M A I N   N E W S

Lone: peace depends on India’s response 

NEW DELHI, Dec 11 (UNI) — Senior Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone today said vested interests in both India and Pakistan are trying to scuttle the peace process in Kashmir but its success depends upon New Delhi’s positive and progressive attitude.

Talking to mediapersons on his arrival at the International Airport here after a three-and-a-half-week stay in Pakistan, Mr Lone said peace should be given a chance and a positive response should come from a unified front through the request of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

He said there should be no ceasefire line and it should be as it existed before 1947.

Saying that the initiative towards peace should come from the people, Mr Lone said the Hurriyat was ready to play its role in tripartite talks on Kashmir. “We should be allowed to go to Pakistan to negotiate peace with them, otherwise there would be no peace.”

On Pakistan’s response towards the peace process, Mr Lone said it was positive.

Elaborating his statement, Mr Lone said during his meeting with Pakistan Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf, the General seemed sincere but not happy with India’s condition that cross-border terrorism should stop first.

“General Musharraf had told me that atmosphere should be conducive for the peace process and it should be left to Kashmiris,” Mr Lone said.

The Hurriyat leader had also met Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin but termed the meeting “incomplete”.

SC hears Bush-Gore arguments

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) — The US Supreme Court began hearing arguments today in a case that could decide the next President, with lawyers for Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore disagreeing over whether hand counts of Florida ballots should resume.

At 11 a.m. EST (2130 hrs Ist), the nine members of the highest court in the land convened for 90 minutes of arguments, marking the second time in 11 days that they have heard a case over the bitterly=contested presidential election.

Arguing first was lawyer Theodore Olson, who represents the Texas Governor, followed by David Boies, on behalf of the Vice-President.

The historic argument session in the case entitled “Bush V. Gore” centered on a Florida Supreme Court ruling on Friday that ordered hand recounts of tens of thousands of ballots cast in the November 7 election. The US Supreme Court, however, by a 5-4 vote, halted the recounts on Saturday until it decides the case.

Olson argued the Florida Supreme Court ruling should be overturned, ending the counting. Boies urged that that be upheld and the recounts immediately resume as Gore seeks the votes needed to overcome Bush’s razor-thin lead in Florida and to win the presidency.

AP ADDS: As both sides previewed their cases in legal filings, Mr Bush’s lawyers asked the High Court to overturn a Florida Supreme Court recount plan they said would “incite controversy suspicion and lack of confidence” in the first American presidential election of the 21st century, Democratic attorney defended the Florida court.

“Voters have important rights to have their ballots counted, and the magnitude of those rights dwarfs” any legal arguments raised by Mr Bush, the Vice-President’s brief said. Though confident, Mr Gore’s attorneys conceded publicly and privately that the odds are stacked against them.

As deeply divided as the country, the High Court justices voted 5-4 on Saturday to temporarily halt manual recounts in Florida and consider the landmark Bush vs Gore cases. More than 50 persons lined up outside the court at mid-day yesterday, pitching tents and spreading sleeping bags across bone-chilling concrete in hopes of snaring a courtroom seat.

Mr Gore, who trails Mr Bush by less than 200 votes out of 6 million cast, wants to recount about 45,000 “undervote” ballots throughout the state. Mr Bush argues there is no fair way to count the ballots that didn’t register presidential votes in a machine count, and the legislative branch of government — not the courts — should determine the nation’s 43rd President.

Neither side committed to giving up if the US Supreme Court issues an adverse decision, but even Mr Gore’s advisers conceded he has fewer options than Bush beyond the High Court.