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Leading News

Govt-AL to hold informal talks today
AL finalises 7-member team for dialogue

Staff Correspondent

The Caretaker Government will sit with Awami League leaders today (Sunday) at 5.30 pm at the State Guest House Padma in the capital as part its ‘informal’ round of talks with the political parties prior to sending out official invitations to them for the final dialogue.
The AL, in principle, decided to attend the informal talks as the Adviser to the Caretaker Government on Saturday afternoon sent SMS to acting AL president Zillur Rahman inviting his party for the dialogue at the earlier scheduled venue at Padma.
Meanwhile, AL, in its Presidium meeting, has finalized a list of seven members for participating in the ensuing dialogue.This decision was taken at a-hour long AL Presidium Members’ meeting at Gulshan with acting AL president Zillur Rahman in the chair.
The members of AL team for pre-dialogue consultations are: Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzaque, Suranjit Sengupta, Tofael Ahmed, Begum Motia Chowdhury and acting General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam.
Syed Asraful Islam told this at a press conference at Zillur’s residence soon after the Presidium meeting.
According to AL sources, in the informal dialogue, AL will demand of the government to ensure the release of detained AL president Sheikh Hasina and her proper treatment abroad, lifting of emergency rules, polls schedule and exemplary trial of the war criminals.
Replying to a query of the newsmen, Asraful Islam said, "AL is ready to make the dialogue fruitful; but everything depends on the Government’s attitude.
"AL would be able to take part in the national dialogue alongwith detained former Prime Minister and AL chief Sheikh Hasina," he hoped.
About the AL presidium meeting, Syed Ashraful said, "Some four issues - Friday’s clash between police and Islamic group at Baitul Mukarram, price hike, marking Mujibnagar Day and ensuing Government- AL dialogue dominated yesterday’s Presidium meeting.
The meeting accused the caretaker government of its indecision and failure to arrest price spiral and patronising Islamic groups across the country.
"The country cannot be run by PhD holders and World Bank clerks. Their incapability in running the country caused the present worst situation. The government fails to take any decision to face the crises. Such indecisiveness may take to a serious turn," he observed adding, "Really, a famine-like situation still continues across the country leaving people’s life in a miserable condition. Even middle income group is starving. The government’s indecision is responsible for this."
Expressing grave concern over Friday’s clash between law enforcers and Islamic group, the AL General secretary blamed the Jamaat-e-Islami for creating unrest in name of protesting new ‘Women Policy’.
"Jamaat-e-Islami has been conducting their operation under the banner of about 12 to 14 front organisations across the country and two leaders led the whole mission at Baitul Mukarram Mosque premises and Hathazari in Chittagong on Friday. The incumbent Government is patronizing them," he said urging the authorities to ensure exemplary punishment of them.
Ashraful demanded of the government to handover the state-power to the people’s elected representatives through holding a free, fair and credible national election as early as possible.
Asked, "Whether unseen forces are pressurising you ((AL) to sit with the Caretaker Government’s representatives or not?," the AL General Secretary replied in the negative saying, "No unseen force is putting pressure on AL."
The meeting decided to observe the Mujib Nagar Day on April 17. A delegation comprising Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzaqye and Suranjit Sengupta will attend the programme at Meherpur while other central leaders will attend the programmes in Dhaka on the day.

