Pakistan sentences 12 to death for tribal murder

Quetta, Pakistan -- A Pakistani court in the southwestern province of Baluchistan sentenced 12 people to death on Wednesday for the murder of a rival tribal leader. Sardar Mohammad Aslam Gichki and two bodyguards were murdered three months ago in Awaran district, bordering Iran.

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

* India team heads for Kashmir fearing fresh violence

Srinagar, India -- India's chief election commissioner and top officials were heading for Kashmir on Thursday amid fears of further bloodshed in the next rounds of voting to the state assembly, an official said. More than 460 people have been killed since August 2 when India said it would hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the disputed state at the center of a nine-month-old military standoff with Pakistan.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-kashmir.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ASep19.html

* Tighter security in Kashmir ahead of Sonia Gandhi's visit

Srinagar, India -- Bomb squads and minesweepers scoured a cricket stadium before Indian opposition leader Sonia Gandhi was to speak Thursday in Jammu-Kashmir's summer capital, where militants have threatened all who partake in state elections. A grenade exploded at Gandhi's Congress Party state headquarters on Tuesday, wounding three people, in what police say is part of a campaign by Islamic militants opposed to the elections in India's portion of divided Kashmir.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020919_000428-search,00.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ASep19.html
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/4105940.htm

* India rules out troop reduction along border, rejects dialogue with Pakistan

New York -- India has ruled out any reduction of troops along its frontier with Pakistan, where more than a million soldiers from the two nuclear-armed nations are massed and clashes are frequent. Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday also said there would be no resumption of peace talks with Pakistan, a country with which it has fought three wars, two of them over claims to the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Arrests.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-india-pakistan0919sep18(0,2177901).story
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA

* Kashmir violence leaves 13 dead

September 18, Srinagar, India -- Days before a second round of voting in disputed Kashmir, suspected Islamic rebels gunned down political workers and clashed with security forces in a surge of violence that left 13 people dead, police said Wednesday. Gunmen fatally shot Ali Mohammad Dar, an activist of the ruling National Conference, at close range Wednesday in Koker Bazar, a busy business district in the state capital, Srinagar.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-kashmir-violence0918sep18(0,6036508).story
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20020918_1029.html

* India's supreme court urged to impose direct presidential rule in Gujarat

September 18, New Delhi -- India's national election commission is urging the Supreme Court to impose direct presidential rule in strife-torn Gujarat state. The statement released Wednesday comes as India's Supreme Court considers a request made by the central government for early elections in the state. The election commission says polls cannot be held by October because of instability due to recurring Muslim-Hindu violence - despite the New Delhi government's request.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=087786F9-3E4A-46CC-AC83E13C3458D841

* More Pakistan Kashmir rebels enter India area - US envoy

New Delhi -- Infiltration of militants from Pakistan's portion of Kashmir into Indian territory has increased in the past two months, the U.S. ambassador said Thursday. "Infiltration is going on and in our judgment it increased in August and September," Ambassador Robert Blackwill told reporters. An end to infiltration is one of India's main demands for creating a climate to renew dialogue with Pakistan , its nuclear-armed rival and neighbor.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020919_001695-search,00.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/-kashmir_x.htm
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA

* Tribal Indian rebels say execute two drug dealers

Guwahati, India -- Separatist tribal rebels in India's insurgency-hit northeast said they executed two drug dealers early on Wednesday. The men were killed by a firing squad in Bishenpur, 30 km (20 miles miles) south of Imphal, the state capital of Manipur, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Peoples Front told Reuters.

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

* Nationalist group says peace bid will split Sri Lanka

Colombo -- Sri Lanka's peace bid with Tamil Tiger rebels will led to a divided country, a Marxist Sinhalese nationalist group warned on Wednesday, but said its opposition to the process would be expressed democratically. ''There is not any kind of peace process. There is only a process to separate the country,'' Bimal Rathnayake, a spokesman for the People's Liberation Front (JVP), told Reuters.

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

* Sri Lanka peace talks progress

Sattahip, Thailand -- Tamil Tiger rebels wrapped up a historic peace conference on Wednesday demanding only self-determination, and not full independence, from Sri Lanka - the clearest sign yet that they are determined to negotiate an end to 19 years of bloody civil war. The rebels are refusing to lay down their arms immediately.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020919_000517-search,00.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/809467.asp
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=D5B4CBB7-F050-44A9-8FA947F0113EC284
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/4085244.htm

* Tamil rebels drop demand for independence in major boost for peace

Sattahip, Thailand -- Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels gave their clearest commitment yet Wednesday to peacefully settling the nation's 19-year civil war, demanding only self-determination - not independence - for the Tamil minority. ''We demand the recognition of our homeland. When we say homeland it doesn't mean separate state,'' Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam, said after a first round of historic peace talks with Sri Lanka's government.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB-search,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-srilanka-talks.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-sri-lanka-peace-talks0919sep18(0,630185).story
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20020918_314.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/516118
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/09/17/slanka.talks/index.html
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2002/sep/18/091806222.html
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/262/nation/Tamil_rebels_seek_recognition+.shtml
http://globalinfo.org/eng/reader.asp?ArticleId=17627

Editorial/Op-Ed

* "There has been a huge change"

The morning is sunny and serene, and the flowers are in full bloom in the well tended garden at Omar Abdullah's residence in Srinagar, Kashmir. Omar Abdullah is the son of Kashmir's chief minister, and he has just become president of the ruling National Conference party. From Dal Lake below, a gentle breeze carries up to the alpine-cottage residences that dot the city.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_38/b3800162.htm

* "The human aspect of Kashmir is ignored"

In a heavily guarded enclave near Nagin Lake in Srinagar, lives Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the most prominent religious leader of the Kashmiri Muslims. Visitors expecting a wizened, bearded old scholar will be surprised to find a young man of 26, articulate with disarming charm and fashionable black-framed glasses. Yes, the Mirwaiz (a title for the religious head) does wear a beard, but it's dark and neatly trimmed, a departure from the clergy's typical uncut beard.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_38/b3800161.htm


Business/Technology

* India rejects speculation asset sales under review

New Delhi -- India rejected speculation it will halt state asset sales aimed at raising $2.5 billion this financial year, saying it's only reviewing objections by ministers to part of the plan. ``There's no decision or reversal of the existing policy as approved by the Cabinet,'' Pradip Baijal, secretary in the Ministry of Disinvestment, said in an interview. ``The government is not reviewing its privatization policy.''

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20Financial%20News&T=markets_box.ht&middle=ad_frame2_all&s=APYgCzRVqSW5kaWEg

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