Battle on for fortress; Marines hit convoy near Kandahar

MAZAR-e-SHARIF, Nov 27: Northern Alliance troops aided by US special forces fought a pitched battle with captured loyalists of Osama bin Laden for a third day today in a sprawling mud-walled fortress.

Five Americans were wounded by a stray us bomb. Airplanes circled above the fortress today and soldiers said more airstrikes had fallen. Mortar shells exploded around the complex and an enormous blast shook windows in Mazar-e-Sharif, 15 kilometers away. Many airstrikes were reported overnight.

US marines went into action in southern Afghanistan, sending helicopter gunships aloft as Navy F-14 Tomcat jets attacked an armored convoy of 15 vehicles. It was the marines’ first known action since establishing a foothold yesterday near the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Some of the vehicles in the column were destroyed, Capt. David Romley said.

US President George W Bush warned Americans to be prepared for US casualties. He said the US-led war in Afghanistan was "just the beginning" of the fight against terrorism, and he warned Iraq and North Korea there would be consequences for producing weapons of mass destruction.

In the north, prisoners captured by the alliance last weekend in Kunduz rained rocket-propelled grenades and mortars on alliance troops trying to suppress the uprising.

Hundreds of Pakistanis, Chechens, Arabs and other non-Afghans fighting with the Taliban were brought to the fortress here as part of the weekend surrender of Kunduz, the Islamic militia’s last stronghold in the north.

Once inside the fortress Sunday, the prisoners stormed the armory and were still resisting two days later.

Five American soldiers suffered serious wounds when a US Adam smart bomb went stray, exploding near them. They were evacuated to nearby Uzbekistan, Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Washington. Their identities were not released.

One CIA operative was unaccounted for in the uprising, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity said.

Alliance officers said about 40 of their troops had died in the uprising along with hundreds of resisters. Alim Razim, an aide to alliance Gen. Rashid Dostum said the holdouts, trapped in a tower, were running out of ammunition and wouldn’t last long.

In other developments:

Britain took several thousand troops off 48-hour alert, citing an improving situation on the ground in Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon confirmed four British soldiers had been injured in operations with US forces in Afghanistan. He said one soldier was wounded seriously, but declined to comment further. He said all were being treated in Britain.

Police detained 14 people in Belgium and France in connection with the September slaying of Ahmed Shah Massood, military leader of Northern Alliance. The suspects are believed connected to a group that gave false Belgian Id papers to members of bin Laden’s terrorist network.

A Swedish television journalist was killed today in a robbery near Kunduz, the Northern Alliance said. Colleagues identified him as Olaf Stromberg, of Sweden’s TV4, and said he was shot when robbers broke into the house where he was staying. He was the eighth journalist to die in Afghanistan since the start of the Afghan war on Oct. 7.

Helped by US and Northern Alliance troops, 12 Russian transport planes arrived in Kabul carrying aid crews, President Vladimir Putin said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said experts arrived to defuse land mines on the road leading to a planned Russian aid center.

Under terms of the Kunduz surrender, foreign fighters were to be imprisoned in Mazar-e-Sharif pending an investigation into their links with bin Laden, alleged architect of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Thousands of Afghan Taliban fighters who gave up were allowed free. However, some Afghan fighters remained behind and fired on alliance troops who entered the city yesterday after the two-week siege.

After an hour-long battle with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, alliance forces crushed the last of the resistance, killing about 100 Taliban and suffering 10 dead, alliance officers said.

Alliance troops then sought vengeance on the holdouts. Reporters watched as alliance soldiers blasted away at wounded Taliban and dragged those who hid out of their houses.

Alliance fighters beat one Taliban fighter with rifle butts and stomped on his face, throwing him into a truck bound for a detention center only when he fell unconscious.

Three other Taliban bodies lay in empty market stalls. Residents said the Northern Alliance had captured the wounded men in fighting Sunday, then shot them yesterday. (AP)

History of State to be updated by expert panel
NC won't use Resettlement Act as poll plank: Farooq

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 27: Criticising some elements for raising hue and cry over Resettlement Act, Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah today said that neither National Conference had used this issue as election plank nor party is thinking to use it in the forthcoming Assembly election.

