These news clips are sponsored by the Indian American Center for Political Awareness.

--- South Asian News, September 23, 2002 ---(International)

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee blames Pakistan for poll-related violence in Kashmir, after 23 people are killed in militant attacks over the weekend. In Pakistan, authorities arrest 10 Arab men, suspected to be al Qaeda members, as they try to cross the border from neighboring Afghanistan. In the editorial section, the focus is on the White House's lenient policy towards General Musharraf, even as evidence mounts that Pakistan is now the global hub of Qaeda operations.

Africa


N/A

Americas


* India blames Pakistan for 23 deaths (The News Mexico)
* 40 killed in Nepal clashes (The News Mexico)

Asia-Pacific


* Pakistan arrests 10 linked to al Qaeda (Japan Today)
* Eve of Kashmir's voting day sees fierce firefight along LoC (Channel News Asia)
* India blames Pakistan for 23 deaths (Japan Today)
* Indian police camp attacked ahead of polls (Malaya Star) (Australian Broadcasting)
* More suspected terrorists arrested in Pakistan (Xinhuanet) (Japan Today)
* Former US President Bill Clinton to visit Sri Lanka (Xinhuanet)
* Sri Lankan President vows to retaliate for her assassination attempt (Xinhuanet) (Malaya Star) (Japan Today)
* 15 killed in bomb blast in northern India (Channel News Asia)
* 12 killed in accidental explosion in south Nepal (Japan Today)
* Coca-Cola's director flees Bangladesh to escape death (Japan Today)

Europe


* Five rebels killed in Kashmir gunbattle (Swiss Info) (BBC)
* Suspected militants arrested in Pakistan (BBC)
* Arrests in Indian mafia boss case (BBC)
* Fifteen killed in north India blast (BBC)
* Nepal PM floats new political party (BBC)

Middle East


* Pakistan troops arrest 10 with Al Qaeda links (Gulf Daily News)
* India mafia don 'has links with Al Qaeda' (Gulf Daily News)
* Indian troops kill 12 rebels in Kashmir (Gulf Daily News)
* Musharraf says Kashmiris reject Valley polls (IRNA)
* Pakistan says India invents pretexts not to talk (IRNA)
* Three UAE expats dead in India helicopter crash (Gulf News) (Gulf Daily News)
* Chandrika vows to resist power-curb (Gulf News) (Gulf Daily News)
* Hurriyat facing split after polls (Gulf News)
* Bhutto's party could tie up with Muslim League (Gulf Daily News)
* Minister invites oil majors to invest in India (IRNA)
* Iran to grant India oil exploration right - Indian Minister (IRNA)
* Indian expert on Iran's IFNA news confab (IRNA)
* Int'l symposium on population in Dhaka (IRNA)

Editorial


* The Bush team is letting Pakistan drift toward chaos (International Herald Tribune)

Business/Technology


* New Indian company for buying Bangla gas (IRNA)


Africa


N/A

Americas


* India blames Pakistan for 23 deaths

Srinagar, India -- Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee blamed Pakistan for surging violence ahead of state elections in Kashmir, after suspected Islamic militants killed 23 people in the disputed province. "The manner in which elections in the state are being disrupted, there doesn't seem to be any change in Pakistan's attitude toward Kashmir," Vajpayee told reporters Sunday. At least 24 people were injured after guerrillas attacked a police housing complex, ambushed a paramilitary vehicle and triggered explosives over the weekend.

http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=35856

* 40 killed in Nepal clashes

At least 40 people, including a girl, a soldier and 38 alleged Maoist insurgents were killed in the latest skirmishes in different parts of Nepal, the government said Sunday. According to a Defense Ministry statement, the biggest encounter occurred in Rolpa district, about 300 kilometers west of the capital, where 17 alleged Maoist insurgents were killed on Saturday. Eight alleged Maoists were shot dead Saturday in Chitwan district, south of Kathmandu Valley, eight more in Dedeldhura district in western Nepal, three in Syangja district and one in Salyan district.

http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=35815

Asia-Pacific


* Pakistan arrests 10 linked to al Qaeda

Peshawar, Pakistan -- Pakistani security forces arrested 10 Arab men as they tried to sneak across the border from neighboring Afghanistan in the past week, officials said Sunday. The men, traveling with fake passports, were ordered held in northwestern Pakistan. Officials suspected they may be part of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. He did not say what evidence authorities have that the men are part of bin Laden's terror group. The detentions came during a crackdown on al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist groups in Pakistan. Pakistani and U.S. officials say hundreds, perhaps thousands, of al Qaeda and Taliban members have crossed into Pakistan after fleeing U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=231420

