Lashkar ‘not to’ cease fire
ISLAMABAD, July 13 — A front-ranking Pakistan-based militant group today refused to accept any ceasefire with India in Kargil, and claimed that it had killed the Border Security Force’s DIG in Bandipora as part of its stepped up anti-India activity.

India, Pakistan urged to resume dialogue
WASHINGTON, July 13 — While ruling out its mediation, the USA had urged both India and Pakistan to resume their bilateral dialogue under the Lahore process on all issues, including Kashmir, “once the fighting has ended” in the Kargil sector.

Army called out, thousands marooned
DHAKA, July 13 — Troops were called out after a swelling river smashed its embankment, inundating 10 villages and leaving thousands of people marooned in eastern Bangladesh, reports said here today.

Iranian students clash with police
TEHRAN, July 13 — Several thousand pro-democracy students clashed with riot police in central Tehran today, defying a government ban on all rallies and unofficial gatherings, witnesses said.

Embassy bombings: 2 Egyptians charged
NEW YORK, July 13 — The US Federal prosecutors have charged two Egyptian nationals in absentia with conspiring with alleged terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden to bomb US embassies in Africa last year.

USA investigates visa fraud
WASHINGTON, July 13 —The USA is probing allegations of fraud in the issuance of visas for temporary unskilled and skilled labour, including computer programmers and engineers, a large percentage of which occurs from India, The Wall Street Journal has said.

A tale of family carnage
ATLANTA, July 13 — Seven persons were found shot to death in an Atlanta home after an 11-year-old boy who was wounded in the attack fled the closet where he had been hiding for hours.

China: honour Lahore Declaration

BEIJING, July 13 (PTI) — China today appealed to India and Pakistan to seek a fair and reasonable settlement to all disputes between them, including the Kashmir issue.

Responding cautiously to the agreement reached between the military officials of India and Pakistan on troop withdrawal in the Kargil sector, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said China had taken note of the agreement.

"We have noticed the agreement," she told reporters in a cautious response to a question at a Foreign Ministry briefing.

However, she expressed the hope that India and Pakistan would settle their disputes based on the Lahore Declaration signed between the two sides earlier this year.

"We sincerely hope that the two sides will, in accordance with the spirit of the Lahore Declaration issued by the two sides, seek ways that will fairly and reasonably resolve the Kashmir issue and all other disputes," Ms Zhang said.

Last week, China for the first time urged both Pakistan and India to respect the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC).

This statement from Pakistan’s closest ally seems to have played a positive role in forcing Islamabad to withdraw its forces and militants from the Indian side of the LoC, diplomatic sources said.

Though China had maintained a delicate balance between Islamabad and New Delhi during the entire Kargil conflict period, the official Chinese media was showing signs of siding with Beijing’s time-trusted and all-weather friend, they said.

For example, Xinhua News Agency, in a commentary on Indo-Pak relations and the Kargil conflict, hoped that India would immediately resume talks with Pakistan.

Mujahideen to ‘change positions’ in J&K

ISLAMABAD, July 13 (Reuters) — An alliance of guerrilla groups fighting in the Kargil sector today said it had decided to "change positions for the time being."

But the 15-group United Jehad Council alliance said in a statement after an emergency meeting that a "withdrawal from Kargil (area) as a consequence of any international agreement or appeal is out of the question".

Muslim militants retreating from Indian heights are expected to vow to fight on against India when they deliver their verdict on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s pullout plan today, militant sources said.

The United Jehad Council, which groups more than a dozen "Mujahideen" (holy warrior) groups battling India over Kashmir, met to draw up as formal response to a plan they have already dubbed a sellout and a betrayal.

Sources said there was little sign of the council changing its mind after Mr Sharif’s 25-minute address to the nation last night in which he said the capture of Kargil heights had put the issue of Kashmir under the world spotlight.

"The speech has not convinced us to change our minds, but it does warrant a fresh review," said a spokesman for one group. "If the Government of Pakistan has decided to pursue a pacifist policy, we will have to re-define our strategy."

Diplomats said the militants had little choice but to withdraw from Kashmir as agreed by military officials at the weekend in an operation that was due to be completed by Friday to end the worst military showdown with India in nearly 30 years.

But the plan would not prevent them from continuing to operate in other areas of Indian Kashmir where they have waged a hit-and-run guerrilla campaign for the past 10 years.

Al-Badar Mujahideen, one of the most outspoken groups, accused Mr Sharif of being Un-Islamic, an emotive charge, and having "misled the nation."

Pak Army reviews LoC situation

ISLAMABAD, July 13 (PTI) — The Pakistan Army has reviewed the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir and "appreciated" the "heroic struggle" of infiltrators backed by it during the Kargil fighting.

