950805

Al-Faran shifts

demand over

mostages

SRINAGAR: Militants holding five Westerners hostage in Kashmir said on Saturday they had relaxed their demands and now wanted India to release 15 jailed separatists instead of 21 in exchange for the captive tourists.

The Al-Faran group also issued a tape cassette on which the US hostage said he and a British captive had been shot in a clash between their captors and the Indian army, and that the Briton was in a "very critical" condition.