Three-way Tussle in BNP continues
Firoz Mamun and M. Waliullah

While BNP Chairperson nominated Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain said nobody would be able to become party’s Secretary General following the High Court verdict or EC’s decision, pro-reform BNP leader Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said the EC has recognised him as the legitimate secretary general of the party although the High Court did not.
Meanwhile, BNP Chairperson’s Adviser Brigadier General ASM Hannan Shah (Rtd) said conspiracy is being hatched against BNP in a bid to destroy the party. All three leaders were speaking in separate programmes in the city yesterday.
"One cannot be a party leader with a court verdict or certificate. Under instruction of our party Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, we will lead the party, not with any judgment or a certificate," after a meeting with a delegation of Barisal Bar Association he told journalists at his NAM flat apartment.
"Persons engaged in serving their own interest capitalising on the country’s prevailing emergency situation, want to finish off the BNP. A dangerous situation is prevailing in the country. A section of people in the name of reform, are trying to ‘fish in the dirty waters’ and hatching conspiracy to destroy the party. We will have to come forward to resist the evil design plotted by the conspirators," replying to a query on Saifur-Hafiz group, he added.
BNP Secretary General said with view to release detained Khaleda, BNP will announce a programme and the nature of the programmes will be set in consultations with all. "BNP-led 4-party alliance still exists and if necessary other nationalist forces will be included in the alliance," he added.
As the lawyers expressed their willingness to wage movement to free Khaleda Zia from jail, Delwar said "The lawyers have a record of contributing to movements in the critical moment of the nation. BNP would go for movement but it is the senior leaders who will decide the form of such a movement."
On the contrary, Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin, acting Secretary General of reformist group of BNP, said the EC has already recognised his present position in the party by sending letter inviting him to the EC-BNP talks on political reforms.
"Delwar Hossain rightly said the Court has passed no order declaring my leadership but my present rank in the party is recognised by the EC", Hafiz told reporters at his Banani house after a meeting with Dhaka city Juba Dal leaders.
"We will meet detained party chairperson Khaleda Zia after receiving the letter for dialogue from the EC," he further said.
He pointed out that although BNP will be reformed, Khaleda Zia will be able to remain Chairperson of the party as long as she wishes and nobody will oppose that. So, there should not be any confusion among party’s rank and file centering the said reforms.
He said he will meet her in the jail soon after receiving invitation letter from the EC to discuss with her on the issue of reforms before attending the dialogue with the EC.
Begum Zia would be freed through legal process and she will, if possible, take part in the dialogue with the government, replying to a question he said, adding "We want to take BNP forward under her leadership. The BNP will have to be united in a pollution-free environment at the instruction of Begum Zia."
On the other hand, BNP Chairperson’s Adviser Brigadier General ASM Hannan Shah (Rtd) on Saturday said conspiracy is being hatched against BNP in a bid to destroy the party.
"Despite hatching various conspiracies to destroy BNP, the government has failed to fulfill its commitments. To implement whose agenda, you (government) came to power. This caretaker government not only failed to control the unchecked price of essentials but also failed everywhere," Hannan Shah said while speaking as chief guest at discussion held in the city.

 EPR case not filed against Islamic activists
"Please don’t ask me about the case, talk with our
high authority in this regard’’ Police AC

Staff Correspondent

Despite violation of the state of emergency, a regular case was lodged with Paltan police station against the activists of different Islamic political parties in connection with Friday’s violent incident at north gate of national mosque in the capital. Meanwhile, police arrested at least 17 people for their alleged involvement in this connection.
When asked about the case not being filed under the Emergency Power Rule (EPR) as the activists violating the state of emergency went on a rampage, Assistant Commissioner (AC) of police of Paltan area said "please don’t ask me about the case. You should talk with our high authority in this regard." Farid Ahmed officer-in-charge of Paltan police station switched off his cell phone soon after receiving the same question.
Besides, hundreds of activists again started gathering at the north gate of the mosque on Saturday morning to bring out a procession protesting the attack of police on Friday. Police put barricade at Dainikbangla and Paltan crossing. Traffic movement was disrupted for more then two hours. Following this, huge contingent of police forces deployed in and around the Paltan area for maintaining law and order.

 NOAB, BSP leaders request Chief Adviser to waive VAT on newsprint, raise ad rate

UNB, Dhaka

Newspaper owners Saturday requested Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed to waive the existing 15 percent VAT on newsprint in the wake of abnormal price rises of the printing paper on the international market.
They also requested a fourfold increase in the rate of government advertisement as they said the existing rate has not been increased for last 20 years.
The present rate of government advertisement per column-inch is Tk 208.
An eight-member delegation of the Newspaper Owners Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) and Bangladesh Sangbadpatra Parishad (BSP) called on the Chief Adviser at his office and placed their pleas.
They also sought payment of ad money centrally.
The newspaper owners’ leaders thanked the Chief Adviser as his government has reduced import duty on newsprint from 25 percent to zero in the fiscal 2007-08 following their meeting with the Chief Adviser last year.
About waving VAT, Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin said he would talk to Finance Ministry to consider the matter "as a whole as the government wants news industry to flourish in Bangladesh". Regarding raise in the rate of government advertisement, he agreed with their demand, saying that he will ask the Information Ministry to make a report on it in consultation with the Finance Ministry and he will take action after getting the report.
On payment of the ad money, he assured them that he would ask the Information Ministry to make the payment system uniform.