The Army also reviewed its state of operational preparedness during a high-level meeting yesterday at the Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi chaired by the Army Chief, Gen Pervez Musharraf, and attended by all corps commanders and principal staff officers, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) note said today.

It was the first such top-level meeting of the Pakistan Army since Islamabad agreed to pull out its infiltrators from the Kargil heights and was being considered significant to determine the Army’s stand on the overall Kargil crisis.

The meeting expressed complete satisfaction about the preparedness of the Army to deal with any challenge posed by "the adversary", the note said.

The meeting paid rich tributes to officers, junior commissioned officers and jawans who were killed while fighting the Indian Army in the Kargil region and also appreciated the "heroic struggle" of the "Kashmiri Mujahideen", the ISPR said.

Interestingly, the ISPR, in a bid to lift the sagging morale of the Pakistan Army, suddenly raised the casualties on the Indian side by 1000 overnight with its Director-General Brig Rashid Qureshi claiming that 1,700 Indian soldiers had been killed during the two-month-long Kargil crisis.

Brigadier Qureshi had claimed on Sunday that 700 Indian soldiers had died in the Kargil crisis. Delhi put the figure at less than 400.

He claimed the latest figures of casualties on the Indian side was "authentic" though he refused to disclose how he came to know it.

Asked about the casualties on the Pakistan side, he said since May 6, 187 Pakistan Army personnel had been killed and 24 were missing, but refused to give the casualty figure of the "Mujahideen".

Lashkar ‘not to’ cease fire

ISLAMABAD, July 13 (PTI) — A front-ranking Pakistan-based militant group today refused to accept any ceasefire with India in Kargil, and claimed that it had killed the Border Security Force’s DIG in Bandipora as part of its stepped up anti-India activity.

"The Mujahideen are not party to the ceasefire agreement (between Indian and Pakistani army generals) and they don’t accept it," the chief of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, which claimed to have the largest number of cadres fighting in Kargil, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, said at a public meeting.

He slammed Premier Sharif for agreeing to withdraw from Kargil and told the crowd "you should not be disappointed because of the cowardliness of Mr Sharif. We are not going to stop our jehad against India. It (jehad) will continue till Kashmir is liberated and India is disintegrated."

"I want to tell Mr Vajpayee that Kargil was the first round. There is no question of defeat. We have already started the second round," he claimed.

India, Pakistan urged to resume dialogue

WASHINGTON, July 13 (UNI) — While ruling out its mediation, the USA had urged both India and Pakistan to resume their bilateral dialogue under the Lahore process on all issues, including Kashmir, “once the fighting has ended” in the Kargil sector.

“We believe, in fact, that resolving this current crisis along the Line of Control (LoC) was the predicate indeed to restoring the Lahore process at which India and Pakistan will be able to discuss the entire range of issues between them, obviously including Kashmir,” State Department spokesman James Foley said yesterday.

In reply to a question, he said the USA wanted the maintenance of the sanctity of the LoC not only in Kargil, the scene of current violations, but also all along it in Kashmir.

He welcomed the reported “ singificant” reduction in fighting in Kargil after the announcement by the two countries that their senior military commanders had worked out an agreement that “will restore the LoC in the Kargil sector”.

Mr Foley also clarified the U S stand in the face of “persistent” reports from Pakistan, suggesting that U S President Bill Clinton’s announcement to take “ personal interest” in the regional problems amounted to mediation on the part of the USA.

He said, “ The fact is we’re very concerned about this crisis. We’ve maintained very closer and productive dialogue with both India and Pakistan throughout this crisis because we regard it as in the interests not only of the subcontinent, but of the world at large to defuse this crisis and to see a restoration of the Line of Control”.

Mr Foley, however, said efforts of the USA or other countries did not constitute international mediation. “Those are different concepts and that’s not what happened here,” he added.

He said the USA was interested in “encouraging an expeditious resumption and intensification of efforts by India and Pakistan to resolve their outstanding differences, again, including Kashmir. The USA is not a mediator, nor did we offer any specific proposal for ending the fighting in Kargil”.

Mr Goley recalled there had been quite a number of incidents along different parts of the LoC over the years. “ here, though, we had a full-blown crisis and I think both India and Pakistan deserve an enormous amount of credit for having been able to resolving it, he added.

“And again, what’s important is the resumption of the Lahore dialogue. That offered significant hope for India and Pakistan to begin to deal with issues that divide them in a different way from previously, through dialogue, and we hope that process will resume once we have restoration of the Line of Control, once we have a full cessation of hostilities then we would like to see the Lahore process resumed,”the spokeman added.

Army called out, thousands marooned

DHAKA, July 13 (AFP) — Troops were called out after a swelling river smashed its embankment, inundating 10 villages and leaving thousands of people marooned in eastern Bangladesh, reports said here today.

