- UPDATE
Two Militants Killed As Indian Kashmir Siege Ends
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- By Ashok Pahalwan
5-30-2
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- JAMMU, India (Reuters) -
Indian security forces killed two suspected Muslim separatist militants
on Thursday, ending a siege at a police camp in disputed Kashmir after
the rebels shot dead three policemen, officials said.
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- NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters)
- Two militants stormed an Indian police camp in Kashmir, killing three
policemen and wounding several others, as Washington warned extremists
could turn a standoff between India and Pakistan into a regional war.
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- Police said they were preparing to storm a building where
the militants were holed up, in what was the latest incident to escalate
tension between the two nuclear-capable neighbors.
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- Analysts have said another major raid in India by Pakistan-based
Islamic militants could spark a conflict.
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- India and Pakistan have exchanged regular artillery and
mortar fire along their border in recent weeks, and shelling in the past
day has killed at least 17 people and wounded 22.
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- "There is a danger that as tensions escalate the
leaders could find themselves in a situation in which irresponsible elements
can spark a conflict," U.S. state department spokesman Richard Boucher
said in Washington.
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- "The climate is very charged and a serious conflagration
could ensue if events spiral out of control."
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- The latest raid came hours after British Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw ended his peace mission to South Asia, saying the risk of war
was high but conflict not inevitable.
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- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visits
India and Pakistan on June 6 and 7 in another bid to avert a war that would
derail the U.S.-led fight against terror and possibly devastate the region.
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- The United States, which views Pakistan as a crucial
ally in its war on terror and in its drive against al Qaeda, has urged
both sides to show restraint but called on Pakistan to stop infiltrations
into Indian Kashmir.
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- The two countries are teetering on the brink of war after
attacks by Islamic militants across the line of control that divides Pakistan
and Indian Kashmir, with India accusing Pakistan of arming and training
the militants.
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- Pakistan says it provides only moral support.
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- TOUGH TALK
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- India and Pakistan have massed about a million men along
their border since a December attack on India's parliament that New Delhi
blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
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- Tension soared again after an attack by suspected Islamic
militants on an Indian army camp in Kashmir on May 14, prompting Indian
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to tell his front-line troops to prepare
for a "decisive fight."
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- And in fresh saber-rattling, Pakistan test-fired three
short-range missiles in recent days.
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- Analysts say tough talk from Indian and Pakistani leaders
may mask efforts to find a face-saving way to back away from conflict while
keeping hawks on side and maintaining political support.
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- Neither side wants another war. They have fought three
-- two over Kashmir -- since Britain partitioned its Indian empire into
Islamic Pakistan and secular but mainly Hindu India in 1947.
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- At the United Nations on Wednesday, on his second day
in the job, Pakistan's U.N. ambassador said ruling out his country's use
of nuclear arms would give India a "license to kill" Pakistanis.
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- Munir Akram told a news conference that while Pakistan
would not attack India unless it was first attacked, it had never subscribed
to a doctrine of "no first use" of nuclear arms.
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- Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan said on Thursday
the central bank was confident of handling any borrowing needed to fund
its military.
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- Jalan, attending a South Asian central bank governors
meeting in Colombo, declined to say how much the regional tension was costing
the Indian economy.
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- Britain and Japan, part of an international peace offensive,
said Pakistan genuinely wanted to meet Indian demands and stop Muslim militants
launching raids into Indian territory.
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- India, which has warned world leaders over the phone
and visiting envoys that its patience is running out, said Pakistan President
Pervez Musharraf has had enough time to act.
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- "General Musharraf has had all the time he wants.
It is vital that he recognize the urgency of the situation," Indian
Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters after talks with Straw.
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- Straw said Musharraf wanted to honor his pledge to stop
the militants slipping into Indian Kashmir.
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- "I believe that General Musharraf is serious,"
Straw said. "The test of all these things has to be action, not just
words."
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- India on Tuesday said there could be neither peace talks
nor any scaling down of its military buildup until it saw clear evidence
Pakistan had moved against the militants and closed down rebel camps in
Kashmir.
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- It also said there were no plans for Vajpayee to meet
Musharraf on the sidelines of a regional summit in Kazakhstan next week.
The pair last met during a South Asian summit in Kathmandu in January.
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