US NEWS SOURCES - July 19&20, 2003 (Weekend)

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TOP STORIES
*	U.S. soldiers kill about 24 suspected Taliban militants
	July 20, Kandahar, Afghanistan -- U.S. soldiers killed about two dozen suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan after their convoy came under attack, the military said. The suspected militants ambushed the convoy near the town of Spinboldak on Saturday, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Douglas Lefforge said Sunday. The American troops returned fire, killing five attackers and pursuing the rest into the surrounding hills, Lefforge said. U.S. Apache helicopter gunships chased the group and killed an estimated 19 of the suspected Taliban, he said. There were no coalition casualties. Also Saturday, some 60 suspected Taliban fighters attacked a border post in southern Afghanistan with heavy machine guns and assault rifles before escaping across the border into Pakistan, a government official said.

	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030720_000321-search,00.html
	http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR_34da0005f8bf08f8
	http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Afghan-Taliban-Attack.html
	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AJul20.html
	http://www.boston.com/dailynews/202/world/U_S_soldiers_kill_nearly_two_d:.shtml
	http://www.suntimes.com/output/terror/cst-nws-afghan21.html
	http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-jul21,1,795530.story
*	Australia withheld information on terror suspect to protect relationship with U.S.
	July 20, Canberra -- Australia's government refused to release information on a terror suspect held by the United States for fear of harming relations with Washington, the defense minister said Monday. The Australian newspaper filed a Freedom of Information request with the government for details on the legality of David Hicks' detention but was denied. Hicks, 27, was allegedly captured fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan and has been imprisoned without charge at Guantanamo Bay for 18 months. Defense Minister Robert Hill said the government can refuse a Freedom of Information request if it could harm Australia's relationship with a foreign government. "As I understand it, that's one of the reasons why the application has been declined," Hill told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.

	http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/07/20/international2317EDT0566.DTL
	http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/6347807.htm
	http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/6347807.htm
	http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Australia-Terror-Suspect.html
	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AJul20.html
*	Indian party supports Hindu temple law
	July 20, New Delhi -- India's ruling Hindu nationalist party said it backs demands for a law allowing a Hindu temple to be built at a site claimed by Muslims, but acknowledged it does not have enough support to push it though Parliament. The Bharatiya Janata Party has previously said the dispute could be solved through talks or by the Supreme Court. However, its statement Saturday indicated the party would be prepared to override Muslim demands in India's biggest religious controversy. Hindu mobs razed the ancient Babri mosque in the northern city of Ayodhya in 1992, claiming it had been built on the site of a desecrated and demolished temple where Rama, the supreme Hindu deity, was born. Some 2,000 people were killed in subsequent nationwide Hindu-Muslim riots.

	http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/6344397.htm
	http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/nation/6344397.htm
	http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=India%20Temple%20Dispute
	http://www.nj.com/newsflash/lateststories/index.ssf?/base/international-1/.xml
	http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/6344397.htm
	.com/wp-dyn/articles/AJul20.html" target=_new> *	Afghan, Pakistani forces intensify fighting along contested border
	July 20, Yaqubai, Afghanistan -- Afghan police climbed through a narrow cleft in the mountains, threading their way past hidden stockpiles of rocket-propelled grenades to man Afghanistan's new front line: its border with Pakistan. "Any time they shoot, we'll start firing," said Gen. Mustafa Ishaqzai, 34, a commander of the Afghan border police in Nangahar province. "We don't worry. All the young boys you see here are ready to kill themselves for their homeland." Along Afghanistan's rugged eastern border, Pakistani soldiers have made dramatic advances toward -- and possibly into -- Afghan territory in recent weeks, according to interviews with both sides and an inspection of portions of the border. The Pakistanis, who say they are searching for terrorists allied with al Qaeda, have established forward military posts, dug trenches and aimed heavy artillery at villages that Afghans say belong to them.

	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AJul19.html
	http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/2002701
*	Three more linked to Virginia jihad ring
	July 19, Washington -- The last three men alleged to be connected to a Virginia jihad network Monday will be taken before the same judge who earlier ordered five others released. Eight of the men have appeared before judges in recent weeks and three have been freed before trial, The Washington Post reported, while an order releasing two others was overturned. The charges have been vague, particularly against the latest three to be arrested. They have been described as living in Saudi Arabia and belonging to a group trying to drive India from Kashmir.

	http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm
	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AJul19.html
*	Pakistani embassy to resume normal functions next week
	July 20, Kabul -- Pakistan's embassy, heavily damaged in an attack by hundreds of Afghans, will resume normal functions next week, an embassy official said Saturday. ``We are already considering urgent applications for visas, but the embassy willfrom Monday for everyone,' the official, who identified himself only as ``a representative at the embassy,' told The Associated Press. He refused to give any other information. The embassy was shut down July 8 after it was stormed by Afghans who were protesting alleged incursions by Pakistani troops. They ransacked the building and smashed windows, forcing the diplomats to hide in a basement.

