‘Parliament session should go on’
No panic in country: PM

NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said there is no panic in the country in the aftermath of Thursday’s terrorist attack on Parliament and that the country is prepared to face any crisis.

"Parliament is in session. It is necessary that Parliament goes on as also my scheduled programmes so that a message goes to the world that India is prepared to face any crisis," he said while releasing a commemorative postage stamp to mark 100 years of Oil India’s Digboi Refinery, the first to be set up in the country.

"There is no panic in the country," the Prime Minister told executives of the refinery which started way back in 1901 at Digboi in Assam.

Observing that one had never thought of such an audacious attack on Parliament, Vajpayee recalled that terrorism had reached such a state in Punjab that it had become impossible for people to sleep or venture out at night.

"But with the cooperation of the people and the help of the security forces the country was able to crush terrorism in Punjab," the Prime Minister said.

Referring to the terrorist strike on Parliament, Vajpayee said "this challenge will also be met by the country".

Vajpayee, in his characterisitic style, said an MP could point out that when Parliament was in session the Prime Minister should not be speaking outside it. "But what is important is that Parliament session should go on and so do my scheduled programmes," he said.

Lauding the contribution of past and present employees of the refinery to keep the plant going, the Prime Minister regretted that the country had to spend huge amounts in import oil but there was no way out.

"If we had adequate oil, then this money could have been spent on development," he said adding that efforts were on in Assam and other parts of the country to find oil and natural gas.

He also commended India’s oil industry for the tremendous progress made by it in making the country self-reliant in refining of crude oil.

Addressing the gathering, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said the country was at the threshold of momentous changes in the oil sector with the scheduled dismantling of Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) from March 31, next year.

Naik said while India imported 70 per cent of its oil needs by spending Rs 80,000 crore annually, if-sufficient in the refining sector with an installed capacity of 112.5 million tonnes. He also said that in the next week or so six firms would be identified to extract coal-bed methane to augment the energy sector.

Oil India Corporation Chairman M A Pathan gave the vote of thanks. (PTI)

Pak must end cross-border terrorism in J&K: Jaswant

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Dec 18: The Minister for External Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh, has categorically ruled out any third-party involvement in any aspect of India-Pakistan relations and emphasized the relevance and significance of the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration.

"India’s position on the State of Jammu and Kashmir is well known. The State is an integral part of the Indian Union", Mr Jaswant Singh stated in the Rajya Sabha.

Replying to a question by Mr C O Poulose, Mr Jaswant Singh said that a part of the territory of Jammu and Kashmir "is under the forcible and illegal occupation of Pakistan". Under the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, which are cornerstones of India-Pakistan relations, both countries, according to the External Affairs Minister, are committed to resolving all issues peacefully through direct bilateral approaches.

"There is no question of any third-party involvement in any aspect of India-Pakistan relations", Mr Singh asserted. He recalled that his Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, had, following the October 1 terrorist attack on the J&K Assembly complex in Srinagar, in a letter to the US President, Mr George Bush, emphasized that incidents of this kind "raise questions for our security" and Pakistan must understand that "there is a limit to the patience of the people of India".

Mr Jaswant Singh argued that despite professing to support the international coalition against terrorism, Pakistan’s sponsorship of cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir "continues unabated".

The External Affairs Minister informed Dr Karan Singh and Mr CM Ibrahim that while there is no question of the involvement of any third party in any aspect of India-Pakistan relations, New Delhi has, on numerous occasions, reiterated its commitment to resuming the composite dialogue and pick up threads of Lahore. Pakistan, Mr Jaswant Singh reiterated, must end its sponsorship of cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India so that a conducive environment was created for a "productive" dialogue.

Has the Government of India adopted a policy to ignore all the incidents taking place in the neighbouring countries like Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka? Answering this question by Mr Janeshwar Mishra, Mr Jaswant Singh clarified that the Government "is alert to all important developments" in India’s neighbourhood and particularly to those which could affect national interest. Mr Singh made it plain that the Vajpayee Government "is responsive to the legitimate concerns, needs and problems" of the people of Indian origin.

