European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday december 28, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 9sikh gunmen kill 51 on Indian train Ludhiana India a sikh separatist rebels raked a passenger train with automatic gunfire and killed 51 people in Punjab apparently in an attempt to subvert elections officials said Friday. Four gunmen stopped an eight car train late thursday. After allowing sikh passengers to walk away the gunmen opened fire with ak-47 assault rifles on the remaining passengers in three cars said District commissioner . Channy. A police officer in the state capital of Chandigarh earlier reported 62 deaths. The error was caused by confusion in communicating with officials at the scene of the attack near Sophian Village. Channy said 49 of the dead were members of indians majority hindu religion. Two were sikhs. Doctors said about 70 people were wounded. A some of the victims ran for cover in the Mustard and wheat Fields but the militants chased and shot them a said Man Singh a policeman who visited the scene. On Friday wailing relatives of the dead crowded the Ludhiana Railroad station 12 Miles from Sophian. A few Yards away army soldiers looked on impassively behind guns mounted on trucks. Soldiers also patrolled the streets of Ludhiana. The police officer in Chandigarh said the killings were a primarily to sabotage the  the officer spoke on condition of anonymity. Elections for the Punjab state legislature were cancelled last june after sikh rebels shot to death 126 passengers on two trains a 78 of them on the same Railroad track where thursdays attack occurred. The elections were rescheduled for september but were again postponed on general Security grounds. The Federal government says it will conduct elections before feb. 15, but has set no Date. Sikh militants want to prevent elec options because they reject the governments authority Over Punjab where they want to establish a theocratic state. The latest attack came despite extensive patrolling of the Rich farming state by about 80,000 Indian army soldiers. The four gunmen who were travelling As passengers on the train were joined by six More armed rebels when the train was halted said Channy the most senior civil servant in the District. He said the army and police have launched House to House searches in the surrounding villages. A no one has claimed responsibility but we Are Hunting for the terrorists said Channy. Indian officials normally refer to sikh rebels As terrorists. Sikh rebels claiming economic and religious discrimination by the hindu dominated Federal government have killed about 12,250 people in the past five years including More than 3,600 this year. Sikhs have a slight majority in Punjab. Nationwide sikhs Are 2 percent of indians 844 million people while hindus constitute 82  found guilty of heresy in landmark verdict in Egypt world15 die from exposure when cold hits Bangladesh from wire reports Dhaka Bangladesh a icy winds brought on by two Days of Winter Rains have killed 15 people in the North of this calamity racked nation news reports said Friday. Thirteen slum dwellers died of exposure in i Nagpur Bangladesh a northernmost District near the Himalaya mountains. The deaths occurred wednesday and thursday 170 Miles North of Dhaka said the Independent Bangladesh observer newspaper. Two More people died in the northeastern Syl Het District 120 Miles Northeast of Dhaka the newspaper reported. Weather officials described the cold As moderate saying it was below the country a average minimum temperature of 43 degrees fahrenheit. But it was Chilly enough to kill poor people most of whom Lack warm clothing Ana live in makeshift mud and Straw  head for Miami London a former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and her husband flew to Miami on Friday to join their son Mark and his family for a new years vacation. Thatcher was accompanied by her husband Denis who carried two bulging shopping bags of purchases from the duty free shop. The thatchers smiled but made no comment As they departed on american  threatens Spring Catania Sicily a lava from erupting mount Etna is threatening a villages drinking water Supply but people living on the volcanoes slopes done to appear to be in danger officials said. The Volcano Europe a most Active began spilling lava Down its slopes dec. 14. Authorities said lava threatened on thursday to cover a Spring that supplies water to the Village of Zafferano Etna. A from the data we have we can say that there a no danger now for the towns Quot Franco Barberi a Volcan Logist was quoted As saying by the italian news Agency Ansa. Barberi said that at the rate the flow was moving it could cover the Spring Friday. The Village can get water from nearby  killed in plane crash Mexico City a Small plane bound for Brownsville Texas crashed soon after Takeoff thursday near the mexican capital and exploded killing six people aboard and seriously burning six authorities said. The Beechraft b-58 plane had trouble taking off from the Toluca Airport in the Central state of Mexico and crashed minutes later in a farm Field in the Community of Vista Hermosa 35 Miles West of Mexico City and 10 Miles from the Toluca Airport said officials. Cairo Egypt up1 a a state Security court convicted an egyptian novelist of heresy and sentenced him to eight years in jail. The egyptian organization for human rights said the jail sentence marked the first time in Egypt a Modem history that a novelist has been jailed because of Nis literary works. The court found novelist Alaa Hamid guilty of writing the novel a distance in a Man s mind a for constituting a threat to the National Unity and social peace Quot it was announced thursday. The court also sentenced publisher Mohammed Madbouly and Printer Fathi Fadi to the same period in prison and fined each the equivalent of $750. A the novel is blasphemous to islam and the Prophet Mohammed Quot the court said in its verdict wednesday. Judicial sources described the novel As similar to Salman Rushdie a the satanic verses. Rushdie is still in hiding after the announcement of a death sentence veiled algerian women cast their ballots in a downtown Algiers polling station thursday. Muslim fundamentalists broke the ruling party a 30-year monopoly on Power in the country a first free parliamentary election winning some seats and forcing runoffs in most other against him by the late iranian Leader Ayatollah Khomeini who also found Rushdie a Book blasphemous and insulting to Mohammed founder of the islamic religion. The egyptian organization for human rights on thursday appealed to egyptian prime minister Atef Sidki to intervene on behalf of the novelist and his publisher and Printer. Sidki is the vice martial Law ruler in accordance with the emergency Law that was introduced in Egypt after the assassination of president Anwar Sadat by Muslim extremists in october 1981. A the sentences constitute a violation of Freedom of expression opinion and artistic innovation Quot the organization said. According to emergency Law those who Are convicted have no right to Appeal and Only president Hosni Mubarak or the prime minister May commute or revoke the sentence. Races according to returns Friday. The runoffs could favor the National liberation front which has ruled Algeria As a marxist state since Independence from France in 1962, if other parties Back it to Stop the fundamentalists party the islamic salvation  head for the polls