	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030720_000809-search,00.html
	http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR_8d1c00032ac7346d
*	Islamabad airport closed after New York-bound Pakistani jetliner aborts takeoff, bursts tires; no injuries
	July 20, Islamabad -- The international airport in Pakistan's capital was shut down Sunday after a New York-bound Pakistan International Airlines jetliner aborted its takeoff and burst 16 tires, an airport official said. All 276 passengers and crew were safe, Omar Daraz said. Imran Gardezi, spokesman for PIA, said the pilot of the early morning flight decided against taking off for technical reasons. He said he didn't have more details, but that an investigation was underway. The plane was left standing on the main runway. The airport closed all its runways and diverted incoming flights to other airports.

	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030720_000275-search,00.html
	http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR_46520001ccffefef
	http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Pakistan%20Airport%20Emergency
	http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Airport-Emergency.html
	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AJul20.html
*	Tamil rebel leader ill, may miss Sri Lankan peace talks
	July 20, Colombo -- The Tamil rebels' top negotiator is ill and may be unable to attend any future peace talks with the Sri Lankan government, a state-run newspaper said Sunday. "Anton Balasingham is having health problems," the Daily News quoted S.P. Thamilselvan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, as saying. "We are very much concerned about his movements and traveling...if he is too feeble, we will think about other arrangements," should peace talks resume, Thamilselvan said.

	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030720_000250,00.html
	http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR_cb7a0007ac86121b
*	Tamil rebels celebrate key military victory in northeastern Sri Lanka
	July 19, Jaffna, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels on Saturday celebrated the seventh anniversary of their victory over a key government military camp, a rebel spokesman said. Rebels in 1996 killed 1,200 government soldiers and captured the camp in Mullaithivu, 275 kilometers (170 miles) northeast of capital, Colombo. The area has since remained a rebel stronghold and the reclusive guerrilla leader, Veluppillai Prabhakaran, is believed to live there. Rebel leaders at the ceremony paid respect to the 314 rebels killed in the battle, the spokesman said. Mullaithivu was ``a historic turning point in our struggle,' said rebel leader Theepan, who uses one name, in a speech at the ceremony.

	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030719_000119,00.html
	http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR_e1f50003049fd31b
*	Kashmir leader urges Pakistan to persuade India to stop targeting civilians
	July 19, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan -- The prime minister of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir urged the Pakistani government on Saturday to push India to stop harming civilians in the disputed region, amid recently improved relations between the rival neighboring countries. ``Two or three people are killed daily in Kashmir due to Indian shelling,' said Sardar Sikandar Hayyat Khan at a a rally in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. ``I ask Pakistan to play its role to save innocent civilians.' Hayyat's comments came two days after Pakistan said an Indian mortar shell struck a house during an exchange of fire with Pakistani forces, killing an 11-year-old boy in the Nakyal area, 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Muzaffarabad.

	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030719_000082,00.html
	http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR_707700063c8b14ca
*	Grenade blast wounds 12 civilians in Kashmir market
	July 19, Srinagar, India -- Suspected Islamic guerrillas lobbed a grenade at a paramilitary truck on Saturday but missed, wounding 12 civilians in a Kashmir market, an official said. A woman identified only as Zeba was critically wounded in the attack near a bus stand in Tral town, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, said Neeraj Sharma, a spokesman for the Border Security Force. She was brought to a hospital in Srinagar, he said. In another attack, school teacher Mehjabeen Bano was forcibly taken from her home by unidentified men and shot at point-blank range in Mangipora village, 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Srinagar, said her father, Mohammad Shafi Mir. Bano survived the attack but was in a critical condition in a Srinagar hospital.

	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030719_000037,00.html
	http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR_b8cb000249dc6c2d
*	Studying America up close
	July 20, Chestertown -- They have seen the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the National Aquarium in Baltimore. They've been to a minor league baseball game, and they saw the Fourth of July parade in Rock Hall. Now, they're eagerly anticipating trips to the United Nations in New York and the "shrines of democracy" in Washington. But the enduring memories that many in this group of young Muslims will take home are of a freewheeling session with Margo Bailey, the roll-up-her-sleeves mayor of this town of 4,100, and of the lush little campus of Washington College at the top of the hill. Maheen Asbreena Karim, the 21-year-old daughter of university professors at Rajshahi University in Bangladesh who listed women's rights as among her interests of study, was fascinated with Bailey's no-nonsense approach to male employees in town government and impressed with her casual self-assurance.

	http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.muslim20jul20,0,2075329.story
*	Post-9/11 hate crime trial reset for Sept.
	July 19 -- The death penalty trial of a Mesa man who has admitted to a post-Sept. 11, 2001, hate crime murder will be under way during the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks. A court delay Friday also means the widow of Balbir Singh Sodhi may not be able to attend Frank Roque's death penalty trial because her visa extension will have expired. Jury selection in the killing of Sodhi, 49, a Sikh gas station owner, was scheduled for Monday, but Judge Mark Aceto of Maricopa County Superior Court appointed Dr. Jack Potts, a psychiatrist, on Friday to examine Roque and act as a court expert during the trial.

