Pakistani To Try Hostage Resolution

A prominent Pakistani politician, known for his support of separatist insurgents in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir, is to arrive here on Friday night to meet with Indian officials at the request of Islamic militants who kidnapped a Spokane resident and four other Western tourists, officials and diplomats said.

Maulana Fazlur Rahman, a member of Pakistan’s Parliament and the leader of the influential Jamiat-e-Ulem, an Islamic party that supports Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said on Wednesday that he would “do everything” to persuade the militants to free the captives.

An Indian government spokesman said that Rahman had been given a visa for a “private visit” and that the government would not accept him as a mediator, but that he was free to “appeal for the release of the hostages.”

The tourists - Donald Hutchings of Spokane, two Britons, a German, and a Norwegian - were seized near the resort of Pahalgam between July 4 and 9. A sixth hostage managed to escape.