The Minister for External Affairs also clarified that the United States does not ‘push’ India and Pakistan to resume dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir. In his reply to another question by Mr C O Poulose, Mr Jaswant Singh stated that the United States, like many other friendly countries, maintained the position that India and Pakistan should resolve all outstanding issues, including the ‘Kashmir issue’, through bilateral dialogue and not through recourse to violence.

Mr Singh quoted the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, as saying in a television interview, in response to a question on Jammu and Kashmir: "The two sides have to settle that and there needs to be a dialogue between Pakistan and India". And Mr Powell did say that the US "cannot become the mediator, the arbitrator or the intermediary between them".

On India’s stand on Afghan war, Mr Jaswant Singh told Mr Manoj Bhattacharya that New Delhi had always been aware of the antecedents of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban as also of its strong ties that Taliban continued to have with Pakistan, including with its military forces. The Taliban, Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda, he stated, had turned Afghanistan into a centre of terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking.

The External Affairs Minister reiterated that while it was well established that the Taliban and the Al Qaeda network "have links with terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir", New Delhi’s support to the ongoing military campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda network in Afghanistan "is, therefore, in keeping with India’s national interest".

‘Use of force not ruled out’
Diplomacy main option: Omar

NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Diplomacy was the main option with the Government to deal with the situation arising from the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament, but it would not hesitate to use force if necessary to defeat the nefarious designs of Pakistan, Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah said today.

Intervening in the Lok Sabha debate on the terrorist attack, Mr Abdullah rejected the opposition charge that India had been isolated internationally as many countries had not condemned the terrorist attack and that security had not been tightened at Parliament despite prior information.

US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had telephoned Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee immediately after the terrorist attack and condemned the incident, he said. Such messages had been received from almost all corners of the world.

Further, he had noticed enhanced security arrangements at both the gates of Parliament following intelligence information about a possible attack on the building, Mr Abdullah said.

On the proposed Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTO), he said there were conflicting viewpoints on the issue between the State units of the Congress and the Central leadership of the party. While the Congress Governments in Karnataka and Maharashtra had made admissible the confessional statements of accused given to the police, the same provision in POTO was opposed by the central leadership of the Congress, Mr Abdullah said.

The telephone intercepts of cricket players allegedly involved in match fixing were condoned by the opposition, which, however, was against giving legal status to using intercepted messages of terrorist organisations, Mr Abdullah said.

POTO was already being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir. Since the conviction rate under the existing laws was as low as 6.5 per cent, it was necessary to bring in tougher legal provisions to deal with terrorism.

The lax bail provisions should not be extended to activists of terrorist organisations such as Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba, he said.

Countering an argument of the opposition that POTO, which was already in force, could not prevent the attack on Parliament, Mr Abdullah said the fact that murders continued to take place despite the existence of section 302 of IPC to deal with such crimes did not warrant abolition of such provisions.

He also disputed the opposition allegation that the NDA Government was internationalising the Kashmir issue. This had already been done by the previous Government and what the Vajpayee Government was doing was to internationalise the issue of terrorism, he explained.

The NDA Government had never hesitated to protect the interests of the nation even at the cost of international isolation as was shown in the case of the nuclear tests. And it would not worry about international opinion again if it felt necessary to use force in the fight against terrorism, he said. (UNI)

Laden location a mystery as loyalists routed

WASHINGTON, Dec 18: The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, remained a mystery today as US and Afghan forces hunted his routed fighters in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States did not know whether the Saudi-born millionaire it blames for the September 11 suicide attacks was still in Afghanistan — or even if he was alive or dead.

With US forces keen to nab bin Laden and close phase one of Washington’s war on terrorism, Afghans looked ahead to Saturday’s installation of an interim Government to steer a country at war for over two decades towards a more peaceful future.

After weeks of sustained US bombing, Afghan and US ground forces flushed bin Laden’s Al Qaeda fighters out of their last bastion in the Tora Bora mountains — a warren of tunnels and caves — near Pakistan’s porous border on Sunday.

Triumphant Afghan commanders paraded 19 shuffling and shell-shocked captive Al Qaeda fighters in a ritual humiliation on Monday in the village of Mia, some 15 km north of the front line.

But there was no sign of bin Laden, whose Taliban protectors were earlier ousted by a loose and disparate coalition of US-backed Afghan tribal fighters.

