US NEWS SOURCES -May 16, 2003

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---IN TODAY'S NEWS---

BREAKING NEWS / NEWSWIRE
*	*US pressure on Pak not reassuring on ground: Sinha (ANI)**
	India stays firm on its principled stand that violence must be ended and terrorist infrastructure dismantled by Pakistan for improving ties. This a practical necessity, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said in Moscow on Wednesday. He added that US pressure on Islamabad to stop cross-border terrorism was "not reassuring on the ground." During an hour-long meeting with Sinha, US Secretary of State Colin Powell assured him that Washington would continue to stress upon Pakistan the need to take action on cross-border terrorist activities.
	http://in.news.yahoo.com/030515/139/24av9.html

Pakistani police prepare sketches of the Shell bomb suspects. Pakistan is ready to help coalition forces in Iraq, but only if the U.N. plays a bigger role in forming a new government. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage's visit to the Indian subcontinent has chilled Indo-US relations instead of strengthening them says an online think-tank. Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov discusses joint efforts to fight terrorism with the Indian External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha. In the editorial, despite MIT's Asian Media Lab exit from India, chances are that this may prove fruitful for India in the long run. In the business section, Microsoft chalks out a string of ambitious expansion plans for its operations in India and the South Asian region.

HEADLINES

TOP STORIES

Punjabi Youth Gangs (April 9) (Mecury News)

Sniper Attack Stole One Life, Gave Focus to Another (Washington Post)

Armitage's visit chilled US-India relations (Hoovers)

Pakistani police prepare sketches of Shell bomb suspects (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required) (Hoovers)

Pakistani Minister: Ready to help Iraq if UN given bigger role (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required) (Staten Island Live) (Star Tribune) (Philadelphia Inquirer) (Washington Times) (NewsDay)

Russia, India discuss joint anti-terrorism efforts (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required)

Militant leader enters Pakistani Kashmir - spokesman (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required)

Pakistan to free Afghans held for immigration offenses (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required)

Norwegian Foreign Minister fails to persuade Tamil rebels to attend Tokyo donors meeting (Hoovers)

Norway makes last ditch attempt to revive Sri Lankan talks (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required)

India provides two helicopters to Nepal (Hoovers)

US sees obstacles in Al Qaeda hunt (Boston Globe)

U.S. warns of threat in Saudi city; bombers hit Pakistani sites (Los Angeles Times - Registration required)

Pakistani police arrest man with suspected al-Qaida links (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required)

Convoy of Afghan refugees leaves Pakistan for home (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required)

Sri Lanka opposition wants government to back gunrunning probes (Wall Street Journal - Subscription required)