In an informal chat with media persons after unveiling life size statue of former Minister, Girdhari Lal Dogra, Dr Farooq Abdullah defended much-talked about Resettlement Act and said that "either you should have to stop staking claim on Pakistani occupied Kashmir (PoK) or support the Resettlement Act", he said adding that ``this Act is for those Kashmiri people whom we have been considering as part and parcel of our State’’, he said.

Allying all apprehensions, Chief Minister assured that no person will be dislodged neither property of any one will be evacuated. "We have so many areas to settle them", he said.

Reacting to statement of the former Pakistani Prime Minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto Mr Abdullah said "we should not expect any positive response from Ms Bhutto. She is a citizen of Pakistan and has served as Prime Minister of Pakistan", Dr Abdullah said, adding, "she is again thinking to become Prime Minister of Pakistan so that she would never speak positive".

When his attention was drawn towards decision of the State administration to implement much talked about Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) in the State without passing of the same in the State Assembly, Chief Minister said, "we donot have much time to wait for approval of the same". "Let the nation discuss and bring some changes in the POTO, we will implement these changes later", he said and added that it was high time to intensify efforts against the on going war against terrorism. Chief Minister said that State Government required a strong law and POTO was strong enough to deal terrorism.

Earlier, addressing the function Chief Minister, indicated that an expert committee would advice on updating the history of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that those who had contributed in building the State will find appropriate place in the history. "Certainly unblemished public career of Mr Dogra will also figure in the document", he said.

He paid glowing tributes to Mr Dogra while recalling various facets of his life and said that the departed leader always worked for the betterment and welfare of the people of the State at large. The best tribute to him would be to follow the ideas that were cherished to Mr Dogra, the Chief Minister said while assuring a piece of land for the library to be constructed by Dogra Memorial Trust. He said that the proposed women college in Kathua, that is likely to start functioning from next academic year, will be named after Mr Girdhari Lal Dogra.

Dr Abdullah regretted that the proposed site could not be used for installation of the statue of Maharaja Gulab Singh as proposed by the Amar Kshatrira Rajput Sabha but assured the memorial of Dogra warrior would instead be erected at Bypass turn. He also referred to the attempts by some about changing the nomenclature of Girdhari Lal Dogra Marg and said that the pressure was withstood. "We have certain traditions and cannot deviate from these. And if we do where shall it lead us", he observed while emphasising that posterity must know about the stalwarts of the past. He said that Girdhari Lal Dogra’s profile would be inscribed in three languages on a plaque of the statue.

Former Minister and close associate of Mr Girdhari Lal Dogra, Pt Mangat Ram Sharma and Mr Ram Dass Dogra, younger brother of departed leader also addressed the function and threw light on various facets of Mr Girdhari Lal Dogra’s political career.

Mr Arun Jaitely, Union Minister for Law and Company Affairs was among those who were present on the occasion.

Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Mr Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah was the chief guest while Power Minister, Mr S S Slathia, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Mr Harbans Singh, Minister of State for Tourism, Ms Sakina Itoo, Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Ram Paul, Minister of State for Home, Mr Khalid Najeeb Suharawardy, several legislators, senior officers and prominent citizens were among those present at the unveiling ceremony.

'In the name of Allah'
Violence to escalate in J&K

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Nov 27: Incriminating documents, seized from terrorists, have revealed highly sensational details about the restructured plans of anti-India forces across the border, according to top sources in the RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

The documents, sources say, have confirmed the determination of Pakistan-aided jihadis and fidayeen to continue with indiscriminate violence ‘in the name of Allah till India is destroyed’.

By the time over a dozen Indian Army personnel were killed in a fidayeen attack recently on an Army convoy at Ramban on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, Interpol and the International Association of Chiefs of Police has put out warnings that terrorism, specially of the religious and ethnic or nationalist variety, was bound to increase and violence was likely to intensify further.

In an informal chat with EXCELSIOR in Parliament House on Tuesday, a Ministerial colleague of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee admitted that acts of terrorism in the country, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, were continuing unchecked. He also admitted that two attacks, one after another, on Indian forces on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in recent days demonstrated a mark-up in such violence.

