June 28, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 27,1424

SRINAGAR, June 27: Indian President Abdul Kalam arrived here on Friday as another six people were killed in continuing violence.

Mr Kalam arrived here from occupied Kashmir’s Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region, and went straight to an information technology park on the outskirts of the city, where he interacted with IT professionals.

The Indian president is on a three-day visit to held Kashmir. On Thursday he visited occupied Jammu and on Friday morning flew to Ladakh.

“He was accorded a ceremonial welcome on his arrival and people are happy to see him here,” Tsering Samphel, the president of influential Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), said over the telephone from Leh, the capital of Ladakh.

Witnesses said people waving Indian flags lined up on both sides of the road from the airport into Leh to welcome the president, who was accompanied by the held state’s chief minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, and Delhi’s top representative in Srinagar, Governor S. K. Sinha.

Mr Kalam visited the village of Saboo, near Leh, and interacted with the members of village committees and students there. He also visited some Buddhist and Sikh religious sites, before flying to Srinagar.

To a query from a student, Mr Kalam said the objective of India’s nuclear programme was peaceful. “Right from the beginning, India has been a votary of total disarmament,” he said.

KILLINGS: Indian troops claimed killing four militants in clashes on Friday and Thursday night. An Indian soldier was also killed in one of the clashes.

In Srinagar a policemen shot dead his colleague and injured another during a scuffle.—AFP