2 -The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, February 17, 2004 N EW S Pakistan, India resume peace talks 4 Three-day negotilations are first formal peace talks in two and a hafyears ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pak- istan began historic meetings yesterday aimed at preparing for a sustained peace dialogue on Kashmir and other disputes that have divided the neigh- bors for decades. Pakistan is eager to show quick progress during the three days of talks, which also are likely to cover confi- dence-building measures in the nuclear field to avoid an accident. India and Pakistan last held formal peace talks in July 2001 in Agra, India. Pakistan's President Pervez Mushar- raf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed to launch the new dialogue when they met on the sidelines of a South Asian summit in January. Jalil Abbas Jilani, a director-general in Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, and Arun Kumar Singh, a joint secretary in India's External Affairs Ministry, shook hands and smiled before the start of the meeting. The sides met for nearly two hours before breaking for lunch. Singh is leading a four-member Indi- an team at the talks, the first real test of the two sides' willingness to show flexi- bility on long-entrenched positions, such as the disputed Kashmir region. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said the meeting took place in a "cordial atmosphere and constructive manner." "Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress made on the first day," he said. The two sides suggested dates for future talks addressing eight issues, including Kashmir, confidence-build- ing measures in the nuclear field, ter- rorism and drugs, economic cooperation and a river dispute, diplo- mats said. The timetable was expected to be decided in the next two days. A "line of control" divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, but both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety. More than 65,000 people have been killed in an insurgency that has raged in India-controlled portions of the territory since 1989. Suspected separatist rebels shot and killed a local politician yesterday as he stood on a roadside in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu- Kashmir state, police said. Two police officers nearby raced to the scene and opened fire on the assailants. One officer was killed and the other wounded as the attackers retaliated, and the attackers escaped. In Muzaffarabad, capital of Pak- istan-controlled Kashmir, more than 500 people from a political group seeking Kashmir's independence blocked a main street for nearly two hours yesterday to protest the Pakistan- India talks. Kerry: Two Bush tax cuts should be renewed TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - President Bush, brushing aside concerns about the unprecedented budget deficit, renewed his demand that Congress extend his tax cuts, and charged yester- day that Democrats would hike taxes. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the front-running Democratic presiden- tial candidate, said he agreed with Bush on keeping in place two tax cuts mentioned by Bush. Kerry said Bush's overall economic policies had failed to create jobs. "President Bush's failed economic policies have resulted in the loss of 3 million jobs and the biggest surpluses in history turned into the biggest deficits," Kerry said. The duel between Bush and Kerry foreshadowed a major issue in this year's presidential campaign, with Bush trying to cast Democrats as tax- hikers and the Democrats saying Bush's tax cuts favored the rich. The exchange exposed a fundamen- tal policy difference: Bush wants all his tax cuts made permanent, while Kerry would halt tax reductions for Ameri- cans who earn more than $200,000. The tax bills that Bush signed in 2001 and 2003 contain expiration dates next year on some provisions. The child tax credit would drop from $1,000 per child to $700, and some married couples,, would have to pay more than they would as two single individuals. Kerry favors making permanent the child tax credit, and permanently end- ing the "marriage penalty," campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said. Bush spoke at a window factory, the latest such plant he has chosen to showcase what he says are the favor-1 able impacts of his tax policies on small business. His makeshift stage was near the production floor, and he was flanked by small business owners and an employee. The White House bills these events as "conversations on the economy," but there is never disagreement, only posi- tive reinforcement of Bush's message. NEWS Im 41BRIEF NEDLINE ROM ARUND THWOL BAGHDAD, Iraq Bremer may block Islamic law in Iraq Iraq's U.S. administrator suggested yesterday he would block any move by Iraqi leaders to make Islamic law the backbone of an interim constitution, which women's groups fear could threaten their rights. Roadside bombs killed two more American soldiers. The U.S. military also said yesterday that gunmen killed an American Baptist minister from Rhode Island and wounded three other pastors in a weekend ambush south of the capital. A grenade exploded yesterday in an elementary school playground in Baghdad, killing one child and wounding four others. The children apparently triggered the explosive while they were playing, Iraqi police said. During a visit to a women's center in Karbala, administrator L. Paul Bremer said the current draft of the interim constitution, due to take effect at the end of this month, would make Islam the state religion and "a source of inspiration for the law" Mohsen Abdel-Hamid, the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council and a Sunni Muslim hard-liner, has proposed making Islamic law the "principal basis" of legislation. SAN FRANCISCO Brief claims gay marriage licenses illegal As hundreds of gay and lesbian couples lined up at City Hall for the historic chance to wed with the city's blessing, opponents filed legal papers yesterday arguing that only judges can declare California's prohibition on same-sex mar- riages to be unconstitutional. In a brief submitted for a court hearing yesterday, lawyers for one of two groups seeking to block the unprecedented wedding march said Mayor Gavin Newsom was in blatant violation of state law when he directed the county clerk to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Newsom has argued that the equal protection clause of the California Constitu- tion makes denying marriage licenses to gay