Pak will protest to UN
‘Violation’ of air space

ISLAMABAD, Aug 24 (AP, AFP) — Pakistan is lodging a complaint with the UN Security council after confirming that a US missile aimed at neighbouring Afghanistan landed by mistake on its territory, the Foreign Ministry said today.

The discovery over the weekend of an unexploded missile that did no damage supported Pakistan’s presumption that the USA violated its airspace to attack a neighbour, a ministry statement said.

Pakistan’s representative to the UN had been instructed to take up the matter with the security council, according to the statement.

Amidst growing resentment in Pakistan over the recent US air strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan, Islamabad has declared unsecure several parts of the country for foreign nationals, mainly from America and Britain, due to threat of reprisals.

Almost the whole North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan have been declared "no-go areas" for the foreigners as the local authorities have stopped issuing visit permits to foreigners for these areas, media reports said.

Jaswant hold talks with Talbott

WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (PTI) — The fourth round of crucial Indo-US talks were held today with the focus on nuclear issues, including New Delhi’s adherence to the CTBT and sanctions imposed by America after India’s May nuclear tests.

However, details of the talks between Prime Minister’s special envoy Jaswant Singh and US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott were not immediately available.

Mr Jaswant Singh’s visit comes in the backdrop of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statement in Parliament that India remained committed to a dialogue with key interlocutors "with a view to arriving at a decision regarding adherence to the CTBT".

Mr Jaswant Singh, who has held talks thrice earlier with Mr Talbott on Indo-US issues following the nuclear tests, is also scheduled to hold meetings at the State Department, Pentagon and the Energy Department.

Mr Talbott will meet Pakistani Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad in London tomorrow to discuss similar bilateral issues.

Washington, which clamped sanctions on India and Pakistan following their nuclear tests, has been trying to persuade Delhi and Islamabad to immediately sign the CTBT which both have so far refused to do.

New Delhi, while hinting at its willingness to adhere to the CTBT, has made it clear that a decision on this would depend a lot on the US lifting of sanctions and accommodating India as a de-facto nuclear-weapons state.

IAF evacuates 22 pilgrims
32 more bodies found

DHARCHULA, Aug 24 (PTI) — For the first time after three days, the Indian Air Force (IAF) today evacuated 22 pilgrims stranded at Gunji village following last week’s massive landslide at Malpa even as rescuers continued to scour for more bodies buried under heaps of debris.

The pilgrims were brought here by Air Force choppers, which also airlifted the body of a pilgrim of another batch who died of some ailment today.

However, search parties were unable to haul more bodies due to incessant rain and also because of their highly decomposed state, Home Secretary Naresh Dayal told newsmen in Lucknow.

Rescuers have so far extricated 35 bodies and found 15 more under mounds of rain-soaked earth and rocks at Malpa village.

Meanwhile, 20 of the 26 bodies of victims of the Malpa tragedy brought to Dharchula, have been identified, which include nine of the 60 pilgrims feared killed.

A report from New Delhi said although helicopter operation was not possible for major part of the day because of bad weather, the Air Force was able to operate Chetak and MI-17 choppers from Dharchula and Pithoragarh to Gunji.

So far, IAF has launched more than 100 sorties and has been able to rescue 28 injured and recover 20 bodies, sources said.

In addition 11,300 kg of relief supplies had also been airdropped, the sources said, adding that almost 200 persons including relief teams and relatives of victims, had been flown close to the site.

Meanwhile, rescuers today recovered 32 more bodies, including those of eight pilgrims, from Malpa village.

Of these, 26 bodies, including those of seven women, were brought to Dharchula, 30 km from Malpa, while the remaining will be flown in here tomorrow, Pithoragarh District Magistrate R.L. Yadav said.

With the recovery of 32 more bodies, the toll in the Malpa tragedy has risen to 67.

"The bodies are being cremated here itself, as they are in a highly decomposed state," Mr Yadav said.

The body of Dr Vinod Hari Adhwari of Delhi, belonging to the ninth batch of pilgrims, who died of a heart attack at Gunji today, was also flown to Dharchula.

Meanwhile, the state Home Department has received the names of eight of the nine pilgrims, whose bodies were identified. They are Praveena Modi (Gujarat), Ms Kamal Prakash Upadhyaya (Maharashtra), Malti Ray (Calcutta), Mahesh Chandra Dhawan (Delhi), Surekha Mehta (Maharashtra), B.B. Mahaluxmiku (A.P.), Annapurna Yana Vindra (AP) and Padm Ballaya of Karnataka.

Till late tonight 21 bodies had been cremated and death certificates issued to their family members.