Even as the J&K Police and Army and paramilitary forces have achieved successes while dealing with militants and foreign mercenaries in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, the possibility of more acts of terrorist violence in the coming days cannot be ruled out. In fact, the Ministerial source revealed that the Centre as well as the Farooq Abdullah Government had serious concerns in this regard.

A senior security specialist, on the other hand, said in reply to a question by EXCELSIOR that one cannot rule out India’s different role in the event of further intensification of terrorist violence and fidayeen attacks on Indian forces and installations. When asked to elaborate on it, he said that he was of the view that if levels of conflict and violence continued to escalate, India my be compelled to raise the costs of Pakistan.

Stating that jihadi terrorists form part of the ‘International Brigade of Islam’, the security specialist, who wanted to be anonymous, said that a fresh wave of violence can be expected after the Taliban cadres, though not all of them, along with their arms move into other conflict-zones like Jammu and Kashmir. Countries such as Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the sponsors of the ‘International Brigade of Islam’.

History bears testimony to the fact that when the Palestinians were driven out of Jordan in the late ‘60s, they scattered across West Asia and this provoked a series of violent incidents. Following the campaign in Afghanistan in the ‘80s, groups of Islamists from several Muslim countries spread across West and South Asia and to this day are creating problems in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere.

It is unlikely that the collapse of Taliban heralds premature demise of Islamist terrorism. The security specialist observed that calling for New Delhi-Islamabad dialogue when India "is under threat from terrorists, and even as cross-border terrorism is being employed by Pakistan as a super-weapon, amounts to little more than a torrent of rhetoric signifying nothing".

The Government of India does not expect much respite from terrorism in the near future, the success of the current international coalition against terrorism notwithstanding. Significantly, as Washington has not denied Pakistan-sponsored infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Minister, Mr LK Advani, is said to have planned to discuss terrorism in all its aspects during his official visit to the US early next year.

3 Pak bunkers blasted, 16 casualties
Major, JCO among 11 army jawans killed
* 9 terrorists eliminated in Poonch

Excelsior Correspondent

RAJOURI/POONCH, Nov 27: Army today suffered a setback in its anti-terrorism operations when they lost 11 soldiers including a Major and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) but killed eight hardcore terrorists after a fierce gun-battle in Kalaali in Hill Kaka area of Surankot in Poonch district.

Meanwhile, army today retaliated Pak shelling vigorously in Khari Karmara sub sector in Poonch district blasting enemy’s three bunkers, which were in flames till late tonight and inflicting atleast 16 casualties which included some fatal injuries.

Official sources said the troops of 17 Maratha Light Infantry and other units of Rashtriya Rifles were on way to a forest area of Kalaali to launch an operation to flush out the terrorists when they were ambushed by the ultras, who had taken positions atop a hill, late this afternoon.

The terrorists fired grenades on troops with rifles and opened heavy firing from automatic weapons. Army jawans fired back. Enforcement of army was also rushed to the scene of gun-battle from a nearby camp.

Since the ultras had taken positions atop hills, troops suffered 11 fatalities. Retaliatory firing led to elimination of eight terrorists, all foreign mercenaries from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Two to three ultras managed to escape during the gun-battle.

An army handout confirmed only five casualties on army side but official sources put the number of killed soldiers at 11. Major Ashok Sangli of 17 Maratha Light Infantry, who was leading the operation and a JCO were among the fatalities. Two other jawans were stated to be injured in the operation and have been hospitalised.

Identity of slain terrorists hadn’t been established so far. A large quantity of weaponry has been recovered from the scene of encounter. Details of the recovery were awaited as army officials and jawans were busy in shifting bodies of the deceased soldiers to their houses.

In another encounter, the troops eliminated a local terrorist of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit in Morha Bachchai in Surankot tehsil of Poonch district this evening.

The ultra was killed after an hour long encounter with army jawans. He has been identified as Abdul Gani son of Noor Mohd, a resident of Morha Bachchai. One AK rifle, a hand grenade and ammunition was recovered from the possession of slain terrorist.

Body of Noor Mohd has been handed over to local police.