"He might still be in Afghanistan. He might have gotten out of the country. He might be dead for all we know. We don’t have any fresh information," Powell told a US television chat show.

US officials said hundreds of bin Laden loyalists were on the run near the border with Pakistan where there have been unconfirmed reports that the Saudi-born militant may have slipped past Pakistani border patrols.

An ABC news report said US special forces were inside Pakistan to coordinate the hunt for fleeing Al Qaeda fighters, while CIA agents were at Pakistan detention centres interrogating nearly 100 fugitives who have already been arrested.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem said looking for the Al Qaeda fighters was like searching for fleas on a dog.

"If you see one and you focus on the one, you don’t know how many others are getting away," he said.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, arriving in Brussels for a NATO meeting, said Al Qaeda remained a threat in Afghanistan. "The fact of the matter is...There are still any number of Al Qaeda in that country," he added.

While bin Laden’s whereabouts were a mystery, Pashtun forces were preparing to attack a mountain redoubt where Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, long-time protector of bin Laden, was believed to be hiding with 500 men.

Kandahar Director of Intelligence Haji Gullalai told Reuters Omar was hiding in mountains and caves around the village of Baghran in Helmand province, about 160 km from Southern Kandahar.

If caught, Omar "will be hanged", Gullalai said.

With an interim Government under Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun tribal chief loyal to ex-king Zahir Shah, due to take office on Saturday, US marines raised the flag over the US Embassy in Kabul yesterday for the first time since 1989.

Karzai said an international peace force was likely to arrive in Kabul before his Government takes office.

Details of the force’s make up have not been announced.

Karzai was speaking from rome ahead of talks with the 87-year-old former king, who has lived in exile in the Italian capital since 1973.

Zahir Shah is due to return home in six months to open a Loya Jirga, or grand council, to map out the country’s future as part of a UN-sponsored peace plan.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain would contribute up to 1,500 troops to an international force and was prepared in principle to lead it.

But the size of the force could prove contentious.

Afghanistan’s Interim Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim has insisted the force should not exceed 1,000, while Rumsfeld estimated the force would need 3,000 to 5,000 troops.

Blair said details on how long British troops would be in place still had to be finalised, but it would not be a long-term commitment. "At the moment people are talking in terms of several months," he said.

Sima Samar, Minister for Women’s Affairs in the 30-member interim cabinet, said peacekeepers would be needed for at least a year. "I think at least a year because it’s not easy to collect all the weapons from the people in every corner of the country," she said in Washington before meeting Powell. (Agencies)

Gunbattles in Sopore, Anantnag
Eight militants killed in Valley

Excelsior Special Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Dec 18: While as at least eight militants died in three separate gunbattles in Kashmir valley today, one of the critically injured victims of Monday’s Achhabal blast died at a hospital.

Informed sources told EXCELSIOR that working on a tip-off, troops of Rashtriya Rifles 28 Bn and SOG Baramulla laid siege to Drusu village in Rafeeabad-Sopore belt of north Kashmir this afternoon. According to the specific information, a group of at least three militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were present in the village. During the operation, a fierce gunbattle took place between the two sides in which three militants got killed. Three AK-56 Rifles, 10 grenades and a wireless set were recovered from the site of encounter. All the militants killed in action remained unidentified. However, officials believed two of them as Pakistani nationals and the third one a local militant of the Lashkar.

In the three-hour-long exchange of gunfire, Major Atri of RR 28 Bn as also a soldier sustained injuries. However, neither anybody from security forces nor any civilian was reported killed.

In the same north Kashmir belt, troops of RR 22 Bn and SOG Baramulla launched a cordon-and-search operation at Hardu-Shiva village, in Zainageer locality of Sopore this evening. According to the tip-off, a group of three to four Hizbul Mujahideen militants were present at a hide-out. As the troops zeroed in on the target house, militants opened fire. Troops retaliated and the gunbattle was going on beyond midnight. Unofficial reports available from Sopore said that two local militants of Hizbul Mujahideen got killed late tonight. However, official confirmation to that report was still awaited.