couples illegal. But lawyers for a group formed to defend Proposition 22 - a 2000 ballot initiative that says the state will recognize only marriages between a man and woman as valid - con- tend the mayor lacks the authority to make that decision. "What the mayor and his cronies have attempted to do is short-circuit the legal process by being both judge and jury themselves," said Alliance Defense Fund attorney Benjamin Bull. I I A police officer leads a man and his crying child to safety after a crowd accused the man of being an Aristide supporter during an opposition march in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Sunday. Rebels continued to riot against Aristide yesterday near the capital city. Rebels attack police station in Haitian city near capital GONAIVES, Haiti (AP) - Haiti's rebellion spread to the central city of Hinche yesterday as rebels aided by former soldiers attacked a police sta- tion and killed at least three officers, including the police chief. The rebels descended on the police station in Hinche, about 70 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince, according to a Haitian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity. They killed district police chief Maxime Jonas, pushed police out of the city and threatened government supporters, the official said. At least 56 people have died since the rebellion aimed at ousting Presi- dent Jean-Bertrand Aristide exploded Feb. 5 in the city of Gonaives. Rebels armed with machetes and rifles escorted an aid convoy led by the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross into Gonaives yester- day. The convoy was carrying 1.6 tons of supplies, including blood and surgi- cal equipment. A surgeon and a physician were also sent to treat some 40 people wounded in the fighting. "We are here to bring urgently need- ed medical assistance to Gonaives," Pedro Isely, leader of the Red Cross mission in Haiti, said yesterday after arriving in the city. In addition to the medical relief, the international non-governmental organ- ization, CARE, began distributing food to people in Gonaives. About 50,000 people will receive a gallon of veg- etable oil, while others will get sacks of cereals, said Sandy Laumark, direc- tor of CARE in Haiti. The distribution will last about 10 days. The rebels launched the rebellion from Gonaives, 70 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince, unleashing a deadly wave of violence that has spread to more than a dozen towns. Both sides have suffered casualties. On Sunday night, Aristide loyalists "They have joined us. We are creating a national resistance.... We're going to take a major part of Haiti' - Winter Etienne Rebel leader reportedly killed two rebels in the port town of St. Marc. . Although the rebels are thought to number less than Haiti's 5,000-mem- ber police force, exiled paramilitary leaders and police have joined their forces, vowing to oust Aristide. "They have joined us. We have cre- ated a national resistance," Winter Eti- enne, one of the rebel leaders in Gonaives, said yesterday. "We're going to take a major part of Haiti." JERUSALEM Official offers radical West Bank proposal A hawkish minister is trying to rally support in the Israeli Cabinet for a more extreme alternative to Prime Min- ister Ariel Sharon's plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. The plan floated by Transport Minis- ter Avigdor Lieberman would confine the Palestinians to four isolated districts in the West Bank. Lieberman, from the far-right National Union, on Sunday sent letters to 10 ministers from Sharon's Likud Party and another hardline coalition party calling on them to unite around his plan and provide suggestions. "The issue is not to torpedo the prime minister's initiative, but to pres- ent an alternative," Lieberman told Israel Radio. Coming from a small, hawkish party, Lieberman's plan has little chance of success. SYDNEY, Australia Street riots erupt m Aboriginal ghetto Mainly Aboriginal rioters set fire to a train station and pelted police with gas bombs yesterday during a nine- hour street battle that began after a teenager died, allegedly while being chased by officers. Rimn+ The overnight rioting in the Redfern neighborhood, an Aboriginal ghetto of Australia's most populous city, left 40 officers injured and highlighted contin- uing tensions between authorities and the nation's original inhabitants. The street battle followed the death of a 17-year-old Aborigine, Thomas Hickey, who was impaled on a fence when he 'fell from his bicycle. His mother claimed officers were chasing the teen, an allegation that police deny. "It's got to stop, the way they treat our kids," Gail Hickey said. LA CROSSE, Wis. Dean.campaign loses national chairman Howard Dean yesterday pushed his beleaguered Democratic presidential bid across Wisconsin amid the depar- ture of his national chairman, a fresh sign of internal upheaval on the eve of a critical primary with 72 national con- vention delegates at stake. Dean said little substantively about the circumstances surrounding Steve Grossman's exit. But the former Vermont governor's national campaign manager, Roy Neel, said he thought Grossman would soon join the campaign of front-runner John Kerry. "He's made clear in his on-the-record comments to the press he has another agenda at work now," Neel said. - Compiledfrom Daily wire reports +rrmiriirtir WWW.MICHIGANDAILY.COM The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Winter term (January through April) is $110, yearlong (September through April) is $190. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscrip- tions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. E-mail letters to the eritor t olettrnmichidandailv cnnm Peaceable Kngdom A new documentary about the interconnected life journeys of humans and animals Free Screening! Wednesday Feb. 18 7:00 p.m. Michigan League 911 N. University Hosted by MARS. More info: martians umich.edu Middle East Documentary Series "UNDER ONE SKY: ARAB WOMEN IN NORTH AMERICA TALK ABOUT THE HIJAB" "I, TOO, SING AMERICA" "ARAB DIARIES: YOUTH" Thursday, February 19, 2004, 7:30 p.m. mIrkham AmnhithGra NEWS Tomisiav Ladika, Managing Edits 763.2459, news@mlchlgandally.com EDITORS: Jeremy Berkowitz, Carmen Johnson, Andrew Kaplan, Emily Kraack STAFF: Farayha Arrine, Melissa Benton, David Branson, Adrian Chen, Ashley Dinges, Adhiraj Dutt, Victoria Edwards, Cianna Freeman, Donn M. Fresand, Alison Go. Megan Greydanus, Michael Gurovitsch, Aynmar Jean, C. 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