The official BSS news agency said the Army was called out to rescue 20,000 stranded people in Comilla district, sending flood waters gushing to nearby villages in the Mainamati and Mokam Dharela areas.

The agency quoted local officials in Comilla, 70 km east of Dhaka, as saying that the Army had been working non-stop since yesterday to plug the breaches in the embankment and stop the flow of water.

Water Resources Minister Abdur Razzak visited the affected areas last night and assured villagers of government help to ease their suffering.

The Bangladesh Government said yesterday it was on alert for possible major flooding after continuing monsoon rains and rising river levels sparked fears of a repeat of last year’s deluge, the worst in this century.

Officials at the Flood Information Centre said most major rivers continued to rise, with the Meghna registering a “sharp” increase. They said rains would continue until at least tomorrow.

Iranian students clash with police

TEHRAN, July 13 (Reuters) — Several thousand pro-democracy students clashed with riot police in central Tehran today, defying a government ban on all rallies and unofficial gatherings, witnesses said.

‘‘We don’t want a government of force, we don’t want a mercenary police,’’ the students chanted outside the gates of Tehran University, scene of Iran’s worst student unrest since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The crowd was swelled by Tehran residents chanting: ‘’students, students we support you’’. ‘‘Iranians die before they accept humiliation,’’ the angry crowd bellowed.

They also shouted ‘‘army brothers, why kill brothers?’’, — a slogan often used during the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah.

The crowd appealed to the police not to disperse them. The police initially tried to keep a distance but then moved in with batons.

The campus witnessed five days of student protests after the police last week attacked a rally in support of Press freedom and then raided a nearby student dormitory.

The crisis has shaken the Islamic Republic and put pressure on President Mohammad Khatami to accelerate his promised reforms in the face of consistent challenges from powerful conservative clerical opponents.

The police and Ansar-e-Hezbollah vigilantes moved against the students in last night clashes, tightening their grip on streets near the campus and the nearby student dormitories.

Witnesses said the university campus was mostly evacuated yesterday, including some 50 students injured in clashes. The police lobbed tear gas while students burned tyres.

Most of the injured suffered from beatings and tear gas. The police apparently gave other students safe passage off the campus.

Tehran’s Governor banned all demonstrations today. ‘‘No group or organisation will be given a permit for a rally or protest march and any protest march is illegal,’’ the Governor’s office said in a statement.

‘‘The Ministry of Interior has ordered the police to create order and stability and to prevent any unlawful gatherings,’’ state television said.

Ansar-e-Hezbollah vigilantes, armed with stones, sticks and meat cleavers, helped the police take control of the area around the university dormitories yesterday. Students fled inside the complex or took refuge in nearby homes. Dozens were arrested.

Embassy bombings: 2 Egyptians charged

NEW YORK, July 13 (AFP) — The US Federal prosecutors have charged two Egyptian nationals in absentia with conspiring with alleged terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden to bomb US embassies in Africa last year.

Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous, 42, and Adil Muhammad Abdul Al-Majid Bari, 39, were accused yesterday of conspiring with Bin Laden to murder the US citizens worldwide.

Washington suspects Bin Laden, an exiled Saudi-born millionaire, of plotting the August 7, 1998 bomb attacks on its embassies in Nairobi and Das Es Salaam, in which 224 persons were killed some 4,000 others were injured.

The US officials plan to seek their extradition from Britain, where the two men appeared in a London magistrate’s court yesterday after their arrest on Sunday, according to a spokesman for Manhattan US attorney Mary Jo White, whose office is prosecuting the case.

The spokesman said under a US- Britain treaty, the US officials had 60 days to file the request.

The latest charges bring to 17 the total number of persons who have been charged in the US in connection with the near-simultaneous bombings.

Five of the suspects are in custody in New York, while another suspect, Khalid Al-Fawwaz, is also in custody in Britain and awaits extradition.

USA investigates visa fraud

WASHINGTON, July 13 (PTI) —The USA is probing allegations of fraud in the issuance of visas for temporary unskilled and skilled labour, including computer programmers and engineers, a large percentage of which occurs from India, The Wall Street Journal has said.

Skilled labour in India has a large stake in the results of the investigation as “more H-1B visas are issued in India than anywhere else in the world”, it said adding that Indians received 46 per cent of the H-1B visas issued by the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) in fiscal 1998 ending September 30.

This was followed by China (10 per cent), Canada (4 per cent) and the Philippines (3 per cent) during the same period, it said in an article yesterday.

Companies with the highest percentage of petitions for H-1B visas in fiscal 1998 were Mastech (11 per cent), Tata Consultancy (7 per cent), Computerpeople (6 per cent), Oracle (5 per cent), Pricewaterhouse Coopers (4 per cent) and Lucent Technologies (3 per cent).