On yet another tip-off, troops of Rashtriya Rifles 7th Bn and SOG Anantnag launched a cordon-and-search operation at Utarsoo village in Achhabal locality of south Kashmir this afternoon. During the operation, a group of Lashkar-e-Toiba militants made an unsuccessful attempt to escape. However, troops opened fire and engaged them in a fierce gunfight in open fields. All the three militants got killed. They were believed to be Pakistani cadres of Lashkar-e-Toiba. However, none of them had been identified till late this evening when they were buried in a graveyard.

Meanwhile, here in the capital city, militants fired upon constable Gulzar Ahmed Wani of District Police Srinagar at Batwara, in Badami Bagh cantonment area this afternoon. With gunshot wounds he was rushed to hospital. However, residents described it as an incident of misfire and insisted that there was no militant attack, as claimed in the official bulletin.

Out of the 14 civilians, who had sustained splinter injuries in Monday’s grenade blast at Achhabal in Anantnag district, one has succumbed at the hospital. He was identified as Gulzar Ahmed Khan S/o Habibullah Khan R/o Achhabal. As already reported, an unidentified terrorist had lobbed the grenade on a crowd of Eid revellers and locals still insist that there was no target like counter-insurgents, SOG, military or paramilitary forces.

Civilian shot in Surankot
Budh Shikan, body-guard killed; another held

Excelsior Correspondent

RAJOURI, Dec 18: Army and police eliminated two terrorists including a dreaded Pakistani national Budh Shikan alias DSP in a fierce gun-battle at Hari in Surankot tehsil of Poonch district this morning and apprehended another while a civilian was gunned down in captivity by the ultras.

Official sources said a joint operation was launched by army and police in Hari area of Surankote at 0800 hours today. Operation was launched on a tip off that a dreaded foreign mercenary Budh Shikan alias DSP, a ‘district commander’ of Al Badar had taken shelter in the village alongwith his associates since over-night.

Budh Shikan was engaged in an encounter at about 1040 hours today and was gunned down after about one and a half hour long gun-fighting. One of his body-guard was also killed while there were reports that two to three other ultras escaped during the exchange of firing.

No casualties were reported on army side in the cross-firing. Troops continued a search operation in the surrounding forest area of Hari to track down the fleeing terrorists. While one of the terrorist was identified as Budh Shikan alias DSP, a resident of Karachi, Pakistan and a ‘commander’ of Al Badar outfit, the identity of his slain body-guard couldn’t be established immediately. He too was suspected to be a Pakistani.

Recoveries made from the scene of encounter included two AK-56 rifles, two AK magazines, six grenades and a wireless set.

Another search operation was carried out by the security forces in Nakka village of Mendhar tehsil in Poonch district late last night. During the operation, the security personnel nabbed a harbourer of the terrorists identified as Anayat Ullah Safari son of Mohd Hussain Khan, a resident of Nakka, Mendhar.

Sources said Anayat Ullah used to give shelter to the ultras in his house. Besides, he also helped the terrorists by briefing them about movement of the security personnel.

After preliminary questioning, the security personnel handed over the terrorists’ harbourer to local police for sustained interrogation. A case against him has been registered.

Meanwhile, police today recovered dead body of Imran Zaffar Khan son of Zaffar Umar Khan, a resident of village Kalar Moher, Surankot. Body was recovered from village Londi Gajna in Draba area this morning.

Imran was missing since November 29 and was stated to have been kidnapped by the terrorists. He was appeared to have been killed in the captivity and his body thrown in a forest area.

Security forces today recovered a magazine and four rounds of AK rifle from Kallal sector of Nowshera in this district. Two terrorists were killed in the same area on December 16.

Debt trap forces two brothers to end life

Excelsior Correspondent

KATHUA, Dec 18: Two financier brothers who landed in a huge debt trap today committed suicide after finding it difficult to clear their liabilities.

According to police, both the brothers had to pay back the public money worth Rs 30 lakh and they have been avoiding to meet them for the last so many days keeping in view their poor financial condition. The people who had to get money from these brothers had even warned them to return money at an earliest.

Today both the brothers went into a cafeteria at Dyalachak and consumed some poisonous drug there.

