World IN BRIEF : INDIA : American Escapes; 5th Tourist Seized

One of four Western tourists abducted by Kashmir separatist guerrillas Tuesday escaped from his captors. Police said the American tourist slipped away late Saturday. The American, identified as John Childs, was seized Tuesday along with another American and two Britons by militants of Al-Faran, a little-known group fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India. Childs’ escape followed the abduction of a fifth Western tourist, Dirik Hasert, a German. It was not clear whether the abductions were carried by the same militants. Separatist guerrillas belonging to the previously unknown Al-Faran group abducted four men, two Britons and two Americans, from a camp near Pahalwan.