Bloodshed mars run-up to India-Pakistan talks

Leaders of India and Pakistan are due to meet in the first summit between the two in more than two years

SRINAGAR, India -- As India and Pakistan prepare to tackle thorny issues at a summit -- their first in two years -- violence and bloodshed is continuing.

In the disputed region of Kashmir, which has twice generated war between the two South Asian nuclear foes and is likely to top the weekend agenda, violence is on the rise.

Suspected separatist Muslim guerrillas shot dead an Indian lawmaker's brother in Kashmir on Wednesday. Police said the militants fired on Nazir Ahmad, brother of Abdul Rashid Shaheen, at Pattan township, 27 kilometers (16 miles) north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

Shaheen, a leader of Kashmir's ruling National Conference party, was elected member of parliament from north Kashmir.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

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In another incident, one woman was killed and six were wounded on Wednesday when militants threw a grenade at a crowded crossing in Srinagar, police said.

Police said Indian security forces had shot dead four militants in separate gunbattles across the troubled valley since Tuesday night.

Indian police say separatist violence in Kashmir killed 26 people late Monday and Tuesday, including 18 rebels.

Guerrilla leaders oppose the weekend summit, calling the talks a conspiracy to stamp out what they consider their struggle for freedom, and have warned Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf against making consessions to India on Kashmir.

The coming summit is also causing tensions in India's capital, with dozens of protesters gathering outside Pakistan's embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday.

They are demanding that Islamabad releases Indian prisoners of war before Musharraf travels to India on Saturday to talk with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

New Delhi officials say Pakistan is still holding about 50 Indian soldiers captured during the 1971 war between the two countries.

Drawn-out battle

Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, and their battles are likely to figure among topics the two leaders will discuss.

India has mounted a new drive to flush out guerrillas from the troubled state after ending a six-month unilateral cease-fire in the region more than six weeks ago.

Close to 400 people, mostly rebels, have been killed since the cease-fire's end and more than 30,000 people have been killed since the revolt erupted at the end of 1989, officials say.

Both countries hold part of Kashmir and each claims the region as its own.

India accuses Pakistan of supporting the rebels but Pakistan says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people's struggle for self-determination.

Referendum

Pakistan seeks a U.N.-sponsored referendum in Kashmir to determine whether Kashmiris want to join Islamic Pakistan or Hindu-dominated India.

But India has rejected the proposal, calling Kashmir an integral part of Indian territory.

In another development, India on Monday promised to ease travel rules for Pakistanis, set up new visa offices and possibly reopen a centuries-old highway that was once the lifeline of the disputed province of Kashmir.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it has yet to receive the formal proposal.

But militants have rejected the Indian travel proposal, saying that it was an attempt to divert attention from their goal.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.