Freed opposition leader vows fight

One of Pakistan’s most outspoken opposition leaders emerged from prison to a cheering crowd Saturday and vowed to press his campaign against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is already struggling with rising dissent and militant violence.

Attacks and clashes killed 23 people in the northern tribal regions, where pro-Taliban militants have been waging a campaign against Musharraf’s administration, a key U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism.

The combination of militant violence and political demands for the restoration of democracy have embroiled Musharraf in the toughest period of his rule since he ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup eight years ago.

Almost certain to add to his troubles was the release of Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the exiled former prime minister’s party.

The Supreme Court granted Hashmi bail Friday after he served four years of a 23-year sentence on charges of treason and inciting an army mutiny against Musharraf. Hashmi will be free while the court considers whether it should review his case, which rights and opposition groups have criticized as politically motivated.

Lucknow, India

Food aid reaches monsoon survivors

Helicopters dropped food to almost 2 million marooned Indian villagers on Saturday as the death toll from unusually heavy monsoon rains and floods in South Asia rose to more than 225.

The food drops to 2,200 villages cut off by flooding aimed to help desperate residents in the worst-hit eastern parts of India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Umesh Sinha, the state relief commissioner, also said nearly 280,000 acres of rice paddy crops had been destroyed.

In India’s northeastern Assam state, flooding forced rhinos from their habitat at the Kaziranga National Park and their panicked charges killed one person and injured two others, wildlife officials said.

At least 229 people have been killed in India and neighboring Bangladesh, and 19 million driven from their homes in recent days. The South Asian monsoon season runs from June to September as the rains work their way across the subcontinent.