World in brief

India, Pakistan take some friendly steps

NEW DELHI - Indian and Pakistani officials announced several steps Monday to improve relations, including the reopening of consulates in Karachi, Pakistan, and Bombay, India, after two days of peace talks that also touched on the sensitive question of Kashmir, the divided Himalayan province at the center of their long conflict.

Indian officials said that much of the discussion on Jammu and Kashmir, as the province is formally known, centered on possible short-term measures to improve the lives of ordinary Kashmiris, such as opening a bus route across the ceasefire line that separates Indian and Pakistani forces.

WASHINGTON - The United States resumed direct diplomatic ties with Libya on Monday after a 24-year break, even as the Bush administration pursued reports that Moammar Gadhafi had taken part in a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah.

In Tripoli, Assistant Secretary of State William J. Burns inaugurated a new U.S. liaison office in the latest move by the Bush administration to reciprocate for Gadhafi's promise last December to dismantle his chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.

Burns said the two sides "held detailed discussions on Libya's commitment to support the global war on terrorism, to repudiate the use of violence for political purposes and to implement its pledge to cease all support for terrorism."

President Bush moved in April to restore normal trade and investment ties with Libya, including the import of Libyan oil.

However, Libya was not removed from the State Department's terrorism list.

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