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Breaking News and Newswires

* Indian, US officials discuss giving substance to bilateral ties (IANS): Senior Indian and U.S. officials Tuesday discussed steps to "increase and intensify" their joint fight against terrorism as well as take stock of developments in Afghanistan and the region in talks here Tuesday. Christina Rocca, assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, and John Wolf, assistant secretary of state for non-proliferation, held talks with their counterparts in the external affairs ministry, Jayant Prasad, joint secretary (U.S. and Canada), and S.K. Sharma, joint secretary (disarmament), respectively. The talks will continue Wednesday. That the talks were held in the backdrop of elections in Jammu and Kashmir was not lost on diplomatic observers. The Kashmir balloting is on with international observers keenly watching it. David Johnson, U.S. coordinator for Afghanistan, is also in the capital to discuss with Indian officials the developments in that country, while Francis Taylor, coordinator of the U.S.-India joint working group on terrorism, is expected in the next couple of days.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/020924/43/1vjuf.html

* Tamilians in US can now watch TV programmes (PTI): Nearly a lakh Tamil households in the US can now enjoy entertainment programmes and watch news in their mother tongue round the clock thanks to an agreement between DISH Network, a leading American direct broadcast satellite television provider, and Chennai-based Tamil channel SUN TV. DISH Network will air the programmes of SUN TV and its subscribers can have access to them by paying a monthly fee of fifteen dollars, Chairman and Managing Director of SUN TV Kalanithi Maran told reporters here yesterday. http://in.news.yahoo.com/020924/20/1vjvz.html


--- South Asian News, September 24, 2002 ---

Pakistani authorities remove signs showing Christian institutions fearing attacks on Christians and fortify other Christian sites. In India, Kashmiris face their toughest vote amidst gunfire and grenade attacks from separatist guerrillas attempting to disrupt the second phase of polls in the state. In business news, the Pakistani government plan to help the state-run airlines purchase 10 new planes in an ambitious $2 billion fleet overhaul program.

Top Stories

* Signs removed from Pakistani churches after maps of Christian sites found on suspected Islamic militants (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (MSNBC)
* U.S. renews Pakistan military ties (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times)
* Two men suspected of al-Qaida links arrested in joint FBI, Pakistani raid in Peshawar (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (MSNBC) (Boston.com)
* Kashmiris face polls amid sandbagged bunkers, armed troops (Wall Street Journal) (Washington Post) (ABC News)
* 10 killed on eve of Kashmir election (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post)
* Bullets fly in Kashmir election; voters stay away (NY Times) (Washington Post) (ABC News)
* Few vote in Kashmir due to boycott, fears of violence (Wall Street Journal) (Washington Post) (ABC News)
* Kashmir forces blow up building, siege ends (Washington Post) (ABC News)
* Police gain control of Kashmir battle site (CNN.com)
* Bangladesh navy vessel catches fire, 10 injured (MSNBC)
* Defense Ministry: At least 76 rebels killed in military strikes in Nepal (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (MSNBC) (Boston.com) (Salon.com)
* Nepal's embattled PM forms new political party (Wall Street Journal) (MSNBC)
* Crew safe after Turkish tanker sinks off Sri Lanka (MSNBC)

Editorial/Op-Ed

* In a battered taxi, a nurse to India's poorest (NY Times)

Business/Technology

* Pakistan okays $150M for Airlines (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times)


Top Stories


* Signs removed from Pakistani churches after maps of Christian sites found on suspected Islamic militants

Fearing new attacks on Christian targets in Pakistan, police removed signs identifying churches set up in private homes and fortified other Christian sites with sandbag bunkers, authorities said Monday. The measures came after police found maps of two churches and a Christian school, along with weapons and explosives, during the arrest of two suspected Islamic militants in the southern port city of Karachi, Interior Ministry officials told The Associated Press.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020923_001160,00.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Church-Security.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-church-security0923sep23(0,2972284).story
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA


* U.S. renews Pakistan military ties

Washington -- The Pentagon is renewing high-level ties with Pakistan's military for the first time in five years, a relationship forged in the war on terrorism that could pay off with U.S. technology for Pakistan. Douglas Feith, the Defense Department's top policy official, will meet with top Pakistani military officials this week. It's the first such meeting since the United States broke off such ties over Pakistan's 1998 nuclear weapons tests.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB-search,00.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-US-Pakistan.html


* Two men suspected of al-Qaida links arrested in joint FBI, Pakistani raid in Peshawar

Peshawar, Pakistan -- Pakistani police and FBI agents have arrested two men suspected of links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network in a joint raid in a residential area of Peshawar, officials said Monday. The men - Saeed-ur-Rehman of Pakistan and an Afghan national named Juma Din - were arrested Sunday at a home after authorities received a tip that they were staying there, Pakistani law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020923_000973,00.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/international/asia/24ARRE.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-al-Qaida.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/266/world/Two_men_suspected_of_al_Qaida_%3A.shtmls

* Kashmiris face polls amid sandbagged bunkers, armed troops

Srinagar, India -- Kashmiris faced the chilling prospect Tuesday of voting at polls inside sandbagged bunkers attacked hours earlier with grenades and gunfire blamed on militants intent on disrupting Kashmir's state elections. At least 10 people were killed and 27 injured Monday in attacks by suspected guerrillas and in gunbattles with soldiers in India's portion of Kashmir, the Himalayan province also claimed by Pakistan .

