SRINAGAR, April 28 (2005): As spring sets in, Kashmiris are busy polishing their pinewood houseboats on the mirror-calm waters of the Dal lake and renovating hotels in the hope that a renewed push for peace will bring back the tourists. They hope talks between Pakistan and India, including over the fate of Kashmir, will see tourists once again flock to their stunningly beautiful Himalayan region. "Things have changed ... for the first time both countries are condemning militants attacks in Kashmir with one...

SRINAGAR, April 26 (2005): Indian soldiers shot dead six separatist guerrillas on Tuesday in a fierce gunbattle near the Pakistan border in Kashmir, an army spokesman said. Clashes between soldiers and Muslim militants have continued in the Himalayan region even after India and Pakistan declared their peace process irreversible last week. "The army launched an operation in Chowkibal area, six militants have been killed so far. The operation is in progress," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel V.K. Batra said (For...

SRINAGAR, April 22 (2005): Indian army soldiers shot dead 11 Muslim rebels in gunbattles in Indian Kashmir, an army spokesman said on Friday. He said four militants were killed in a night-time firefight after they tried to cross over to Indian Kashmir from Pakistan west of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital. Another seven were killed in two separate gunbattles in northern Kashmir, the spokesman said. In another incident, witnesses reported police used tear gas to disperse a religious procession in Srinagar. The...

PEACE BRIDGE, Pakistan-India border, April 21 (2005): The second bus run linking Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, a major symbol of revived hopes of peace between South Asia's nuclear rivals, ended safely on Thursday despite threats of violence. Twenty-two Indian Kashmiris and 11 Pakistanis who arrived on the inaugural service on April 7 left Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, on the 170-km (105-mile) drive to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir, officials said. In Muzaffarabad, 25 passengers, including 14...

SRINAGAR, April 21 (R2005): The second bus run linking Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, a major symbol of revived hopes of peace between South Asia's nuclear rivals, began quietly and peacefully on Thursday despite threats of violence. Twenty-two Indian Kashmiris and 11 Pakistanis who arrived on the inaugural service on April 7 left for the 170-km (105-mile) drive to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir, officials said. Four Muslim groups fighting Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region at the centre of 60...

SRINAGAR, Aril 16 (2005): Indian troops killed six Muslim guerrilla leaders in gunbattles in Kashmir ahead of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's arrival in India, the army and police said on Saturday. They said two senior members of the militant Hizbul Mujahideen were killed on Saturday in a clash, south of Srinagar, Indian Kashmir's summer capital and main city. On Friday soldiers shot dead four top militants of the Al-Badr group in a separate battle west of Srinagar. "All of them were hardcore terrorists of...

MANILA, April 20 (2005) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf pledged on Wednesday to curb attacks by militants in Kashmir to promote the peace process with nuclear rival India and forge a solution to the territorial dispute in the Himalayas. Musharraf, on the last day of a visit to the Philippines, said Islamabad had made ending the decades-old dispute over Kashmir a priority of five key programmes to market Pakistan as an investment haven in South Asia. "We need to resolve this issue once and for all in a flexible...

SRINAGAR, April 19 (2005): Strife-weary residents of Kashmir were warily hopeful on Tuesday of a less troubled future after India and Pakistan talked of an irreversible peace process and agreed to open up the frontier dividing the region. Kashmir has been battered for over 15 years by a rebellion against New Delhi's rule that has killed tens of thousands of people. The region is claimed in entirety by both nuclear rivals and has led to two of their three wars. But Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's weekend visit...

NEW DELHI, April 18 (2005): India and Pakistan said on Monday they had agreed on a series of measures to open the ceasefire line dividing Kashmir to help their peace process. The measures, including more transport and trade links across the heavily militarised frontier, cap a successful visit by President Pervez Musharraf after his last trip ended in failure four years ago and the nuclear rivals came close to war in 2002. (For complete story write to admin@freepresskashmir.com)

NEW DELHI, April 18 (2005): Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said on Monday the ceasefire line dividing Kashmir should not become a permanent border as a way of solving the dispute between nuclear rivals Pakistan and India over the Himalayan region. After Musharraf's positive three-day visit to India, the two sides are expected to announce a series of measures to open up the military line later on Monday as a way of easing tensions. "The LoC (ceasefire line) cannot be accepted as a final solution," he told a meeting...