The scheduled meetings of the expert committee of officials did not take place, and the two leaders, Mr Z.A. Bhutto and Sardar Swaran Singh, met instead for about half an hour.

They are believed to have made little progress of any constructive nature in their morning session and the general atmosphere by lunch time was one of “crisis”.

In the afternoon, Mr Bhutto had a second meeting with Sardar Swaran Singh, which lasted about an hour, and he is believed to have been very outspoken. According to reports — which Mr Bhutto will neither confirm nor deny — he left the leader of Indian delegation in no doubt that Pakistan could be compelled to call off the talks if India did not come forward with more satisfactory proposals than it had done so far.

The leader of the Pakistan delegation is also understood to have given his opposite number some idea of the kind of territorial adjustment that Pakistan might regard as a basis of discussion.

The Indian side was expected to consider at night the points made by Mr Bhutto, and when the delegation meets today it will be known whether the Indians are in a more reasonable frame of mind.

Pakistan, it is stated authoritatively, will not agree to a further meeting, unless the Indians prove today their earnestness for an honourable and equitable settlement of the Kashmir dispute in concrete and tangible terms, which could make “some sense on a map”. —Staff Correspondent

Iraqi premier shot by firing squad BEIRUT: The overthrown Iraqi premier, Gen Abdel Karim Kassem, and three of his top aides were arrested today (Feb 9), tried by a summary military court, and shot by a firing squad at 1030 GMT, according to Baghdad Radio.

One of those executed with Kassem was his brother-in-law Brig Fadel Abbas El-Mehdawi, President of the court which tried opponents of Kassem.

The others were Col Taha Ali Sheikh Ahmed, descried by Baghdad Radio as a prominent Communist leader who collaborated closely with Kassem, and Samaan Khalil, a senior Army officer.—Agencies