M A I N   N E W S

Tarar seeks foreign mediation

ISLAMABAD, Aug 14 (UNI) — Pakistan’s President Rafiq Tarar today urged the international community to force India to adopt a realistic and positive attitude towards a solution of the Kashmir issue.

Addressing a flag-hoisting ceremony this morning in the President’s house on the 53rd anniversary of Pakistan’s independence, Mr Tarar said Kashmir had become a nuclear flashpoint. It was all the more important that the international community takes notice and helps towards a solution.

Mr Tarar said Pakistan would continue to extend moral and political support to Kashmiris and hoped that countries would also try to ensure that the solution to Kashmir be found on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions.

Speaking at the some venue Gen. Pervez Musharraf used his Independence Day message to pledge continued support for a secessionist uprising in India’s Jammu and Kashmir, reports AP.

In his prepared statement General Musharraf accused India of widespread human rights abuses in Indian-ruled Kashmir, where a militant Muslim uprising has raged for the past 11 years.

India accuses Islamabad of supporting and arming the militants, who have headquarters in Pakistan, a charge the government there denies.

But General Musharraf said Pakistan sympathises with the militants. “Pakistan stands united with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their just cause,” he said.