950817

Indian official

in Kashmir to

talk with Al-Faran

SRINAGAR: India dispatched a special emissary to Kashmir to reinforce efforts to free four Western tourists as officials expressed optimism on Thursday that talks with guerrillas who beheaded a Norwegian would end the six-week hostage crisis. "I am hopeful," a senior official said.

The government sent V.K. Jain, a senior Home (Interior) Ministry official and member of a crisis management team, to Kashmir to help negotiate with Al-Faran militants.

An unnamed official has been in touch with an Al-Faran representative several times over the past three days, and authorities said they expected renewed contact on Thursday.

"Al-Faran was keen to have further contacts yesterday," one senior official said. "They want to keep the dialogue going."

However, Jain did not carry any special offer to Kashmir, a state government official said.

New Delhi says it has not ruled out any means -- even mounting a resuce raid -- to free American Donald Hutchings, German Dirk Hasert and Britons Paul Wells and Keith Mangan.

But India is loath to launch a commando raid in the Himalayan region's inhospitable terrain. "There is a major chance something untoward would happen," an official said.-Reuter