Kalla says he wants to run for president

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has pledged his loyalty to his boss Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono until their term ends in 2009, but made it clear he would contest the presidential election that year. Speaking to Antara in a special interview, Kalla said on Tuesday he shouldered a constitutional responsibility to support the government of Susilo, but the next race for the presidency was a different story. "God willing, as a Golkar member I have the right to contest (the presidential election) with the President's consent. It's impossible without his consent," said Kalla, who chairs the Golkar Party, the largest political bloc in the House of Representatives compared to Susilo's diminutive Democratic Party. The pair won the first ever direct presidential election last year. -- Antara

India allows calls to Pakistan

India's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Kashmiris will be allowed to contact family members living on the Pakistani side of the divided region for the next two weeks in the wake of a devastating earthquake. "This facility is being provided as a special case," an Indian foreign ministry statement said, adding that it came "on the directions of" the prime minister. The state-run department of telecommunications will be setting up phone centers in four earthquake-hit towns in Indian Kashmir, the statement said. These will be operational by Wednesday. -- AFP

Musharraf calls on India to allow visits

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf called on India on Tuesday to allow earthquake-stricken Kashmiris cross the de facto border that divides the countries and families in the bitterly disputed region. "We will allow any amount of people coming across the Line of Control," he told a news conference in the destroyed Pakistani Kashmir capital of Muzaffarabad. "If India agrees, we would like to work out the formalities." He added that Pakistan would also like to facilitate the movement of political leaders from both sides of the Himalayan territory across the de facto frontier, a cease-fire line known as the Line of Control. There was no immediate response from India. New Delhi has refused Islamabad's request for helicopters without crews that Pakistan says are needed for relief operations in a region over which the countries have fought two of their three wars. -- Reuters

Roche to boost Tamiflu production

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG said on Tuesday it is building a new plant in the United States to boost production of its Tamiflu drug amid fears about bird flu, and is ready to seek help from other companies to meet surging demand. Orders for the antiviral drug have soared as health experts have been pinning their hopes on Tamiflu in case the bird flu that has spread from Asia to southeast Europe mutates so that it could pass easily between people. The drug would be used to protect and treat front-line workers exposed to infected birds, but it is also being stockpiled to be used in a pandemic. Experts hope that treating sick people with the drug early in the course of a pandemic may soften the impact and slow its emergence while scientists rush to make a vaccine, which would take months. Roche, the sole manufacturer of Tamiflu, has ruled out relinquishing the patent on the drug, which is protected until 2016. -- AP