TOP STORIES
*	Punjabi Youth Gangs (April 9)
	In family photos, the young men pose politely in turbans and ties. But in secret snapshots confiscated by police, some of the men reveal a darker side: They stuff assault rifles down their pants, flex their tattooed muscles and flaunt their bare chests. Others point 9mm pistols at each others' temples and flash gang signs. Police say these 20-somethings belong to three small Indo-American gangs in Alameda and Santa Clara counties: the Santa Clara Punjabi Boys, Aim to Kill and the All Indian Mob. Authorities describe their members -- perhaps as many as 500 mostly Sikh men in Northern California -- as some of the Bay Area's most violent offenders. `Their conflicts always result in a stabbing, shooting or beating,'' said Dave Lanier, a Fremont police sergeant who also is the region's foremost expert on Indo-American gangs. Investigators began focusing on the gangs after a series of violent incidents during the past four years. Young men in gangs are particularly troubling for a community that often finds itself portrayed as a `model minority'' even though, members say, they wrestle with the same problems most families face.
	http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/
*	Sniper Attack Stole One Life, Gave Focus to Another
	The refrain started at an early age, whispered as he pinched her chubby cheeks. On the days he couldn't see her -- because he left at one dawn only to return hours before another -- he towered over her bed and tried to channel his dreams into hers. When she outgrew his lap, the message crescendoed into screaming matches over school dances, missed curfews and C's in calculus. Don't be like me. Premkumar A. Walekar had dropped out of college. He worked two jobs. He bought a lottery ticket every day.
	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AMay15.html
*	Armitage's visit chilled US-India relations
	May 14, Washington -- Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's visit to the Indian subcontinent has chilled Indo-US relations instead of firming them up, an online think-tank said. "Armitage signalled that the US is strengthening its bonds with Islamabad -- a key ally in the war against al Qaeda -- rather than with New Delhi. As a result, India is likely to forge new alliances and reinforce old ones with countries like China, Russia and France," according to Stratfor.com, a web-based news sevice specializing in security matters. During a recent swing through South Asia, Armitage discussed the issue of Kashmir-based militant groups with both Pakistani and Indian officials.
	http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/newsurl.asp?doc_id=NR_45f700022498c164
*	Pakistani police prepare sketches of Shell bomb suspects
	Karachi, Pakistan -- A young man with a wispy beard is emerging as a suspect in a series of 18 explosions at Shell (RD) stations in southern Karachi, police officials said Friday. Gas station attendants were providing police with descriptions of suspects, who put small explosive devices in garbage cans at Shell stations throughout the city Thursday. There were only minor injuries as a result of the crudely made bombs with a timer attached. "From the description of one gas station employee, the face of a young man with a thin beard is coming up," said Fay Leghari, head of the Karachi police investigation unit. "This is a time-consuming process. We are working on other sketches."
	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030516_000723-search,00.html
	http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/newsurl.asp?doc_id=NR_f861c8
*	Pakistani Minister: Ready to help Iraq if UN given bigger role
	May 15, Washington -- Pakistan and other countries are ready to help coalition forces in Iraq, but only if the U.N. plays a bigger role in forming a new government, Foreign Minister Kursheed Kasuri said Thursday. He said greater U.N. involvement in postwar Iraq would make conditions more transparent, reducing criticism of the U.S. and Britain. "Pakistan and others would be willing to help if there were some kind of international cover," Kasuri said, "and what better cover could there be than the United Nations?"
	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030515_010482-search,00.html
	http://www.silive.com/newsflash/washington/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0773_BC_US-Pakistan
	http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/3885730.html
	http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/world/5870493.htm
	http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm
	http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-pakistan,0,6961075.story
*	Russia, India discuss joint anti-terrorism efforts
	May 15, Moscow -- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov conferred Thursday with visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha about their joint efforts to fight terrorism. Russia and India "have always been fighting against terrorism together," Sinha said, according to the Interfax news agency. He expressed sympathy for the two deadly suicide bombings this week in Chechnya, where Russian troops have been fighting rebels for more than 3 1/2 years in a war that the Kremlin tries to portray as part of the global fight against terrorism.
	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030515_008119,00.html
*	Militant leader enters Pakistani Kashmir - spokesman
	May 15, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan -- A hardline Islamic militant leader defied orders from the Pakistani government Thursday and entered Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, his spokesman said. However police denied Mulana Masood Azhar had entered Pakistani Kashmir. "We have no information about Masood Azhar," said Raja Abdul Razzaq, chief police chief in Kotli, 120 miles south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan's part of Kashmir. Azhar was to address a rally in Kotli on Thursday, but Pakistan ordered him banned from the region
	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030515_005147,00.html
*	Pakistan to free Afghans held for immigration offenses