 Famine does not occur in democracies: Akbar
UNB, Dhaka

Chairman of Regulatory Reforms Commission Dr Akbar Ali Khan Saturday said famine occurs to those nations where there is unelected government in power and none to put pressure on the government in taking decision.
If there is democracy, famine does not occur to those countries normally, as there is pressure on the political government in taking any decision, said Dr Ali at the BBC Bangladesh Sanglap at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital. Referring to Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen, Dr Ali, a former adviser to the caretaker government, said famine might also occur in the country if there is lack of employment amidst huge stockpile of food grains.
Urging the government to arrange employment for the common people, he said it is not easy for the government to do that under the present context. He suggested distribution of food among the poor people through VGF system on emergency basis.
Awami League presidium member and former Agriculture Minister Motia Chowdhury, BNP Chairperson’s adviser and former secretary and ambassador Mofazzal Karim and secretary general of the Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Kazi Faruque also took part in the Sanglap as panelists.
BBC Bangla Service in cooperation with the BBC World Service Trust organised the event moderated by Kamal Ahmed of BBC Bangla Service. Dr Ali observed that the government will not be able to introduce rationing system right now, as there is neither sufficient stock of food grains nor the capacity.
Motia Chowdhury alleged that those who resorted to street violence protesting the policy for women development are "extremists" and part of Jamaat-e-Islami who mislead the people misusing in the name of Islam.
She alleged that information regarding the present food crisis has been concealed by the government. Asking the government to provide incentives to the farmers, the AL leader called upon the government to buy food grains from the farmers directly with higher price instead of buying food items from abroad.

Back Page

Development of north Bengal Needed
Staff Correspondent

People of the country's northern region have been facing serious set back as no government showed any interest to develop the area while many projects are being taken to develop the already developed southern region, journalists, teachers and political leader observed at a discussion.
They were speaking on energy sector in Bangladesh and development in the northern region held at Press Institute of Bangladesh in the city. Chief Adviser's Special Assistant M Tamim attended the function as chief guest.
"Many industries have closed down due to want of electricity. On the other hand, no government since independence takes any initiative to develop the region. As a result, people of the northern region specially Dinajpur, Rangpur and Kurigram every year have to witness critical situation like 'monga'. If this region is provided with sufficient gas and electricity, many industries, factories and other important establishments will be grow up which will contribute to create more employment opportunity," they said.
They said as diesel and gas fired power plants have been set up in the central and eastern regions of the country, development projects are being implemented in these areas including southern region.
"Using coal from coal mine, if the government sets up power plants, the area will be turned into a developed region and many industries and factories will also be growing up. So government will have no need to take gas supply from other part of the country," they said.
Dr M Tamim spoke on the need for setting up nuclear power plant to produce electricity and reduce reliance on coal and gas for the purpose.
Showing reasons for alternative source of energy, he pointed out, "Although 1,000 megawatts would be added to the national greed by the year end and for this purpose production of additional 24 TCF gas will be needed and if this process continues the reserve of gas will run out."

 Heat wave causes immense sufferings
Staff Correspondent

A severe heat wave is now prevailing over the northern regions of the country causing untold sufferings to the people.
The simmering heat coupled with frequent load shedding and water crisis is causing untold sufferings to the people across the country. Many people, mostly old men and children, were admitted to different hospitals and clinics following sunstroke as an unbearably hot and humid weather persisting in the country for last few days, according to sources.
The people of the north region which include Rajshahi, Rangpur, Bogra, Dinajpur, Iswradi, Nator and Joypurhat are the worst suffers.
The severe hot spell that has been sweeping the country during the last two days will continue further for two or three days, Met office sources said adding the capital Dhaka experienced a mild temperature increase between 36 and 38 degree Celsius.
The mercury rose to highest 40 degree Celsius in Rajshahi on Saturday and the lowest 20.6 degree Celsius was recorded at Rangamati.
The capital Dhaka experienced 36.25 degree Celsius, Chittagong 30.07 degree Celsius, Khulna 36.05 degree Celsius, Barisal 35.03 degree Celsius and Sylhet 35.02 degree Celsius yesterday.
The transport workers of long-distance route from Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Sylhet, Mymensing, Tangail, Kushtia and Jessore said that the most of the passengers have suspended their traveling as they do not dare to travel in this hot weather.
Residents in different areas of the capital are facing a serious water crisis due to frequent load shedding, drastic fall in ground water level, faulty distribution pipelines, and illegal connections. The water crisis has aggravated following deterioration of the power crisis across the country.