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020923_006784-search,00.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ASep23.html
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20020924_316.html


* 10 killed on eve of Kashmir election

Srinagar, India -- Separatists killed 10 people in grenade attacks on polling stations and gun battles with soldiers Monday, determined to frighten voters on the eve of state elections in Kashmir. The violence came as tens of thousands of Indian soldiers built sandbag bunkers at polling booths for the second round of voting Tuesday in India's portion of the Himalayan province, which is also claimed by neighboring Pakistan.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020923_004789-search,00.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Kashmir-Elections.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-kashmir-elections0924sep23(0,6916075).story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ASep23.html


* Bullets fly in Kashmir election; voters stay away

Srinagar, India -- Bullets flew in Kashmir's main city Tuesday as India organized the second phase of a state assembly election that Muslim separatist guerrillas have vowed to derail. Much of Srinagar, summer capital of the state at the heart of half a century of rivalry between India and Pakistan, was like a ghost town.

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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-kashmir.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ASep24.html
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020924_42.html

* Few vote in Kashmir due to boycott, fears of violence

Srinagar, India -- Few people ventured out early Tuesday to vote here in state elections in Indian-controlled Kashmir, daunted by explosions and gunfire between security forces and militants and heeding a separatist call to boycott the polls. Islamic rebels fighting for independence for India's only Muslim-majority state, or its merger with Pakistan, say the elections are rigged in favor of the ruling pro-India National Conference and have tried to disrupt them with attacks on candidates, voters and police.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020924_000836-search,00.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ASep24.html
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020924_105.html

* Kashmir forces blow up building, siege ends

Srinagar, India -- Indian paramilitary forces blew up a building in Kashmir's main city Tuesday to flush out two Muslim separatists holed up inside, ending a night-long siege as a second phase of state polls began. The militants had traded heavy fire with security forces since they entered the building near a heavily guarded polling booth in Srinagar late Monday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ASep24.html
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020924_36.html

* Police gain control of Kashmir battle site

Srinagar, India -- A violent standoff between Indian security forces and militants has ended after Indian forces hit the building they were holed up in with two massive blasts. The final assault came hours after a fierce gunbattle erupted between Indian security forces and militants in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, just minutes after pollsd for a second round of state elections.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/09/24/kashmir.violence.poll/index.html

* Bangladesh navy vessel catches fire, 10 injured

Chittagong, Bangladesh -- At least 10 Bangladesh Navy personnel were injured as they tried to put out a fire on a patrol ship near Chittagong port on Monday, officials said. ''The ship caught fire at a berth early on Monday but it is still burning,'' a fire service official told Reuters in Chittagong, 300 km (188 miles) from Dhaka.

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

* Defense Ministry: At least 76 rebels killed in military strikes in Nepal

Kathmandu -- Government soldiers in Nepal's mountains killed some 76 rebels in a continuing drive to wipe out insurgents who want to topple the constitutional monarchy, an official said Monday. There was no way to independently confirm the security forces' report, and the rebels, who operate from remote areas, cannot normally be contacted and rarely comment on government claims.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020923_001775,00.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Nepal-Rebels.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-nepal-rebels0923sep23(0,1657047).story
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap.asp?reg=ASIA
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/266/world/Defense_Ministry_At_least_76_r%3A.shtml
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2002/09/23/nepal/index.html


* Nepal's embattled PM forms new political party

Kathmandu -- Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba formed a new political party on Monday after the kingdom's election commission prevented him from using his old party's name and symbol in elections set for November. ''Deuba has formed the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party and applied for recognition for the upcoming elections,'' said a spokesman for the election commission overseeing the vote.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020923_001086,00.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA


* Crew safe after Turkish tanker sinks off Sri Lanka

Colombo -- A Turkish tanker sank off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka on Monday after taking on water, but all of its crew were safe, an official in the capital Colombo said. The 18 crew members of the Hidir Bey were rescued by an Indian vessel before it sank about 209 km (130 miles) off the eastern port of Trincomalee, said an official of Colombo Radio, which monitors maritime communications around Sri Lanka.

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


Editorial/Op-Ed


* In a battered taxi, a nurse to India's poorest

Udaipur, India -- On a recent morning 20 miles from this city in the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan, Pauline Alexander and Kusum Bishwas were in the back of a rattling old taxi, cooling their hands on bottles of soda and discussing a girl who had almost died. "This 9-year-old, her tuberculosis was so bad her mother had to carry her in," Ms. Alexander, 76, a nurse, was saying when their taxi swerved to avoid a truck. Ms. Alexander and Mrs. Bishwas, 66, managed to avoid spilling their sodas, and Ms. Alexander finished her story.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/health/24INDI.html


Business/Technology


* Pakistan okays $150M for Airlines

Islamabad -- The Pakistani government on Monday agreed to contribute $150 million over three years to help the state-run airlines finance the purchase of 10 new planes, officials said Monday. Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said the money would help Pakistan International Airlines embark on an ambitious $2 billion fleet overhaul program that includes the scheduled purchase of 10 planes by 2011.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020923_002922,00.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Pakistan-Airlines.html

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