	May 15, Islamabad -- Pakistan will soon free all Afghans detained for immigration offenses, Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali promised, according to a report by the state-run news agency. Jamali made the pledge Wednesday to Afghanistan's minister for overseas Afghans, Haji Mangal Hussain, at a meeting in Islamabad, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Provincial authorities had already been instructed to prepare the move. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has been working on the details of the release, APP said. It gave no indication of how many Afghans might be freed.
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*	Norwegian Foreign Minister fails to persuade Tamil rebels to attend Tokyo donors meeting
	Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels Thursday told visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen that they will not participate in peace negotiations with the Sri Lankan government until Colombo implements decisions taken at previous six rounds of talks between the two sides since last September. Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels conveyed the decision to Petersen during a crucial three-hour meeting in rebel-held northern town of Kilinochchi Thursday, the tamilnet website reported. The political wing leader of the LTTE Thamilselvan told reporters after the meeting that the rebels have not sought a postponement of the Tokyo donors meeting scheduled on June 9 and 10.
	http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/newsurl.asp?doc_id=NR_0065002ca47233e6
*	Norway makes last ditch attempt to revive Sri Lankan talks
	Colombo -- Norway was making a last ditch attempt to revive peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels ahead of a crucial donor conference in Japan next month, officials said Friday. On Thursday, the rebels rejected an appeal by Norwegian mediators to come back to the negotiating table, saying the government should first honor agreements made in previous talks. Although Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson left Sri Lanka after a two-day visit, his deputy, Vidar Helgesen, remained here to make a final appeal to the rebels, the officials said.
	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030516_000867-search,00.html
*	India provides two helicopters to Nepal
	Two India-made light combat Lancer helicopters provided by the Indian government to Nepal arrived here Thursday, according to a Nepali defense official. "The Indian government provided the copters to the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) with the understanding reached by the two countries," The Himalayan Times newspaper on Friday quoted the official as saying. According to the understanding, 70 percent of the military hardware's charge will be provided by the Indian government as grants to Nepal, while the remaining 30 percent charge should be paid by the Nepali side, the official said on condition of anonymity.
	http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/newsurl.asp?doc_id=NR_dde8002a0deba29e
*	US sees obstacles in Al Qaeda hunt
	Senior Bush administration officials said yesterday that the United States faces serious obstacles in finding Osama bin Laden and other remnants of Al Qaeda's leadership, acknowledging that the trail of the masterminds of the Sept. 11 attacks and possibly this week's bombings in Saudi Arabia has gone cold. In the first detailed public comments in months about the possible whereabouts of bin Laden, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that they cannot even be certain whether bin Laden is dead or alive.
	http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/136/nation/US_sees_obstacles_in_Al_Qaeda_hunt+.shtml
*	U.S. warns of threat in Saudi city; bombers hit Pakistani sites
	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- State Department issued an alert late Thursday warning that terrorists may be planning to attack American targets soon in the Saudi city of Jidda, triggering a new wave of fear among Westerners in the region even as a U.S. team arrived in the country to investigate Monday's car bombings here in the capital. The department said it had received warning of a possible terrorist strike in the prestigious Al Hamra district of Jidda, a thriving financial center through which millions of pilgrims pass on the way to nearby Mecca.
	http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-war-saudi16may16002431,1,2427227.story
*	Pakistani police arrest man with suspected al-Qaida links
	Karachi, Pakistan -- Pakistani police have arrested a Myanmar national suspected of being a member of the al-Qaida terrorist network, police said Friday. Abdul Mutallib, 27, was arrested Thursday night in the southern port city of Karachi following information from two al-Qaida suspects in police custody, investigator Abdul Hamid Gulla said. Mohammed Anwar and Habibullah - the men who turned over the Myanmar national - were arrested last month in Karachi along with Waleed Mohammed Bin Attash, a Yemeni national suspected of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, and three others. Attash is also the alleged mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing off Yemen in 2000 that killed 17 U.S. sailors.
	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030516_001759-search,00.html
*	Convoy of Afghan refugees leaves Pakistan for home
	Lahore, Pakistan -- Hundreds of Afghan refugees left for their homeland Friday after years of living in eastern Pakistan as part of a U.N.-sponsored effort to help them return to their war-ravaged country. More than 600 refugees set off from the eastern city of Lahore in 18 trucks, said Raymond Rozario, an official for Caritas, a Pakistani aid organization that is working with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. All the Afghans are returning home voluntarily, he said.
	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030516_001538-search,00.html
*	Sri Lanka opposition wants government to back gunrunning probes
	Colombo -- Sri Lanka's main opposition party Friday advised the government to help Thailand investigate an alleged gun-smuggling attempt by three suspected Tamil rebels. The three men were arrested Monday by Thai police in a hotel in southern Ranong province with 13 pistols that they allegedly planned to smuggle out by boat. Sarath Amunugama, spokesman for the opposition People's Alliance party, told reporters Thailand asked Sri Lanka to provide details of the suspects and urged the government to cooperate.
	http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030516_001087-search,00.html

