M A I N   N E W S

Top Hizbul man shot in valley
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Jan 30 — A top militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen was among eight persons killed in separate incidents, while the security forces recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition in Jammu and Kashmir since yesterday.

A Hizbul Mujahideen militant identified as Manzoor Ahmad Najar, alias Kaka Moulvi, was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Gole Market, Karan Nagar here yesterday. A pistol and a grenade were recovered from the site of the encounter. The police said Najar was involved in several killings, including those of two police personnel.

Militants shot dead Qasim Aiwan in the Gund Kangan area of Srinagar district and militants kidnapped and subsequently killed Abdul Ahad Dar in the Rafiabad area of Baramula district yesterday.

The police today recovered bodies of two persons in Baramula district. The body of Shaheen Ahmad of Muqam, was recovered from Bandey village. He had been kidnapped by militants from his house two days ago. The body of Mohammad Sadiq Khan, village head of Ladi Angan, Panzla, in the district was recovered near Bramen, Panzla.

Meanwhile, Mushtaq Ahmad Mir, who was injured in an encounter between militants and security forces at Wagoora in Budgam district on January 28, succumbed to his injuries at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences today.

The police recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition during search operations in Kupwara and Jammu districts. These included three rockets, seven boosters, eight IEDs, 15 kg of explosives, 330 AK rounds, one AK rifle and other ammunition.

PTI adds: A Jammu and Kashmir Police constable Bashir Ahmed was killed by militants near Rabitar bridge in Baramula district’s Shadipore when he was questioning the driver of a car, which was intercepted by police sentry on duty at the bridge, an official spokesman said.

As the occupants of the car fled after interception, the police took the driver into custody and was grilling him when more than 10 militants attacked the security personnel with sophisticated arms leading to the death of Ahmad.

Superintendent of Police Ganderbal visited the spot and a search has been launched to trace the culprits, the spokesman said.

The police today seized a car at Anantnag district and arrested four persons allegedly responsible for looting a number of petrol pumps and shops, he said.

‘Breakthrough’ in cases against Sharif

ISLAMABAD, Jan 30 (PTI) — Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has claimed a “breakthrough” in several cases of alleged economic offences against deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz and some key Pakistan Muslim League (PML) figures.

The breakthrough in the cases relating to corruption, money-laundering, kickbacks, tax evasion and maintaining foreign accounts came after former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar turned an approver against the Sharif brothers, media reports said here today.

Mr Dar, allegedly a Sharif “front man” and business manager, had been assisting NAB for the past many weeks in tracing the assets of the Sharifs abroad, English daily Pakistan Observer said in a front-page report.

“Mr Dar has not only given details of Mr Nawaz Sharif and his family’s account numbers in Switzerland, the UK and the USA, he has also given information about the modus operandi of the Sharif brothers in allegedly receiving kickbacks in mega projects,” the daily said.

The report claimed that Mr Dar had also furnished “details of Mr Sharif’s business links with India and reportedly disclosed details of his business in Kenya, Vietnam, North Korea and the USA.”

In the light of clues given by Mr Dar and after holding preliminary talks with Swiss and British authorities, NAB’s chief prosecutor Farooq Adam left for Switzerland and the UK to further the scope of investigations.

Musharraf ready to meet Atal

NEW DELHI, Jan 30 (PTI) — Terming Indo-Pakistan relations at their “lowest,” Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf today said he was ready to meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee provided that the “centrality” of the Kashmir issue was accepted.

“Yes, as long as the centrality of the Kashmir dispute is accepted and we are prepared to initiate a dialogue and there is reciprocity on Kashmir,” General Musharraf said when asked in an interview whether he was willing to meet Mr Vajpayee.

Asked if Indo-Pakistan ties had gone from bad to worse, he said “Yes, they are more dangerous now. Our relations with India are at the lowest.” He accused the media of creating an atmosphere of “hysteria and hatred” between the two countries.

On the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane and reports that the hijackers were currently in Pakistan, the military ruler told star World’s ‘Focus Asia’ programme “I don’t know at all that this is a fact. They disappeared from Afghanistan...”.