It seems that both had pre-planned to end lives in the cafeteria and for that purpose they took poison with them, the police said, adding it is still a mystery as to why they preferred cafeteria to commit suicide.

The owner of the cafeteria found both the brothers in unconscious condition and informed the police which rushed to the spot and shifted both of them to District Hospital Kathua.

Keeping in view their critical condition, the doctors at District Hospital referred them to Government Medical College Hospital Jammu where they died.

The bodies have been kept in the mortuary of the hospital and will be handed over to family members after post-mortem tomorrow.

Both the brothers were cloth merchants but they also used to run a Chit Fund Company in Hiranagar. Both the brothers landed in Rs 30 lakh debt trap and found it difficult to clear their liabilities despite the repeated demand from the public.

The deceased have been identified as Mohan Kapoor and Hira Lal. They are basically the residents of Amritsar but used to run business of clothes at Hiranagar.

Police have registered a case in this connection and further investigations were on.

US recognises India’s right to self defence

WASHINGTON, Dec 18: After asking India to follow restraint in the wake of terrorist attack on Parliament, the United States today recognised New Delhi’s right to self-defence and asked Pakistan to rein in militant groups operating there.

In a reflection of a wavering stand in the last three days, White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said "India has a legitimate right to self defence."

However, when asked if India could attack terrorist training camps in Pakistan using a variant of the Bush doctrine, he said President George W Bush has urged both sides "to share information, work with each other and take no action that would in any way hinder the war against terrorism to which both the countries have committed themselves."

Meanwhile, the US State Department has asked Pakistan to "address terrorist activities within their borders, especially the activities of militant groups."

"Pakistan needs to be concerned about the activities of militant groups within its border and needs to take appropriate action on its part," the spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Boucher said of particular concern to the US were the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfits, both of which have participated in terrrorist activities.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Colin Powell asked India to follow restraint cautioning that tension in Indo-Pak relations had the potential of "becoming very dangerous".

Earlier, Boucher had said the US expected India to take "appropriate action" following the terrorist attack on Parliament and promised all help to New Delhi. (PTI)

Ibrar Bhai shot dead

Excelsior Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Dec 18: A terrorist, Ibrar Bhai, was killed and another seriously injured in an encounter with Special Task Force (STF) at village Mahashal in Sachlu area of Mahore tehsil this morning. Slain and injured ultras were involved in the killing of a police constable Mohd Ibrahim and three members of his family last week.

Ibrar Bhai’s associate Yaseer Mohammed was critically wounded in the gun-battle but he managed to escape alongwith his other fleeing associates. Yaseer was being chased by the STF jawans.

A pistol, one grenade, one grenade launcher and a wireless set were recovered from the scene of encounter, official reports said.

Ibrar Bhai was a ‘local commander’ of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit for Mahore.

Four terrorists booked under PSA

Excelsior Correspondent

KATHUA, Dec 18: Four terrorists including a woman were booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) by Kathua Police and sent to different prisons.

Sources told EXCELSIOR that all the four terrorists were earlier detained for their involvement in killing of two brothers in Gatti in the month of September this year. After thorough investigation, Police found hand of these terrorists in that killing.

The District Magistrate after imposing PSA sent the woman to District Jail, Ambphalla and three men to Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal.

They have been identified as Mohd Abbas, son of Ab Sattar, Shamshad Begum, wife of Mohd Abbas, Azam Din and Ashraf Khaliq.

Pak posts damaged in Nowshera sector

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 18: Army tonight said it retaliated Pakistan firing and shelling effectively with mortar and heavy caliber firing causing damage to several Pakistani posts opposite Nowshera sector of Rajouri district.

"In response to two incidents of the infiltration attempts, army targeted Pakistani posts, which were involved in aiding, abetting and supporting the terrorist activities", a Defence spokesman said tonight.

The spokesman gave no details of casualties inflicted on the enemy side or the extent of damage caused to Pakistani posts.

He said Pakistani terrorists, assisted by Pak army posts, had entered into Indian territory in Janghar sector of Nowshera on December 15 and gunned down a couple, injured another and vandalised a place of worship.

Today also, Pak terrorists violated the Line of Control (LoC) in the same sector and attempted to attack an army patrol, forcing the troops to take retaliatory measures, he added.

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