Couples crave more children
Sylhet, Ctg ahead of other dists

BSS, Dhaka

The desire for more than two children is high among the couples of Sylhet and Chittagong compared to four other divisions of the country, according to statistics revealed here Saturday.
The statistics show these two divisions still have the highest fertility rates of 3.7 and 3.2 against a national average of 2.7 in 2007, although Khulna marked the highest success of reducing the total fertility rate (TFR) at 2, just below the replacement level.
Rajshahi also have tremendous success with reduced TFR at 2.4, while Dhaka and Barisal remained little above the national level 2.7. The country targets to reduce the TFR at 2.2 by 2010 as a precaution to stabilize total population at 210 million by 2060.
"In Sylhet and Chittagong, 60 percent couples want more than two or three children compared to only 20 percent of such demands in Rajshahi," Director of NIPORT Dr Ahmed Sabir told a workshop here. Population Council organised the workshop to find ways in strengthening health and family planning services on low performing and hard-to-reach areas in Bangladesh at a local hotel.
Dr Sabir said the TFR in Sylhet and Chittagong should be reduced immediately with multi sector approach through delaying marriage at early ages, a phenomenon common among 47 percent of girls who got married between 15 and 19 years of their age. The early marriage coupled with strong cultural taboo, illiteracy and poverty have been significantly contributing to high fertility in the two divisions, where people have more wealth than other parts of the country. However, the literacy rate in these two divisions is comparatively lower.
"Literacy has greater role in fertility reduction than wealth. Sylhet and Chittagong are the glittering example of it," Dr Barkat E Khoda of Dhaka University said, adding the national programmes on family planning should be revamped.

Dhaka-Kolkata Train Service
Darsana Railway Station ready

BSS, Chuadanga

All necessary arrangements including security and immigration measures have been completed at Darsana Railway Station of the district which is the exit point of Bangladesh territory to launch Dhaka-Kolkata train service from 'Pahela Baishakh 1415' (April 14).
On the opening day of Dhaka-Kolkata passenger train service, at first the passenger train will reach at Darsana railway station at around 12 O’clock noon from Kolkata while the Kolkata bound Bangladeshi passenger train will reach at Darsana at around 12-30 pm on the same day from Dhaka.
Initially two trains will run on Saturday and Sunday every week. Each train service will have facility for some 418 passengers in seven compartments.
Darsana Rail Station master told BSS on Friday afternoon that there will have security equipment including metal detector and luggage scanners at Darsana immigration check post. Special branch of police has been given the responsibilities for immigration. Eight immigration counters have been opened at the check post.
It would take about five hours to complete customs and immigration formalities on both sides at Darsana Railway Station.
The non-stop train service will take around 11 hours to travel the 375-kilometer route from Dhaka to Kolkata. To ensure passengers safety, necessary number of security guards will be deployed in each train and close circuit cameras has been installed at the departure point at Darsana Railway Station. Government Railway Police (GRP) and intelligence agencies will ensure security of railway tracks.
The Divisional Manager of Bangladesh Railway, Paksey division, Anwarul Kabir who reached on Friday evening at Darsana Railway Station to witness the final stage of preparations taken for Dhaka-Kolkata passenger train service.

Crime

Wife chopped to death by husband
UNB, Jessore
A housewife was allegedly chopped to death by her drug-peddler husband following a quarrel at Kharidanga village in Sharsha upazila late Wednesday night.
Local people said Alamgir of the village married Nurunnesa, 28, one year ago and soon after the marriage he started putting pressure on her to help him in carrying phensidyl syrup to different local areas for sale.
Police said a brawl took place between Alamgir and Nurunesa at dead of night when she refused to carry the drug to a certain place. At one stage the angry Alamgir stabbed her to death and fled the house. Police on the following morning recovered the body and sent it to the Sadar hospital morgue for autopsy. A case was filed.

4 cops injured in attack in Sylhet
UNB, Sylhet
Four policemen were injured in an attack by the cohorts of a 'top terror', as they went to Pashchim Sirajnagar village in Balaganj upazila to arrest him in the early hours of Saturday.
The attackers also snatched a rifle from the police, which was later recovered from a graveyard.
Of the injured, SI Humayun Kabir was admitted to local health complex while ASI Abdus Samad and constables Yunus and Abdul Baten to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital.
Sources said a police team from Osmani Nagar thana, led by SI Humayun Kabir, raided the village at about 12:30am to arrest 'top terror' Ilyias. As soon as the van, carrying the police team, entered the village, a group of people, including Ilias, started running away.
Police also chased them and caught Ilias. Then 15-20 people suddenly attacked the police and started shouting 'dacoit', 'dacoit'.
During the dustup, Ilias' supporters snatched him from the police and severely beat up the law-enforcers with sticks, leaving the four policemen injured.
However, the rest three members of the police team took shelter in different houses of the village.
On information, more police appeared at the spot and rescued their fellowmen, including the injured ones. Later, Additional SP Sajid Hossain and Balaganj UNO Sheikh Motiar Rahman visited the village.