The sources said two associates of Noor Mohd managed to escape during the exchange of firing and were being traced by the security personnel.

Meanwhile, troops of Poonch Brigade today retaliated mortar shelling by Pakistani troops in a big way in Khari Karmara sub sector blasting three enemy bunkers and inflicting about 16 casualties.

Official sources in Poonch confirmed that atleast 16 Pakistani soldiers were killed when their three bunkers caught fire in retaliatory shelling by the Indian side. Of 16 casualties, the number of dead and injured couldn’t be ascertained.

Troops of Poonch Brigade, deployed in forward posts of Khari Karmara noticed three ambulances shifting the victims to hospital after evacuating them from bunkers in flames. However, there were no reports of any casualties on Indian side in Pak firing and shelling which was going on for last two days in Khari Karmara, the sources said.

Indian retaliation came after unprovoked and indiscriminate 82 mm mortar shelling and heavy arms firing by Pakistan army. Pak guns silenced after troops fired back, the sources said

Sources said that a total of 56 Pakistan army jawans have been killed during last one month in retaliatory firing by the troops of Poonch Brigade on the Line of Control (LoC) in parts of Poonch sector. Besides, Poonch Brigade had also eliminated 106 Pakistan-backed terrorists on the LoC as well as general area of Poonch.

Majority of the slain terrorists were foreign mercenaries, the sources added.

The Border Security Force (BSF) jawans today recovered a consignment of explosives and ammunition from Dangri forest area in Rajouri. Seizure included four RPGs, 11 Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGLs), one pistol, two hand grenades, one pistol magazine and 35 rounds. Searching party was led by D Haqib of BSF’s 200 battalion under the supervision of BSF DIG G S Shekhawat.

4 militants, SPO, civilian killed in Valley
Jaish commander escapes in Bollywood style chase

Excelsior Special Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 27: While as three militants, one special police official (SPO) and a civilian got killed in different militancy-related incidents across Kashmir valley since last evening, one militant was captured and another escaped in a dramatic chase by security forces in Shopian today.

It was in broad daylight that two militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad, driving a motorcycyle reached close to the company headquarters of Rashtriya Rifles 01 Bn and 4/1 GR at Chogam, in the south Kashmir locality of Shopian. They seemed to be conducting reccee of the formation, possibility for a suicide attack. As soon as the sentries challenged them, they sped away but were intercepted by the military intelligence sleuths in civvies. While the local militant drove fast, his Pakistani accomplice opened pistol shots. The dare-devil duo escaped towards Pinjora road. However, the sleuths chased them, targeted them with AK-47 fire and both were hit. Still, they continued the run and dropped their motorcycle.

The Pakistani militant Nasir-ul-Islam, who was later identified as a "district commander" of Jaish-e-Mohammad, boarded a Maruti car and managed to escape. His local colleague, Shahnawaz Ahmed Rather S/o Ghulam Nabi Rather R/o Aglar, Pinjora, was given a lift by a protected person, Abdus Salam Shah, in his Ambassador car which he has obtained from State Motor Garages . Shah, who is a local leader of the ruling National Conference, delivered him at Sub District Hospital of Shopian. No sooner did the doctors begin his examination than the security forces and Police swooped on the operation theatre. With critical injuries, he was rushed to Srinagar and admitted at Bone & Joint Hospital, Barzulla.

Informed sources told EXCELSIOR that, on a specific information, troops of RR 01 Bn and SOG Shopian raided a militant hideout at Tungdan village, in Shopian area, this afternoon. One militant, believed to be a Pakistani cadre of Lashkar-e-Toiba, was killed in the gunbattle while as another was fighting the troops when reports last came in.

Another Pakistani militant of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Aijaz Ahmed of Multan, was killed by RR 01 Bn and SOG Shopian at Aglar Chat, near Marhama, in Shopian-Kulgam belt. Official sources claimed that he had been arrested and died in a blast while making recoveries from a hideout. However, residents insisted that he had been captured alive from Pinjora village and later eliminated in a fake encounter.

