SRINAGAR, June 28 (2002): A fresh surge in violence in Indian-ruled Kashmir has killed 19 people, highlighting the diplomatic minefield at the heart of decades of enmity between India and Pakistan. Thursday's violence coincided with a call from the world's rich nations for Pakistan to halt terrorist activity from territory under its control and for both countries to discuss underlying issues dividing them. But Kashmir's frontline militant group, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, which claimed responsibility for one of the...

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, June 28 (2002):Militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir pledged on Friday to keep up their revolt, a move that could disrupt state elections New Delhi sees as crucial to bringing peace to the region. The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen guerrilla group, based in Pakistan, made its statement after a fresh surge of violence in Indian Kashmir - at the heart of a military stand-off between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. Indian police said 19 people, including eight from the Indian security forces, died in...

MUZAFFARABAD, June 28 (2002): "Of course I want Kashmir to be Pakistan," the shopkeeper says, glancing nervously out of the corner of his eyes at the intelligence agent monitoring his every word. "I am a Muslim, and Pakistan is for Muslims." He may well be telling the truth, but it is hard to tell. In what Pakistan calls "Azad (Free) Kashmir", every conversation with foreign journalists is monitored, and every interviewee is resolutely "on message". Everyone, that is, except one teenage boy, a refugee from...

SRINAGAR, June 27 (2002):Nineteen people, including eight Indian security force members, were killed and 26 wounded on Thursday in fresh separatist violence in revolt-racked Kashmir, police said. Rebel violence has continued in Kashmir despite an easing of tensions between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan, who have massed a million troops on their border. Three soldiers were killed when an army vehicle ran over a landmine near Pahalgam, 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Srinagar, summer capital of India's...

KANANASKIS, June 27 (2002): The world's rich nations on Thursday called on Pakistan to put a stop to extremist groups using the country as a base, while urging it and India to get down to serious talks to end conflict over Kashmir. "We discussed the tensions between India and Pakistan. We agreed that Pakistan must put a permanent stop to terrorist activity originating from territory under its control," said the communique, which released after the end of the two-day Group of Eight summit. Pakistan and India, both...

NEW DELHI, July 4 (2002):New Delhi said on Thursday Pakistan's failure to curb militant incursions into its part of Kashmir has made it difficult to further reduce the tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours. "The scope for further de-escalatory measures is restricted by the fact that Pakistan has not shown willingness to deliver on those promises," foreign ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said. Close to a million troops are massed on both sides of the border in a crisis that eased only after Pakistani President...

SRINAGAR, June 23 (2002): Omar Abdullah, a rising star of the Indian government, took over Sunday from his father Farooq Abdullah as leader of Kashmir's ruling party. The high-profile politician, who is junior foreign minister in the federal government, was the only candidate for the leadership of the National Conference (NC) party, a pro-India party that has ruled Kashmir for most of the past 50 years. At a ceremony in the state summer capital Srinagar, Farooq took off his Kashmir-style cap and placed it on his only...

SRINAGAR, June 22 (2002):High-profile junior foreign minister, Omar Abdullah, is set to be elected head of Indian- administered Kashmir's ruling party, replacing his father, officials said Saturday. Omar, 31, will likely be chosen unopposed to succeed his father, Kashmiri Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, to head the National Conference, the pro-India party that has ruled for most of the past 50 years. The minister is due to take over at a high-security function Sunday in Srinigar, Kashmir's summer capital. "The...

NEW DELHI, June 22 (2002): Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is soon likely to pay his second visit to Kashmir this year to help create a conducive atmosphere for holding state elections in the strife-torne Himalayan region. "A visit is proposed, but no date has been fixed yet," a spokesman in the prime minister's office said. The Hindustan Times newspaper said Vajpayee will visit Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar in July and could even meet the leaders of Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Party Hurriyat...

SRINAGAR, June 22 (2002): A camel is suspected of being the cause of of a recent eight-hour shelling duel between Indian and Pakistani troops in the desert state of Rajasthan in which two people died, a report said Saturday. The Indian Express newspaper said the animal strayed into the Indian side from across the border with a Pakistani soldier hot in pursuit, prompting Indian border guards to give chase to the intruders. In turn, Pakistani soldiers opened fire to protect their colleague, killing Indian border guard...