Kashmiri Leader May Suspend Peace Talks

[Aidoneus]

Kashmiri Leader May Suspend Peace Talks
Wed Feb 25, 5:06 AM ET
By MUJTABA ALI AHMED, Associated Press Writer

SRINAGAR, India - A senior Kashmiri separatist leader threatened Wednesday to suspend peace talks with the Indian government over alleged human rights abuses by security forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

If talks unravel, it would be a big blow to the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His coalition partners have just started their re-election campaign and their promises include improved relations with Pakistan and a solution to the Kashmir dispute which has claimed more than 65,000 lives.

Human rights groups and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella organization of political and religious groups seeking Indian Kashmir's independence or merger with Islamic Pakistan, allege that police and troops routinely abuse civilians in Kashmir and say that nearly a dozen people have died in custody since January.

"The behavior of the Indian security forces is unforgivable. If the terror they are spreading in the countryside doesn't stop we will have to rethink our decision to continue peace talks," Abbas Ansari told a news conference in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&ncid=731&e=10&u=/ap/20040225/ap_on_re_as/kashmir_peace_talks

[bemildred]

1. It's like a perverse script.

You don't suppose that the "islamic militants" might be trying
to disrupt the "peace process", and the ill-trained troops are
not sufficiently trained and disciplined to deal with the
situation?