■India
Seven rebels battle 1,500
Seven Islamic militants continued to hold more than 1,500 Indian troops at bay yesterday as a marathon gunbattle in the thick jungles of Kashmir stretched into a fourth day. The clash that erupted Tuesday between seven rebels and Indian forces in the dense Kathua forests of southern Indian Kashmir was yesterday described as the longest anti-guerrilla operation in the region's 14-year-old Islamic insurgency. "Our strategy is to wear them out," said Kashmir Police Inspector-General P.L. Gupta. The rebels are forcing a local resident to act as a guide. They were firing from assault rifles and shooting rocket propelled grenades while Indian troops were using machine guns to flush out the seven guerrillas.
■ South Korea
Thieves raid US base
Two thieves smuggled nearly 58,000 crates of beer and 4,000 boxes of wine worth US$1.88 million through a secret tunnel under the high-security perimeter of the US main military base in Seoul, South Korea. The US military is investigating the spectacularly embarrassing security lapse. The two men, referred to only by their surnames -- Lee and Song -- worked at the Yongsan army base. Setting up a cafe -- the U-Turn Espresso Coffee Shop -- just outside the base as a cover for the entrance of the shaft, they dug a 20m passage into the warehouse.
■ Thailand
Police sting prostitutes
Bangkok police have refused to accept criminal complaints from masseuses against undercover police who allegedly had sex with, and then arrested them, in an anti-prostitution sting operation. Colonel Varanvas Karunyathat, the acting chief of police in the Bangkok district of Suthisahn, was quoted by The Nation newspaper as saying officers involved in the operation needed to have sex with the masseuses to gain evidence for their arrest. Police arrested nine masseuses and receptionists on Tuesday night after officers posing as customers allegedly caught the women engaging in prostitution.
■ Thailand
Troops get lucky charms
Thai troops headed for Iraq have been provided with generous life insurance policies and special Buddhist amulets to ward off danger, news reports said yesterday. The first 21 Thai army volunteers departed for Iraq on Thursday, the advance unit of 443 Thai troops to be deployed in Iraq as peacekeepers and rebuilders of the war-ravaged country. At the farewell ceremony at the Royal Thai Air Force airport, military Supreme Commander General Surayud Chulanont presented each of the departing soldiers with a flower garland and an amulet from a respected Buddhist monk.
■ Pakistan
Missing man held by US
The wife of a Pakistani man who disappeared two months ago said on Thursday that she had received a letter from her husband saying he was in American detention in Afghanistan. Saifullah Paracha, who has worked and traveled in the US, had been missing since July 5, when he boarded a flight to Bangkok on a business trip. US federal prosecutors in New York have charged Paracha's 23-year-old son, Uzair, with attempting to help an associate of al-Qaeda obtain travel documents to enter the US. Relatives reacted with anger on Thursday at the news that the elder Paracha was being held in secret American detention at Bagram airbase outside Kabul.
■Greece
Bombs explode in Athens
Two policemen were injured early yesterday when two bombs exploded near court buildings in the Greek capital, Athens. The first bomb exploded on the stairs of the court building at 3am. Two policemen rushed to the scene and were injured when a second device exploded at the entrance of the building 10 minutes later, the Greek press agency ANA reported. Police believe the attacks were committed by sympathizers of the left-wing November 17 terrorist organization. Members of November 17 have murdered 23 diplomats, politicians, publishers, journalists and policemen in Greece since 1975.
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