OTHER STORIES
*	India rules in favor of U.S. novelist
	May 15, New Delhi -- India's Supreme Court has ordered a television network to stop showing a new series that a U.S. author claims plagiarizes her novel, a news report said. Barbara Taylor Bradford says the Indian-made series, "Karishma - A Miracle of Destiny," is based on her book "A Woman of Substance," the United News of India news agency said this week. The novel deals with a woman's struggle to establish herself in the world. Bradford flew to India with her film producer husband, Robert Bradford, to try to stop the series starring Indian film actress Karishma Kapoor from airing.
	http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/newsurl.asp?doc_id=NR_0d0300017a7c3f44
	http://www.startribune.com/stories/675/3885204.html
	http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/wire/sns-ap-people-india-bradford,0,3770509.story
*	'India: Kingdom of the tiger'
	The Imax feature "India: Kingdom of the Tiger" is equal parts nature film, history lesson and adventure movie. It's based on the biography of Jim Corbett, who in the early 1900s was considered the world's best tiger hunter. Summoned to India to lead a tiger hunt, he ended up revering the animals, and launched an effort to protect the Bengal tiger from extinction.
	http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/3883479.html
*	Butler will present Indian classical dance
	Indian dance by definition encompasses theater, said Preeti Vasudevan. The dancer/choreographer demonstrates this Saturday and Sunday when the 2003 Butler International Theatre Project presents "Strings Unattached," two of her most recent pieces, at Butler University's Theatre Lab. Vasudevan specializes in Bharatanatyam, a classical genre dating back 2,500 years. "It started as a temple dance," Vasudevan explained. "It's a highly stylized and detailed form of storytelling," which emphasizes facial expressions and hand gestures. "It's almost like a sign language." Bells tied to ankles mark the rhythm.
	http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/9/.html
*	CFO considers lowering salaries
	D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi, who oversees a department where 41 employees earn more than $100,000, said yesterday he has ordered a salary review of his workers and is considering reclassifying some positions to lower the pay. "I will not hesitate to reduce salaries," Mr. Gandhi told The Washington Times. "We have started looking into this." But Mr. Gandhi defended the high pay in his department, saying top salaries are necessary to entice highly skilled professionals, such as his office accountants and managers, to work for the District. "I don't think you ought to be obsessed with this notion of $100,000," Mr. Gandhi said. "The important question is not that this many people are making that kind of money. The question is, what are you getting out of them?" Mr. Gandhi's salary study comes in response to reports that first appeared in The Times last month detailing the proliferation of six-figure salaries in the D.C. government. The District has more workers earning $100,000-plus salaries than Chicago, a city with nearly 3 million residents, and Baltimore, a city similar in size to the District, with 651,000 residents. The District has 572,000 residents.
	http://www.washtimes.com/metro/.htm
*	Three suspects held, linked to al Qaeda
	Pakistan has detained a foreign national and two Pakistanis suspected of links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, intelligence officials said yesterday. The foreign national was detained in an overnight raid on a hide-out on the outskirts of the southern port city of Karachi during which a laptop computer and a satellite phone were seized, an official said. The two Pakistanis were detained yesterday based on information provided by the foreigner. Meanwhile, small bombs exploded at 18 Shell gasoline stations in Karachi yesterday. Shell Pakistan said one customer, three station attendants and one security guard received minor injuries in the attacks, which began before dawn. Police said there were no serious injuries or damage.
	http://www.washtimes.com/world/.htm