World IN BRIEF : INDIA : Contact Made With Kashmir Kidnapers

Indian authorities have established contact with a Kashmiri separatist group holding an American and four other Western hostages, opening the way for possible negotiations, a senior police source said. The source told reporters that telephone contact had begun with the little-known Al-Faran group and that negotiations may begin today, the day the kidnapers have threatened to kill their hostages. Indian officials said New Delhi was not likely to accept Al-Faran’s demand that 20 jailed militants be released in return for the hostages. Al-Faran said it was ready to consider appeals for the release of the hostages if human rights groups and the world community applied pressure on India to meet its demands.