Sources said that, in the continued combing operation in Dardpora forest area of Kupwara, troops of RR 18 Bn and SOG Kupwara eliminated two militants in an encounter today. They were identified as Lashkar-e-Toiba’s "battalion commander" Abu Sayeed of Liaquatabad, Pakistan, and Jaish-e-Mohammad’s "company commander", Nazir Ahmed Pad S/o Shams-ud-din Pad of Dardpora. Two AK-56 rifles, one damaged wireless set and a quantity of grenades was recovered from the spot.

Militants ambushed a patrol of 21-Bihar, 4/9 GR and SOG Kupwara at Shah Mohalla Sogam, in Kupwara district. One soldier sustained injuries in exchange of fire. Later, SOG Kupwara combed the nearby forest area and destroyed 5 hideouts.

Reports from Sumbal said that militants shot dead SPO Mohammad Maqbool Dar S/o Mohammad Shaban Dar R/o Magraypora outside the village mosque.

Police claimed to have recovered dead body of a civilian, Assadullah Mir S/o Sultan Mir R/o Lurgam Tral. According to official sources, he had been kidnapped by militants from his house and later killed.

Unidentified gunmen appeared at Chanderhama, in Baramulla district, and fired upon the village headman, Bashir Ahmed Ganai, at 2030 hours this evening. With critical injuries, he was rushed to hospital. Unconfirmed reports said that he succumbed to injuries while being rushed to a hospital.

Police and security forces spotted two grenade-cluster IEDs at Pantachowk, on Jammu-Srinagar highway this morning and later defused the same. Similarly one IED was found at Shikargah in Tral and defused.

Here in the capital city, militants fired some rifle grenades towards Police Station Safakadal. A grenade hit the building but failed to cause any major damage. In Safakadal area, a number of people registered their protest against sealing off the house of a civilian under POTO.

SFC contractor shot dead

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 27: Unidentified terrorists gunned down a contractor of State Forest Corporation (SFC) in his house last night at village Laloor in Dessa area of Doda district.

Police said 42-year old Abdul Lateef Chowdhary son of Sultan Gani was dragged out of his house by the terrorists last mid-night and taken to an adjoining house of Noor Din Gujjar. Lateef was subjected to thrashing by the ultras before being gunned down.

The terrorists, as usual, escaped from the village. Body of Lateef was recovered from the house of Noor Din this morning by local people and police.

A police party has reached the spot for investigations in the killing. However, no arrest has been made so far. Body of the deceased was handed over to his family this afternoon.

Meanwhile, a team of Special Task Force (STF) today arrested a terrorist from Chasana area of Mahore tehsil in Udhampur district. He has been identified as Munawar Shah son of Noor Din, a resident of Neoch in Mahore.

Two pistols, one hand grenade and live rounds were recovered from the possession of terrorist.

A jawan of 38 Rashtriya Rifles Sjiba Raj died today in an accidental fire at Brigade headquarters in Budhal area of Rajouri district this morning.

Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) jawans today apprehended 12 intruders from village Shabachak along the International Border in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district.

Arrested intruders were Bangladeshis. They comprised three male, four female and five children.

Police said the Bangladeshis were taken into custody soon after they breached the international boundary and sneaked into Indian territory in the wee hours of this morning.

Arrested Bangladeshis were later handed over to local police for questioning.

Last week, the BSF jawans had eliminated 12 infiltrators, suspected to be Bangladeshis in Ramgarh sector.

Govt cancels fraudulent PRCs

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 27: In a drive against the fraudulent Permanent Resident Certificates (PRC), the Revenue Minister, Mr. Abdul Qayoom has cancelled several fake PRC which had been issued to certain non-state subjects.

In a landmark order, the Revenue Minister cancelled PRCs of one late Dessa Singh of village Kehng hamlet Dharm Kho tehsil Jammu and several others. The Government had received complaints against the said persons. After inquiry it was found that Dessa Singh was originally a resident of Pakistan and after partition he had come as refugee and was allotted land in Punjab. He had obtained the impugned PRC from the Tehsildar, R. S. Pora by collusion, fraud and misrepresentation of facts.

