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Hurriyat leaders hold second round

          New Delhi: Leaders of Kashmir's main separatist alliance met Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Saturday to press the Indian government to free political prisoners and stop what it calls human rights abuses in the region. The Deputy Prime Minister was assisted by Union Home Secretary Anil Baijal and the Central interlocutor on Kashmir, NN Vohra, while the Hurriyat delegation comprised its chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari and senior leaders Abdul Gani Bhat, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Bilal Lone. The talks between the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and the Indian government are only the second on the Himalayan region's future and come weeks before national elections. Those talks were the first-ever between the alliance and the government since the revolt over Indian rule in Kashmir broke out in late 1989. Tens of thousands have died in the violence in India's only Muslim-majority state.

Tagore Nobel prize theft: One held (Go To Top)

         Kolkata: West Bengal police have recovered some of the stolen belongings of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore from Baruipara in North 24-Parganas district and arrested one person in this connection. Tagore's Nobel prize besides other priceless artefacts and gold medallions were stolen from the museum located in the high security zone within the Vishwa Bharati University campus on Wednesday. The items stolen included Tagore's Nobel Prize medal, a watch, a bangle, some important citations and rare paintings and other priceless artefacts. According to the reports available, the theft was committed while the fifth and final one-day international between Pakistan and India at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium was on.

Ethnic violence in north-east claims 5 more lives (Go To Top)

         Guwahati: Five more tribals in Assam's Karbi Anglong district were killed on Saturday morning by Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) militants. Reports reaching here said the killings took place in the Deopani area of the district, four days after the gunning down of 29 tribals. Official sources said the Kuki militants attacked the village at around 4 a.m. and set some houses on fire.

Is something brewing between Musharraf and Benazir? (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: President Pervez Musharraf has sent his key aide Tariq Aziz to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to reportedly meet former premier and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief Benazir Bhutto. Government sources told the News here that the possible formation of a national unity government with the inclusion of the PPP was in the offing. Tariq Aziz's meeting with Benazir would be the first high-level contact with the former premier since the Jamali government came into power.

          Earlier this week, Aziz had detailed meetings with the National Security Advisor to the Indian Prime Minister Brajesh Mishra in Lahore on important issues of mutual interest. Aziz came to Islamabad mid-week and submitted a report to Musharraf about his meetings with Mishra. Immediately after that he left for the UAE where he is having a number of important meetings. Aziz has already been successful in getting the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) to be a part of the incumbent ruling alliance.

Jinnah's daughter visits mausoleum (Go To Top)

          Karachi: A sad yet stoic Dina Wadia, the only child of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, said it was a wonderful experience to see her father's mausoleum here. It was her first visit to Pakistan nearly 56 years after she came to attend his funeral. In a message that she left in the visitors' book at the mausoleum, Dina wrote: "This has been a very sad and wonderful occasion for me." Her son and the owner of India's Bombay Dyeing Group, Nusli Wadia, who accompanied her along with her grandsons Jehangir and Ness, wrote: "My dream to come here has been fulfilled. I will come back to see his (MA Jinnah's) dream come true." The Wadias, however, refused to entertain the press, whose members had been eagerly waiting for the family, reported the Daily Times. The police, the Navy Marines, the Navy Police and the Rangers in state vehicles escorted them. Ms Wadia arrived in a shining gray Mercedes. All the vehicles had protocol written on their green registration plates. Traffic on both sides of the road had been blocked ahead of the motorcade's arrival.

          Dressed in a yellow blouse and black trousers with an embroidered scarf around her neck and shoulders, Dina and her family members were presented with a guard of honour. The family spent some moments at Jinnah's mausoleum, after which Pakistan Army soldiers escorted them to the mausoleum's antiquities room containing a number of Jinnah's belongings. Wadia and her family stayed in the halls for almost half an hour. Later, sources said she had been very impressed by a number of things. "She wanted copies of three pictures," a source said. In one of them she is standing with her father and her aunt, Fatima Jinnah. Another was a painting of her mother, Ratti Jinnah, and the third shows Jinnah dictating a letter. "She was also very impressed with Jinnah's cars and clothes which we have preserved," he said. Jehangir and Ness wrote a single message: "Thank you for fulfilling our dream. It is an honour to be in Pakistan. Thank you for everything."

Bomb blasts rock Pak air base (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Three bombs exploded one after other at the Shahbaz air force base in Jacobabad in Pakistan's Sindh province on Friday morning. According to Online News, a balloon bomb was used in these blasts to create fear and terror among people. No damage to life or property was, however, reported.

Pak rejects IAEA nuke inspection demand (Go To Top)

          London/Islamabad: An indignant Pakistan government has rejected the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) request for inspecting the country's nuclear installations, saying that it is only willing to engage the IAEA in a dialogue over the issue. "IAEA officials would be welcome to visit Islamabad and Pakistan would discuss with them the results of its own investigations on nuclear issue," the Pakistan government said in its terse message to IAEA headquarters in Vienna. According to the News, the message was sent in response to the IAEA's request on Thursday that Pakistan extend a higher level of cooperation to the international nuclear watchdog. Top Pakistani authorities maintained that Pakistan as a non-NPT member had a right to decline the IAEA's request for inspection of nuclear installations.

Musharraf vows to eliminate Al Qaeda (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: President Pervez Musharraf has vowed to eliminate the Al Qaeda and other terror networks from Pakistani soil. Speaking in an interview with an unnamed American news channel, Musharraf also claimed that Ayman al Zawahiri, the deputy chief of the Al Qaeda, was on the run. "Now as far as if he's taunting me well, I would like to say that I'm going to eliminate all of them," Musharraf said in reference to Zawahiri and other Al-Qaeda loyalists. "I mean, Zawahiri is on the run. For heaven's sake, it's just one tape. Let's not get excited," Musharraf said. "It's very clear we'll eliminate them, and the tribal elders are cooperating," he added. On Friday, the Pakistan government and the Director-General of the country's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Shaukat Sultan rubbished the Al Qaeda's reported threat to instigate the Pakistan Army to stage a mutiny against Musharraf.