	http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0719roque19.html
*	Hindu temple plan in India stokes tensions
	July 19, Raipur, India -- India's governing Hindu nationalists, with an eye on state and federal elections, demanded today that the coalition government approve construction of a Hindu temple on a contested site holy to Muslims and Hindus. The executive panel of the governing party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, urged the government to pass a law to allow Hindu groups to build the temple in the northern city of Ayodhya, in Gujarat State, which has been torn by violence between Muslims and Hindus over the issue. Such a law would bypass the court system, which has been considering the issue for decades, and it is unlikely to find strong support in the governing coalition.

	http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/20/international/asia/20INDI.html
*	India, Israel interests team up
	July 19 -- When the House passed a $3 billion aid package for Pakistan this week, Jewish and Indian American lobbyists teamed up to win an amendment pressuring Pakistan to stop Islamic militants from crossing into India. Wearing lapel pins of the Stars and Stripes sandwiched between the flags of India and Israel, the amendment's supporters then gathered in a Capitol Hill reception room to celebrate the burgeoning political alliance between Indians and Jews in the United States. Women in saris mingled among men in yarmulkes, a cacophony of accents united in a desire for access.

	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AJul18.html

OTHER STORIES
*	Ancient ritual poses environmental crisis
	July 20, New Delhi -- Tears rolling down his face, Bachchan Singh Bahadur poured cups of melted butter on the wood fire of his father's funeral pyre on the outskirts of New Delhi. He was in keeping with a centuries-old Hindu funeral tradition, but it's also the stuff of ecological nightmares for the Indian government. The 35-year-old government clerk could have used an electricity-powered crematorium less than half a mile away for just one-tenth of the price, but for him nothing would do except a wood-burning crematorium by the Yamuna River where the ashes would be tossed after cooling overnight. "Unless the body is burned on a wood pyre, the soul does not get salvation," he explained. "When the flames leap up to heaven, then you get the satisfaction the soul is set free."
	http://www.ctnow.com/news/nationworld/hc-bullindia0720.artjul20,0,4299155.story

	http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07202003/nation_w/77084.asp

*	Population growth leveling off
	July 19, New Delhi -- The growth of India's billion-plus population is slowing and southern parts of the country are approaching fertility rates close to those of European nations, according to a top official of the United Nations. However, this contrasts sharply with vast areas in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and the eastern state of Bihar, where population growth is soaring and driving up the national average. Francois Farah, who represents the U.N. Population Fund in India, told Agence France-Presse recently that fewer babies are being born to the average Indian family as a result of heightened awareness. "India has done a very good job in sensitization. Everybody now knows it's better to have fewer children," he said. The new sensitivity was clear from the last census in 2001, he said, which showed the population growth rate had come down to 2.9 percent from 3.2 percent a decade earlier.
	http://www.washtimes.com/world/r.htm

*	Search for longtime Indian fugitive called futile
	July 19, Madras, India -- A senior police officer in the south Indian state of Karnataka has suggested that security forces should call off their 15-year hunt for Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, India's most-wanted fugitive, sought in connection with more than 140 killings of policemen, forest wardens and their informers in the past three decades. H.T. Sangliana, who for many years was in charge of the special task force hunting the forest bandit, said on his retirement day this month that the manhunt was futile and the pursuers were groping in the dark. "He is a creature of the forest and knows where to hide. It is virtually impossible to ferret him out of the forest, which has been his kitchen garden for so many years," said Mr. Sangliana, who was considered one of the most popular police officers in India. Mr. Sangliana said that the best option for the government would be to call off the hunt for Veerappan and take steps to facilitate his surrender. "To [Chief Minister of Karnataka] S.M. Krishna and even to his predecessor, I gave the same advice. To both, I explained why the capture of Veerappan was a difficult task," said Mr. Sangliana.
	http://www.washtimes.com/world/r.htm

*	'The search for the Buddha: the men who discovered India�s lost religion' by Charles Allen
	July 20 -- Buddhism is regarded as one of the five great religions of the world and at the moment is flourishing in the West, where people practice it in various forms and where new magazines and books are springing up almost daily. So it is startling to hear, as Charles Allen tells us in this fascinating new book, that not only was Buddhism virtually unheard of in the West 200 years ago, it had also been obliterated in India, the country of its origin, where the Buddha lived and taught some 500 years before Christ. The rediscovery of the Buddha's teachings and their migration to the West were the work of an array of men -- scholars, linguists, amateur archaeologists -- who had no interest in the religion per se but were interested in discovery for its own sake. It is their marvelously complicated story that Allen has set out to tell.
	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5620-2003Jul17.html