The Government has therefore ordered that his PRC be cancelled and the PRCs issued to his wards also stand cancelled. The details of these certificates alongwith the impugned PRC will be notified to all the Deputy Commissioners and the nominated authorities, which have been authorized to issue PRCs. The immovable properties acquired and held by the deceased person, his wards and all legal heirs are confesticated to the State with immediate effect. The Deputy Commissioner, Jammu has been asked to ensure confestication of certificates and properties acquired and held by the late Dessa Singh and his descendents.

Similarly, the PRCs and immovable properties of several other persons, who had fraudulently obtained the certificates stand cancelled and their properties confesticated.

Badungar elected SGPC chief

AMRITSAR, Nov 27: Amidst controversy and slogan shouting, Kirpal Singh Badungar, a confidant of Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal, was today elected president of the powerful Sikh religious body, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), bringing to the fore sharp differences in the party.

Badungar, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Badal, defeated Akali Dal (Mann) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur supported by the Panthic Morcha led by the Chief Minister’s known detractor G S Tohra. Badungar polled 112 votes against Bhaur’s 56.

However, outgoing president Jagdev Singh Talwandi and another Akali Dal member Puran Singh Josh refused to cast their votes alleging Badungar had links with controversial preacher-turned-author Baba Piara Singh Baniarawala, thus bringing into fore the differences in the party on the candidature of Badungar, who was handpicked by Badal.

Badal, who is recuperating at a New Delhi hospital after a surgery, sent a sealed cover containing Badungar’s name for the post. The cover was opened at the beginning of the meeting.

All the 170 members of the SGPC general house were present at the annual election meeting held in the Golden Temple complex here.

It was for the first time in the history of SGPC that there was a contest for all the seats. Alwinder Singh Pakhoke was elected senior vice-president defeating Panthic Morcha supported nominee Atma Singh. (PTI)

I need no burqa: PM

NEW DELHI, Nov 27: "Let me remain a man and I need not wear a Burqa (veil) as I have nothing to hide," Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said in Rajya Sabha amid peals of laughter.

Referring to Congress member Eduardo Faleiro’s remark that he was wearing "Burqa" to avoid a meeting with Pakistan President Musharraf during his recent New York trip, Vajpayee said it was not required.

If such a meeting was not in the interest of the nation or was against the country’s policy, he would not undertake it, Vajpayee said.

Vajpayee was replying to a discussion on the September 11 terrorist strike in the United States and its impact on India. (PTI)

Laden moves close to Pak border

WASHINGTON, Nov 27: For the first time since September 11 terror strikes in US, Pakistani intelligence agents have entered Afghanistan with a task to track Osama bin Laden and frustrate Al-Qaeda’s attempts to search for a new base in Pakistan, according to a senior Pakistani intelligence official.

The official in Islamabad was quoted by the Washington Post about the new Pakistani operation in Afghanistan.

Another senior Pakistani intelligence official said: "all our eyes and ears in Afghanistan are currently devoted to the search for Osama bin Laden and his associates. There is definite evidence that he has moved close to our borders."

The new Pakistani operation, said the Post, comes as President Pervez Musharraf’s Government has become increasingly alarmed at the prospect of bin Laden and his heavily armed fighters leaving Afghanistan in search of a Pakistani safe haven.

"American intelligence has also received information that Osama and other leading Al-Qaeda fighters were looking for new hideouts in the Pashtun tribal areas of Pakistan," said a third senior Pakistani intelligence official.

While publicly Musharraf and his top advisers have sought to play down fears of bin Laden or Taliban incursions into Pakistan, said the paper, "privately, senior Pakistani officials are not so confident, suggesting there is a serious threat that remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban could find refuge here (in Pakistan).

And there is significant evidence that the new security measures at the border have not succeeded in closing down the traffic between the two countries "Al-Qaeda is on the run, and it is the most dangerous situation for our own security," said one of the Pakistani intelligence officials.

Added another: "it is in our security interest that Osama be caught before he ponders friendly offers from someone from our side of the borders. Unfortunately, many Pakistanis are known to have deep ties with Osama and they would be willing to host Al-Qaeda in Pakistan."

