May 25, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 19, 1429

SRINAGAR, May 24: Police fired tear-gas shells at stone-throwing protesters here on Saturday while shops stayed shut after Kashmiri leaders called a strike in protest against a visit by the Indian president.

Pratibha Patil, who became India’s first woman president last year, began on Friday her five-day tour to occupied Kashmir.

Streets in Srinagar were largely deserted except for patrols by a larger than usual number of police and soldiers.

The strike was called by prominent separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and backed by an alliance of militants called the United Jihad Council.

While most people stayed indoors, around 150 protesters gathered in the streets, threw stones and shouted slogans before police fired tear gas. “We want freedom. Indian troops go back,” the protesters shouted.

Officials say more than 43,000 people have been killed in violence between militants and Indian troops since 1989. Human rights groups put the toll at around 60,000 dead or missing.

—Reuters