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To: long-gone who wrote (86947)	6/15/2002 8:01:22 PM
From: marek_wojna	Respond to of 117113

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW DELHI (AP)--Suspected Islamic guerrillas fired two grenades in an apparent attack on the top elected official in Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday, but no one was hurt. The attack came as shelling continued at the Kashmir border despite international calls for restraint. Pakistani artillery and mortar fire killed three people and shattered homes Saturday in the Indian-controlled section of the Himalayan province. The grenades were fired at a board of education office building as Farooq Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu-Kashmir state, was inaugurating it in Bemina, a suburb of Srinagar. One grenade exploded in midair and the other landed in a nearby pond, said a senior police official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The attack comes as India and Pakistan are on war footing over a series of terrorist attacks by Islamic fighters trying to wrest the state from Indian control. Pakistan has vowed to crack down on the militants, but small attacks have continued. A previously unknown group called al-Medina claimed responsibility for the attack, Press Trust of India reported. Abdullah's attendance at the event had been kept secret for security fears. Abdullah is one of the most well-guarded politicians in India. He travels in a bulletproof car, his motorcade carries powerful electronic jammers to prevent a remote controlled bomb explosion, and elite commandos called the Black Cats guard him at all times. Army and paramilitary soldiers cordoned off the area and launched a search. At least 24 people were wounded in mortar and artillery firing overnight in Jammu-Kashmir state, an Indian government official said on condition of anonymity. Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors are at their highest in three years after a December assault on India's Parliament by five attackers who New Delhi said were Pakistanis backed by Pakistan's spy agency. Islamabad denied the allegation. Updated June 15, 2002 8:53 a.m. EDT

To: long-gone who wrote (86947)	6/15/2002 8:04:36 PM
From: marek_wojna	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 117113

advertisement Pakistan Mortar Fire Resumes; 3 Dead,Others Hurt In India DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW DELHI (AP)--A barrage of Pakistani artillery and mortar fire killed three people and shattered village homes Saturday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, an Indian official said, as hostilities resumed between the South Asian rivals despite international calls for restraint. At least 24 people were wounded in the firing overnight, the official said on customary condition of anonymity. There were no immediate reports of casualties on Pakistan's side of the border. Heavy shelling continued through the night and into the morning Saturday in the border area of Punch, 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, the official said. Those dead included two civilians and a soldier, he said. Eleven soldiers were among the wounded. There also was firing Saturday morning in Naushara, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Jammu, damaging several houses, the official said. Shelling was also reported from Londi, in the Hiranagar sector, approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Jammu. India and Pakistan have reacted coolly to a call from the U.S. and several other nations to end the border shelling and the resume direct peace talks to end five decades of hostility. "We examine all options and take action at an appropriate time," said Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, when asked Friday about U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's push for a halt to the shelling. He said India had announced a moratorium on all hostile action last November, but that the situation had since changed. "The situation is pregnant with possibilities. I am waiting for the right moment," Singh told reporters who asked if India was going to take further diplomatic steps to relieve the tense situation. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Rumsfeld visited the subcontinent earlier this month, hoping to ease tensions between India and Pakistan. In the hinterland, suspected Islamic guerrillas fired two rifle grenades at a school administrators' building while Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, the top elected official of Jammu-Kashmir state, was inaugurating it. Abdullah was unhurt. One grenade exploded in mid-air, and the other landed in a nearby pond in Bemina, near the state's summer capital of Srinagar, Press Trust of India reported. Updated June 15, 2002 5:39 a.m. EDT

To: long-gone who wrote (86947)	6/15/2002 8:07:27 PM
From: marek_wojna	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 117113

Bush Laying Foundation For Potential Attack On Iraq By RON FOURNIER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP)--President George W. Bush is methodically laying the foundation to overthrow Saddam Hussein, perhaps with military action, and may feel compelled to attack Iraq without warning. In recent weeks, the administration has intensified its rhetoric against Saddam and unveiled a new policy that calls for preemptive action against enemies armed with weapons of mass destruction. Aides say Bush's resolve has not been weakened by the Mideast crisis, tension in southeast Asia or the qualms of U.S. allies. Behind closed doors at the White House, the president reacted with dismay to reports that U.S. military leaders were lobbying against an Iraqi invasion anytime soon. "I don't know what they're talking about," two senior U.S. officials quoted the president as saying. They interpreted the remark to mean Bush is seriously considering military action despite opposition. Bush himself told supporters this week: "When we see evil - I know it may hurt some people's feelings, it may not be what they call diplomatically correct - but I'm calling evil for what it is. Evil is evil, and we will fight it with all our might." Bush may choose diplomatic pressure or covert action to undermine Saddam. If he decides to go to war, there will be more choices - such as whether to follow his father's blueprint or launch an unconventional attack. Most analysts assume Bush would slowly generate support inside and outside the country with a series of warnings to Saddam and a deliberate marshaling of U.S. troops. After all, the world saw the Gulf War coming for six months before Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, ordered the attack. But there may be little or no warning this time. If the U.S.' estimation of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program is correct, a long buildup to war could be catastrophic, analysts say. Given notice, Saddam might strike the U.S. first or help a terrorist group do so. He could become cornered and desperate - and presumably armed with a greater arsenal of deadly weapons than he had during the Gulf War. "We're now beginning to understand that we can't wait for these folks to deliver the weapons of mass destruction and see what they do with them before we act," said Philip D. Zelikow, a University of Virginia history professor who worked for the National Security Council under Bush's father. "And we're beginning to understand that we might not want to give people like Saddam Hussein advance warning that we're going to strike," he said. Saddam, meanwhile, is showing more aggressiveness. On Friday, U.S. aircraft bombed an Iraqi military facility in response to an Iraqi attack the previous day on aircraft patrolling the southern "no-fly" zone. It was the fourth such strike in a month. Some top military leaders favor delaying an invasion of Iraq until next year and perhaps not doing it at all. They warn that at least 200,000 troops would be needed. They want the focus to be on covert intelligence operations. But if Bush decides to strike without warning, there are alternatives to a conventional military buildup. One strategy first proposed by retired Army Gen. Wayne A. Downing four years ago calls for attacking Iraq with a combination of airstrikes and special operations attacks in coordination with Iraqi fighters opposed to Saddam. From Kuwait, carrier battle groups in the nearby waters or Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq the forces could launch surprise attacks against the nation's weapons facilities - or even target Saddam himself. A sneak attack would create a huge uproar in the international community and expose Bush to criticism at home, particularly if troops got bogged down in a post-Saddam Iraq. Leaving a White House meeting with Bush, Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he told Bush: "There's a reason why your father stopped and didn't go to Baghdad." Under his new policy, which has evolved since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. military can take preemptive action, if necessary, against terrorist-harboring nations that have weapons of mass destruction. Iraq may fit the bill: -Bush increasingly suspects that Saddam still supports terrorism, despite repeated warnings since Sept. 11. -Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld recently dismissed claims by the Iraqi government that it has no nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. "They are lying," Rumsfeld said. The president's views toward Iraq have hardened since Sept. 11, when he condemned terrorist-harboring nations but did not mention weapons of mass destruction. On Nov. 16, he warned for the first time that Osama bin Laden was seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. He had been told that al-Qaida may have access to those weapons through Pakistan. The chilling news is said to have crystallized Bush's thinking that terrorist groups and nuclear nations are a deadly combination. That led to Bush's speech identifying an "axis of evil" - Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Standing before Congress, he offered the first hint of his "strike first" doctrine and, perhaps, his plans for Iraq. "I will not wait on events while dangers gather," Bush said. Updated June 14, 2002 1:42 p.m. EDT