THE father of Paul Wells, kidnapped in Kashmir four years ago, today made a plea for peace in the war-torn region.

Bob Wells believes that until the political situation in Kashmir is resolved, he will not find out what happened to his son and his fellow

hostages.

And following the fourth anniversary yesterday of Paul's capture, he is calling for international intervention to try to calm the conflict between India and Pakistan, which have been battling over control of Kashmir for decades.

Paul, at the time a 24-year-old student, was seized while trekking 60 miles east of Srinagar, the Kashmiri summer capital.

His family believe Paul and his three fellow hostages - including Middlesbrough man Keith Mangan - were killed in January 1996, but no firm evidence has ever been found.

Mr Wells, of Bracken Close, Feniscowles, said the recent escalation in fighting in Kashmir had been very upsetting.

"Nothing is ever resolved over there. It is just the same old, bloody, war over and over again," he said.

He would like to see an independent body such as the United Nations move in to Kashmir. to police the control line established in 1949, which has been the focus of much of the fighting.

"There has been no international effort and I think there should be. "I do think if the UN means anything there should be a way in which they can bring pressure to bear on both India and Pakistan to sit down and talk, talk properly about the situation, so they can come to some sort of meaningful conclusion.

"The fighting has got to be stopped."

Mr Wells said he felt he and the families of Paul's fellow hostages had done what they could as individuals to raise awareness of the situation in Kashmir.

"The British Prime Minister is aware of the situation. The American President is aware of the situation, as are the German and Norwegian governments," he said.

"You would think if there was a political will on the part of any of these four governments to get this resolved they would take the matter in hand and take it to the UN.

"It might be very naive but I can see no other way of resolving the problems in Kashmir.

"If anybody can exert any influence on these nations to talk, try to bring peace to the region instead of war then perhaps that will be the catalyst for resolving our problems."It is not an easy part of the world to work in. The lines of communication are very thin.

"We would dearly love to be able to bring Paul and Keith back home from wherever they may be but we have not been able to do that."

He said as well as being anxious to discover what happened to Paul, he had real concerns for the people of Kashmir.

"Nearly every family there has lost relatives. It is just horrendous. It is a desperate situation."

He said although he had no desire to return to Kashmir he felt it was important to maintain awareness of the case in the area.

"This battle for their country has involved my son and his friends. I want to make sure that they are never forgotten."

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