The latest killings in the disputed Indian state of Kashmir could not have happened at a worse time. Islamic militants murdered about 40 men and women, mostly civilians, near Jammu just as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca was arriving in New Delhi.
As if this was not enough to embarrass Gen. Pervez Musharraf -- who has been accused by India of waging a proxy war in Kashmir through extremist violence and militancy -- the Pakistani president was having to admit that the recent referendum giving him a mandate to rule for another five years might not have been exactly fair.
Whatever Musharraf's plan or game might be, there is one thing that is beyond doubt: He has enemies in his own backyard who are bent on spoiling the slim chance that the two warring and nuclear neighbors might achieve a lasting peace.