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Kashmir: Hurriyat moderates ready for second round

          Srinagar: The moderate faction of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference on Monday dropped their threat to pull out of peace talks with the Central government and said it would resume dialogue to end a 14-year old rebellion in the Himalayan region. The Hurriyat faction last month had threatened to pull out of peace talks with New Delhi, saying there had been no promised fall in human rights violations by Indian security forces. Hurriyat chairman Moulvi Abbas Ansari said they would carry forward the dialogue process till a solution was found for the vexed issue.

          "The main issue is that of Kashmir and until there is a solution, in which everybody including Kashmiris, Indians and Pakistanis are involved, we will continue our fight. We will carry forward the step and whatever is the outcome will be in front of you," Ansari told reporters in Srinagar. The Hurriyat and the government are due to hold their second round of talks next weekend. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and the Hurriyat moderates started a dialogue in January, the first between two sides since a revolt against Indian rule erupted in 1989. But Hurriyat hardliners, representing a majority of the two dozen member groups, oppose talks and have walked out of the alliance, considerably weakening it.

Howrah-Jodhpur Mail derails (Go To Top)

          Jaipur: Seven coaches of the Howrah-Jodhpur Mail derailed early on Monday morning about 20 km from Jaipur. Two people, who have received serious injuries, have been taken to hospital, railway sources were quoted, as saying. The train was heading toward Jodhpur when it derailed at 3 a.m. near the town of Sanganer. Railway sources said it was too early to point out the cause of the derailment. They said traffic on the Jaipur-Delhi and Jaipur- Ahmedabad routes is likely to be affected today.

Hamas chief Sheikh Ahmed Yassin killed (Go To Top)

          Nicosia: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, spiritual head of Palestinian militant group Hamas, was on Monday killed in an Israeli air strike. He was targeted as he returned from a mosque in Gaza City at daybreak. Seven others were killed and many wounded. The killing triggered unrest and calls for revenge from Palestinians, as tens of thousands took part in a funeral. Hamas said Israel had "opened the gates of hell", but the army said the Sheikh had been "personally responsible" for the killing of Israelis. Security forces killed the Hamas leader in an air strike on his car in northern Gaza Strip, an army statement said. Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim said Yassin had been behind a terror network in Gaza and was what he called "marked for death". British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the killing of an elderly man in a wheelchair was "unjustified" and "very unlikely to achieve its objective". France also condemned the assassination. Israel had warned on many occasions that it would target the Hamas chief after the militant group killed scores of Israelis. Israel sealed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip after the killing, barring Palestinians from entering the Jewish state.

Pak protests airspace violation by US chopper (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Pakistan has lodged a formal protest with Washington over an American chopper violating its air space in Waziristan. According to the News, the chopper carried out firing on Saturday evening in Pakistan's territory and returned when it was informed of being in Pakistan's space. No loss of human or property was, however, reported. The Director-General of Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Major General Shaukat Sultan, confirmed that the protest had been lodged. He also made it clear that the violation was by a chopper and not a jet aircraft, as was earlier reported by the media.

Osama's mother couldn't change him! (Go To Top)

          London: A TV programme titled 'I Met Osama Bin Laden' that will soon be aired has claimed that the dreaded terrorist's mother had begged him to give up evil, but he sent her packing. According to the Sun, Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of the London- based Islamic newspaper, Al Quds, told the BBC 2 documentary that he was invited to Afghanistan to meet the terror chief in 1997. "He told me that the Saudis had sent his mother and favourite uncle to convince him he was wrong. They couldn't persuade him," the report quoted Atwan as saying. The soon-to-be aired sensational TV programme will also reveal that the Al-Qaeda head cannot remember how many children he has.