* Eve of Kashmir's voting day sees fierce firefight along LoC

Indian-administered Kashmir is bracing for further violence when a new round of voting gets underway on Tuesday. Ahead of that second round in the southern district of Jammu, there has been a surge in separatist violence. Five suspected militants were killed when a fierce gunbattle with Indian security forces broke out early Monday morning close to the Line of Control, the ceasefire line dividing the Indian from the Pakistani administered state of Kashmir. Some arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/19731/1/.html

* India blames Pakistan for 23 deaths

Srinagar, India -- Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee blamed Pakistan for surging violence ahead of state elections in Kashmir, after suspected Islamic militants killed 23 people in the disputed province. "The manner in which elections in the state are being disrupted, there doesn't seem to be any change in Pakistan's attitude toward Kashmir," Vajpayee told reporters Sunday. At least 24 people were injured after guerrillas attacked a police housing complex, ambushed a paramilitary vehicle and triggered explosives over the weekend.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=231419

* Indian police camp attacked ahead of polls

Srinagar, India -- Security forces killed a suspected Islamic separatist in Indian Kashmir yesterday, ending a night-long siege at a police camp as violence increases ahead of the second round of a state election. One policeman was killed and eight others injured when two gunmen forced their way into the camp in Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, on Saturday. "We are still searching for the other (rebel)," regional police chief K. Rajendra told reporters at the camp. The base houses hundreds of police families and the attack sparked fears of a repeat of a May raid on an army camp in which 34 people died, including many wives and children of soldiers.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/9/23/asia/seege&sec=asia
http://abc.net.au/asiapacific/news/GoAsiaPacificBNA_682964.htm

* More suspected terrorists arrested in Pakistan

Pakistani police in Karachi on Sunday evening arrested two more suspects of the suicide bombing outside the US consulate and abortive attacks on Western fast foodoutlets, local press reported on Monday. The detained are said to be members of the terrorist organization Harkat-ul Mujahedin al Alami. The police also recovered sizable quantity of weapons and explosives from them. Sunday's arrests take to 23 the members of the group, all Pakistanis, who have been arrested since July. Police claimed that members of Harkat-ul Mujahedin al Alami had planned to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in April and attack on the headquarters of paramilitary rangers in Karachi and US-based fast-food outlets, but all the attempts had failed.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/23/content_571379.htm
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7

* Former US President Bill Clinton to visit Sri Lanka

Former US President Bill Clinton told visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he plans to visit Sri Lanka soon to acquaint himself with the country's peace process, the state-run Daily News said on Monday. When they met in New York last week, Wickremesinghe thanked Clinton for his interest in Sri Lanka during his period in office and briefed him on the progress of the peace process in his country.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/23/content_571261.htm

* Sri Lankan President vows to retaliate for her assassination attempt

September 22 -- Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has accused the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of attempting to assassinate her and vowed to hit back by killing 500 before she dies, the weekly Sunday Times said. "If they hit me I will hit back. If they come to attack me I will use the powers at my command. If they come to kill me, I willkill 500 before dying," Kumaratunga was quoted as saying. Kumaratunga made the remark at a ceremony marking the 19th death anniversary of a party stalwart in the central district of Kandy on Friday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/22/content_570321.htm
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/9/23/asia/chandrika&sec=asia
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7

* 15 killed in bomb blast in northern India

At least 15 people have been killed when a powerful bomb exploded in a passenger van in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Police said the bomb exploded as the van approached a railway crossing on the Hardoi-Kanpur road, some 100 kilometres from the state capital of Lucknow. There was no immediate clue as to who might be responsible for the blast.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/19674/1/.html

* 12 killed in accidental explosion in south Nepal

Kathmandu -- Eleven Maoist rebels and a child were killed when a bomb accidentally exploded in the Banke district in southern Nepal on Sunday, police said. The police said about 35 suspected Maoist rebels were at a house at Phattepur village Sunday afternoon when a home-made bomb went off accidentally.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7

* Coca-Cola's director flees Bangladesh to escape death

Dhaka -- Coco-Cola's Bangladesh director, Indian national Ajay Mitra, has fled the country following extortion and death threats from a notorious underworld terrorist, the Bengali daily Janakanthaa reported Saturday. Mitra had received threats on several occasions over the phone demanding a huge amount of money as extortion from the notorious underworld terrorist Kala Jahangir, the paper reported.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7

Europe


* Five rebels killed in Kashmir gunbattle

Indian security forces have shot dead five militants in a gunbattle near the Pakistan border in Indian Kashmir as fresh violence erupts ahead of the second stage of voting in state elections, police say. The Islamic rebels were killed late on Sunday in the clash that broke out near the Line of Control, a military ceasefire line dividing Kashmir between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. The new violence north of Srinagar, the state's summer capital, came after security forces killed a suspected separatist earlier on Sunday, ending a siege at a police camp.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=1352841
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2274576.stm

