Afghanistan: Search for Mullah Omar can’t pin down Taliban leader

Local police and militia on Monday raided two Afghan villages in which intelligence reports indicated that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was hiding, but the fugitive wasn’t there.

Provincial Police Chief Zabed Akram said 400 police and gunmen from the interim government searched houses in Salawath and Spirwan, about 15 miles west of Kandahar. He said police arrested 10 men and seized 20 Kalashnikov rifles and 20,000 rounds of ammunition.

“These were not Taliban leaders, but we received reports that Mullah Omar and some other Taliban leaders had been their guests,” he said, adding that the raid was conducted without U.S. assistance and that more searches were planned.

Afghan officials believe that Omar and other senior Taliban could find significant sympathy among the populace in and around the city of Kandahar, their former stronghold in Kandahar province.

Afghanistan: Planned militia withdrawal clears way for security force

Two warlords in northern Afghanistan are ready to withdraw from the region’s main city, Mazar-e-Sharif, a spokesman for one of the factions said Monday.

Between them, the warlords control the volatile north and pose some of the biggest challenges to Afghanistan’s interim government as it tries to assert its authority.

Envoys for Atta Mohammed and Gen. Rashid Dostum, a longtime rival, agreed to the pact mediated by a third faction led by Muhammad Mohaqqeq, according to Wasiqullah, a top aide to Atta Mohammed.

Wasiqullah said the factions agreed to pull out of Mazar-e-Sharif and forge a new security force. They also pledged to eventually demobilize tens of thousands of fighters who have protected the warlords’ interests for years, said Wasiqullah, who like many Afghans uses one name.

Pakistan: Musharraf again offers to open Kashmir talks

President Pervez Musharraf renewed his offer Monday of talks with India to resolve the Kashmir dispute but again insisted there be a referendum to determine the future of the Himalayan region.

India has long rejected such a vote.

In a message released to mark today’s “Kashmir Solidarity Day,” Musharraf said that “no people can be kept in perpetual bondage against their will,” referring to India’s claim on most of Kashmir.

Musharraf said both Pakistan and India owe it to the Kashmiri people to allow them to exercise self-determination and decide whether to remain with India, join Pakistan or become independent.

“Pakistan is doing what it can to persuade India to enter into meaningful negotiations,” Musharraf said in the message. “We have said repeatedly that Pakistan wants tension-free relations with India and for that purpose desires to resolve” the Kashmir dispute.

There was no comment from Indian authorities to the latest offer. In recent weeks, however, India has demanded an end to what it terms “cross-border terrorism” before it will consider moves to reduce tensions.