Having lost the best intelligence sources inside Afghanistan after its alliance with the US against the Taliban, the Post said, "Pakistan’s powerful military Inter-Services Intelligence agency has conducted intensive secret negotiations with the new rulers of Pashtun-speaking provinces in Afghanistan’s south and east, cultivating new sources and enlisting them in the hunt for bin Laden." (PTI)

Benazir prays to return as PM

AJMER, Nov 27: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto today made a pilgrimage to the Dargah of the 14th century Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti and prayed for her return to power.

"I have come before Khwaja Saheb after ten years. I hope that next time I come here as Prime Minister," she told reporters after paying Ziarat and offering a chadar at the shrine.

"Inshallah I shall return soon," she added.

Ms Bhutto, who is living in self-imposed exile away from her country, said she also prayed for an improvement in the political climate in Pakistan and its better relations with India.

She was inside the Dargah for nearly 75 minutes.

Head of the Anjuman Committee Sadr Ghulam Kabriya and secretary Sarvar Chisti conducted her through the shrine.

Ms Bhutto had visited the Dargah on May 25, 1991. Two years later, her Pakistan People’s Party was back in power.

She also visited the Anjuman office in the Dargah and paid a ‘Nazrana’ of 600 dollars to the Chisti.

Ms Bhutto promised that she would donate to the Anjuman Committee a grant of Rs 10-12 crore for a proposed school if she returned to power. (UNI)

JKLF flays Pak

NEW DELHI, Nov 27: Pakistan-based Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has attacked Islamabad for refusing "Kashmiris’ right to opt for re-unification and complete independence" terming the attitude "colonialistic" and "selfish".

JKLF chairman Amanullah Khan has also criticised India’s assertion that Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part.

"Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir, though not as hollow and baseless as that of India, is no way flawless," he said in a statement e-mailed to PTI from Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

He said Pakistan’s "refusal to accept Kashmiris’ right to opt for re-unification and complete independence, even as the third option, is rather colonialistic and selfish."

Khan also criticised UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for "refusing to take concrete steps to fulfill their obligations about Kashmir" by dubbing the UN resolutions on Kashmir as outdated and obsolete.

"This is most unjust, irresponsible and tantamounts to violation of their organisational and moral duties," said Khan, whose organisation initiated the armed movement in Kashmir in late 1980’s.

Stating that the Kashmir issue had been relegated to "oblivion" by the September 11 incidents and subsequent Afghan developments, he said to solve the problem, India, Pakistan and Kashmiri leadership and the international community needed to demonstrate "far-sightedness and selflessness." (PTI)

Lawyers, traders’ stir against POTO

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 27: While as residents of Safakadal locality in the capital city here staged a demonstration against the Police action of invoking Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, lawyers and traders called for a "Jammu & Kashmir Bandh" on Thursday.

In an executive committee meeting, J&K High Court Bar Association (HCBA) expressed apprehensions that POTO would be misused and it would accentuate the peoples’ suffering. An HCBA statement said that the lawyers’ community boycotted all courts in Kashmir valley today. It called for a shutdown on Thursday to register more of the lawyers’ protest against the imposition of POTO in Jammu & Kashmir.

In a separate statement, Kashmir Traders & Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) seconded the call and asked the tarders community to observe a total shutdown against POTO on Thursday.

Separatist leader Shabir Shah’s Democratic Freedom Party also condemned the imposition of POTO and expressed its surprise that the Ordinance had been imposed on Kashmir prior to the Parliament’s endoresement.

Leh academician dies in Hyderabad

Excelsior Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Nov 27: A renowned academician and social activist, Khalida Bano of Leh, died in a train accident in Hyderabad today. Her dead body was brought here today and the same would be flown to Leh on Wednesday for funeral.

50-year-old Khalida Bano was a Lecturer at District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) Leh. She was conducting an educational tour in Andhra Pradesh when she got criticaly injured while boarding the train at Hyderabad. She had alighted to fetch water for a student. AP High Court Judge Mohammad Bilal Nazki and her other relatives rushed her to hospital where she breathed her last. She is survived by her husband, two daughters and a son.

Khalida Bano was the grand daughter of Mirwaiz of Leh Syed Ahmed Sayeed and daughter of a former Assistant Commissioner Revenue Syed Abdul Bari. Family sources said that her fourth day ceremony would be held at her residential village of Cheshut on Saturday.

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