* Suspected militants arrested in Pakistan

Police in Pakistan have arrested two suspected militants including an Afghan in the north-western city of Peshawar. Reports say the two men were detained in a raid carried with assistance from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is not clear if the suspects are connected to the al - Qaeda organisation of Saudi fugitive, Osama bin Laden. A total of 21 members of the organisation, all Pakistanis, have been arrested since July. The two men, identified as Saeed, a Pakistani national and Mohammad Din, said to be from Afghanistan, were arrested late on Sunday in a Peshawar neighbourhood.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2275471.stm

* Arrests in Indian mafia boss case

The police in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have arrested three government officials for issuing fake passports to the crime boss Abu Salem and his two women companions. The officials including a police officer, are being questioned for giving clearance to Abu Salem who is alleged to have applied for passports using fake name and false addresses. Abu Salem and his companion, Bombay actress Monica Bedi, were arrested on Wednesday. He is now being held in Lisbon on charges of carrying false travel documents.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2274372.stm

* Fifteen killed in north India blast

The authorities in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh say at least 15 people were killed in a blast in an overcrowded passenger van. The explosion took place on the main road in Hardoi district , nearly 100 kilometres from the state capital Lucknow around 2:30 pm (0900 GMT). Fourteen people died instantly while three others were injured, one of whom died later in hospital of her wounds, official said. Two other victims were being treated in hospital for severe injuries.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2274374.stm

* Nepal PM floats new political party

The Nepalese Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, has launched a new political party less than two months before parliamentary elections. The move comes a week after the country's election commission refused to recognise Mr Deuba's breakaway faction as the official Nepali Congress party. Mr Deuba split the centrist Nepali Congress party three months ago over his move to extend the state of emergency, a step opposed by party members led by former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2276120.stm

Middle East


* Pakistan troops arrest 10 with Al Qaeda links

Pakistani security forces have arrested 10 men of Middle Eastern origin as they tried to sneak across the border from Afghanistan in the past week, officials said yesterday. The men, whom Pakistani authorities suspect may be part of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, were found to be travelling with fake passports and were ordered held at military installations in northwestern Pakistan, authorities said.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=33184&Sn=WORL

* India mafia don 'has links with Al Qaeda'

New Delhi -- Abu Salem, India's most-wanted gangster who was arrested in Portugal last week, has links with terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, a newspaper here claimed yesterday. Salem, 40, was arrested by Interpol in Lisbon on Wednesday along with his companion Monica Bedi and another man. The Hindustan Times newspaper said yesterday that Salem had close links with Al Qaeda and he was recently investing huge sums of money in real estate in the east coast of the US. "It was a Saudi Arabian intelligence input to the US about Abu Salem's links with the Al Qaeda that triggered the undercover chase culminating in the don's arrest in Lisbon," the report said, quoting sources in India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=33197&Sn=WORL

* Indian troops kill 12 rebels in Kashmir

Twenty-three people have been killed in a fresh surge of violence in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said yesterday, two days ahead of the second round of voting for the state assembly. Among those killed in the past two days were 12 Muslim rebels shot dead in clashes with police, including one of two who launched a brazen attack on a police compound in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir's summer capital.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=33202&Sn=WORL

* Musharraf says Kashmiris reject Valley polls

President General Pervez Musharraf has said Kashmiris have rejected the sham election in the Indian-controlled Kashmir with marginal turn out. He was talking to newsmen after laying the foundation stone of National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad on Monday. "The turn out in the first phase of elections in Occupied Kashmir was from 2 to 10 percent only. Claims to the contrary by the Indian officials were total lies," the President said.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Pakistan says India invents pretexts not to talk

Pakistan Monday said India avoids dialogue with Pakistan over bilateral irritants by inventing ruses. "They have to hide behind excuses just in order to avoid dialogue with Pakistan...they keep on inventing new excuses all the time and they do not sound convincing," spokesman for the Pakistan Foreign Office Aziz Ahmed Khan told a weekly press briefing at the Foreign Office. He said Pakistan stands for resolution of issues with India through dialogue and peaceful means. But India, he accused, has held
bilateralism hostage to its "intransigence."

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Three UAE expats dead in India helicopter crash

Three UAE expats dead in India helicopter crash -->The UAE embassy in New Delhi said yesterday that three UAE expatriates died in a helicopter crash in western India yesterday, that killed five people including the pilot and the co-pilot. The official at the UAE embassy in the Indian capital denied any UAE government officials were on board as was widely speculated. The UAE diplomat said "two of the expatriates who died were part of a delegation led by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister for Higher Education, to India, while one worked with a prominent Non Resident Indian, based in Dubai."