The US Consulate in Chennai issued more than 20,000 H-1B visas last fiscal, more than any other post in India, according to Mr Bill Yates, Acting Deputy Executive Associate Commissioner of Immigration Services at the INS.”

Mr Yates testified at a congressional hearing in May that as early as 1996, the US Consulate found that among visas issued there a “significant percentage of H-1B petitioners, almost all of whom were computer programmers, were misrepresenting their academic or professional credentials.”

As a result, the Consulate and INS service centres last year began jointly investigating the education and work experience claims on suspect applications submitted to the INS.

Subsequently, the agencies found out of 3,247 cases from India referred to the consulate’s anti-fraud unit, 21 per cent of the work-experience claims made to the INS were definitely false and another 29 per cent “were either probably or possibly fraudulent.” In addition, it could not verify the authenticity of about 45 per cent of the claims made in the H-1B petitions, he said.

Due to this fraud, the journal said, legitimate H-1B applicants have to wait months before they are approved.

Congress raised the number of visas for skilled labour from 65,000 to 115,000 a year, but this year the quota was filled in six months and industry wants to raise the limit further.

Visa fraud, WSJ noted, is not limited to petitions for bringing skilled labour. More than 400,000 temporary work visas under 10 categories were issued in 1996 alone.

A tale of family carnage

ATLANTA, July 13 (AP) — Seven persons were found shot to death in an Atlanta home after an 11-year-old boy who was wounded in the attack fled the closet where he had been hiding for hours.

The motive for the fatal shootings of three adults and four children was unclear. But police were investigating whether one person killed the others and himself.

Neighbour Georgia Hall said the boy, identified by neighbours as Antonio Briskey, told her that his stepfather had shot “everyone in the house”.

He said: “My stepfather shot my Mama, my auntie, my brother, everyone,” Mrs Hall told the Atlanta journal-constitution. “We immediately called 911. We could not believe what had happened. We just called the police and sat with the boy.”

Officers were called to the scene in the afternoon after the boy, who was shot in the elbow, sought help from neighbours.

Family members and neighbours said the dead included a woman, her sister and four of their children, the bodies were removed last night.

The police stayed outside the house for more than an hour after they arrived because a dog was barking inside, raising safety concerns. Once inside, officers found bodies throught the house, which is in a predominantly black neighbourhood of single-family homes and well-kept yards.

Officers found at least one gun in the house.

Ford to pay $ 295 m
CERES (California): A California jury ordered the Ford Motor Company to pay $ 295 million to the family of three persons killed in 1993 when their Ford Bronco rolled over on an interstate highway. The surviving family members claimed that Ford knew that the Bronco’s removable top would crumple if the vehicle rolled over, Bloomberg News reported. The company blamed the crash on mistakes by the two drivers involved in the accident. — DPA

Temple to be moved
CAIRO: Egypt will move a 2,600-year-old pharaonic temple to a new location to protect it from the ravages of rising ground water, its Culture Minister said. It would be the largest project of the kind in Egypt since the rock-cut temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel was dismantled and re-erected under a UNESCO project in 1968 to protect it from flooding by the creation of Lake Nasser behind the Aswan High Dam on the Nile. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said on Monday that the Temple of Hibis in the Al-Khargah oasis would be moved to a new site some 500 metres away in a 20 million-Egyptian pound, 1/2-year project. — AP

Mother barters girl
BESSEMER, (Alabama): A $ 5,000 reward was offered for information about a missing 2-year-old girl whose mother told the police that she had traded the child for crack. Keteria Alexis Blackburn has been missing since February. Her mother, Lasondra Diane Smith, (20), was arrested on Friday and charged with child abuse and child abandonment. She was jailed without bail. Smith said on Sunday that she traded her daughter to someone for crack couldn’t remember who it was because she was high. — AP

Injured actress dies
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s most popular home-grown film star, actress Piseth Pilika, died early today one week after she was gunned down execution-style by suspected hired hitmen, doctors said. “She died very early this morning. The family played music to call her soul back to the body but unfortunately it did not return,” Heng Taykry, head of Phnom Penh’s French-funded Calmette Hospital, said. The body of the 34-year-old pin-up was taken home by grieving relatives. The crime has stunned a capital normally accustomed to high doses of daily violence and police inaction. — AFP

Khrushchev’s son
PROVIDENCE (Rhode Island): Four decades after his father threatened to “bury” US capitalism, Sergei Khrushchev has become a US citizen here, swearing allegiance to the stars and stripes. The son of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev took the oath alongside his wife Valentina Golenko at the Bishop Mcvinney Auditorium on Monday. — AFP