UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday welcomed the return of bus service along the militarized Kashmiri divide after nearly six decades.
"The secretary general applauds the inauguration today of the bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir," his spokesman said in a statement. "Despite the security challenges it faces, the bus service is a powerful gesture of peace and an opportunity to reunite families divided for nearly 60 years."
The spokesman said Annan hopes the move "will lead to further progress towards improving conditions for the divided population and the resolution of all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan."
Hopes for lasting peace between India and Pakistan rose Thursday, as bus passengers defied Islamic militants and crossed the militarized line dividing Kashmir.
Kashmiris wept joyfully and clutched their loved ones after being reunited by the historic bus service, following decades of bloodshed and bitter separation caused by the nuclear rivals' competing claims to the Himalayan region.
Two buses left from Srinagar and one coach departed from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, all of them headed for the Line of Control, the de facto border.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to the bus as a "caravan of amity."
Fears of violence emerged earlier Thursday, however, when police found a large bomb planted along the route. They later said that four people, including a policemen, were hurt by a blast barely 10 minutes after the bus passed Pattan, near Srinagar.
But the buses passed through unscathed.
04/07/2005 17:30 GMT