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=63809
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=33188&Sn=WORL

* Chandrika vows to resist power-curb

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has vowed to make use of her executive powers if the ruling United National Front (UNF) government makes any attempt to curtail her authority. Kumaratunga's warning came during a meeting in the central Kandy district where she vowed to fight back if the government went on to abuse its powers and take action against the president.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=63842
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=33198&Sn=WORL

* Hurriyat facing split after polls

The separatist All Party Hurriyat Conference is heading for an imminent split following the successful conduct of the first of the four-phase state legislative assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The large turn-out of voters during the first phase of polling on September 16 has unnerved those opposed to polls as it has started to send signals that the people of the state are fed up with 13 years of militancy, often described by Pakistan as the indigenous freedom movement of the people. Quoting intelligence inputs, a senior Home Ministry official said the dispensation in Pakistan, often accused by India of supporting terrorist groups active in the state, is not happy with the Hurriyat leadership for its failure to motivate voters to boycott the polls. Sources said that soon after the poll process ends next month, hardliners may take over leadership of the 23-party conglomerate.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=63843

* Bhutto's party could tie up with Muslim League

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto said yesterday it would consider forming a coalition government with its former rival if it wins next month's elections. The PPP and its former rival the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) of Nawaz Sharif are members of the multi-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) formed last year to end military rule.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=33199&Sn=WORL

* Minister invites oil majors to invest in India

Anxious to curb the "extreme volatility in oil prices" witnessed over the past couple of years, India's Petroleum Minister, Ram Naik, called for evolving mechanisms that would ensure stable prices at levels affordable by oil importing developing countries, reported media on Monday. According to the Hindu, a New Delhi-based English daily, Naik who is currently in Osaka, Japan, to attend the International Energy Forum, advocated such a mechanism to provide relief to developing countries when the oil prices cross a pre-decided band.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Iran to grant India oil exploration right - Indian Minister

Iran has assured India on Sunday that it will be awarded exclusive rights to explore the onshore Pars oil and gas field, India's Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said in Osaka, local media reported on Monday. According to the Financial Express, a New Delhi-based English daily, Naik told this to reporters in Osaka, Japan where he was attending the International Energy Forum of Oil Producers and Consuming Nations. Naik met his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh earlier. "In our bilateral meeting, Iran said it will give us the exploration block. It will confirm by October-end," he said.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Indian expert on Iran's IFNA news confab

An Indian prominent media expert Bhaskara Rao Monday described Iran's initiative for hosting the upcoming "International Forum of News Agencies - Coalition for Peace (IFNA)" as an important step for persuading a shift in the priorities in the news agencies. Rao, who is also the Chairman of the Center for Media Studies in New Delhi highlighted the role of media in the change of situation in the world and the region.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Int'l symposium on population in Dhaka

A two-day international symposium titled 'Population and Development Challenges in Asian Countries' began in Dhaka on Sunday to discuss inadequately addressed issues like poverty, education and health, reported media on Monday. The Dhaka-based 'Daily Star' newspaper reported that the symposium is meant to facilitating regional policy-makers to share their experiences for better integration of strategies for population management and those for development and poverty reduction in South Asia.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

Editorial


* The Bush team is letting Pakistan drift toward chaos

The recent capture of the Qaeda leader Ramzi Binalshibh in a shoot-out in Karachi has dramatized the critical choices that face the United States in dealing with Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf. As evidence mounts that Pakistan is now the global hub of Qaeda operations, Musharraf is raising his price for cooperation with Washington, demanding large-scale military aid, including F-16 fighter jets, on top of the bonanza of economic aid already showered on Islamabad since Sept. 11.
Equally important, he made clear during his U.S. visit last week that he plans to perpetuate his military regime indefinitely and expects Washington to look the other way when he rigs the Pakistani elections next month. So far the Bush administration has allowed Musharraf to call the tune. The Pentagon has just approved $230 million in subsidized military sales to Pakistan and hasd a dialogue with Islamabad on its military needs in a newly reactivated Defense Consultative Committee.

http://www.iht.com/articles/71436.html

Business/Technology


* New Indian company for buying Bangla gas

Indian Government has asked Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to form a company for buying gas from Bangladesh, after Dhaka clears the political passage for the deal, reported local media on Monday. According to the Times of India, a New Delhi-based English daily, the new company has been christened India International Gas Company (IIGC). While IOC will hold 48 per cent, Gail and ONGC will hold 26 per cent each. India's top oil ministry official said on Sunday that "the respective company secretaries are discussing the amount of equity capital to be shared by each firm''. The firm's charter initially would be to buy gas from PetroBangla and distribute it in the country as well as build pipelines, the official added.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

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