Daring dacoity
House owner killed, 3 injured; valuables looted
UNB, Bandarban
A house owner was killed and his three relatives were critically wounded as armed dacoits sprayed bullets on them during a daring dacoity at his house at Kadukhali village in Sadar upazila early Saturday.
Police said a gang of 10/12 masked bandits stormed into the house of Abdul Ali, 28, son of Omar Ali of the area, at about 3am and started looting cash, gold ornaments and other valuables at gunpoint.
At one stage when Ali and his three relatives tried to resist them the bandits opened fire on them killing Ali on the spot.
The injured relatives Yusuf Gazi, 25, son of Abdul Huq, Hossain member, 30, son of Manjur Ali, and his younger brother Majibur Rahman were admitted to Sadar hospital in critical condition. Later, the bandits stormed into two other adjacent houses and three shops and looted cash and valuables.

Brother kills brother
UNB, Jamalpur
A man was killed allegedly by his younger brother following a land dispute at Dengargarh in Islampur upazila on Thursday night.
Family sources said Raja Miah and his sons beat his elder brother Efazuddin to death following a quarrel over the ownership of a plot of their paternal land.
On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Jamalpur General Hospital morgue for autopsy. A case was filed.

Three get life in murder case
BSS, Sirajganj
Additional Sessions Judge Second ABM Nizamul Haque on Thursday sentenced three persons to life term rigorous imprisonment(RI) for Israfil murder case.
Court sources said the judge also fined the convicts Tk 10,000, in default, to suffer one year more in Jail. The convicts are Hamidul son of Shahjahan of Chakshiyalkol village under sadar thana, Nantu son of Shahdat and Iliyas son of Saman of Silanda village.
The prosecution story, in brief, is that Israfil was killed in a shop beside pourasabha road on July 18 in 2001. A case was filed with sadar thana in this connection.
The police, after investigation, submitted charge sheet. The judge after examining all the relevant documents and witnesses found the three persons guilty and announced the verdict in a crowded court.

Body of extremist recovered
A Correspondent, Madaripur
Shibchor Thana police recovered a Charampanthi member's dead body from Nilokhi bazar under Shibchor Upazila of the district on Suterday at 10:00 am.
Police said, local people found the dead body beside an abandoned home near Nilokhi bazar under Shibchor upazila. Later the body was identified as Mannan Sikder (40). A source said he was an active Caharampanthi member of Shibchor Charampanthi unit.
On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Madaripur Hospital morgue for Autopsy. A case was filed with the Shibchor police station.

Revolver recovered
BSS, Barisal
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) recovered a foreign made revolver from Kagashura village under Sadar upazila in the district on Friday night.
RAB sources said, acting on a tip off, a team of the elite force raided the house of one Shamsu Sikder at the village and recovered the revolver from his kitchen. None arrested in this connection.

One held with Hemp
A Correspondent, Comilla
Rapid Action Battalion on Saturday morning picked up a man along with 25 kg of hemp at Tatavomi area in Brahmanpara upazila.
The arrested was identified as Md. Momin Fakir, 32, son of Abdul Mojid of Anandapur village of the upazila.
The RAB said they arrested Momin with 25 kg of hemp worth Tk 90 thousand, while he was moving suspiciously near a local bus stand at about 7:00 am.
They also said he was wanted in a number of criminal cases.
A case was filed with the police station in this regard.

81 alleged criminals arrested
BSS, Rangpur
Police arrested 81 alleged criminals from various places of the district during the last 24 hours ending this morning.
Police sources said the arrested persons include absconding convicts, warrantees and accused persons, listed terrorists, smugglers, drug traders, smugglers and peddlers, thieves, extortionists and other anti-social elements.
Police also recovered huge quantities of stolen goods, phensidyl, ganja, fermented wine, other and narcotics substances and illegal goods during the drives.
Police arrested drug traffickers Anisur, 38, with four bottles phensidyl, Arman, 25, Mohidul, 24, with 65 bottles phensidyl, Jewel, 24, with 45 bottles phensidyl, Ranjit, 20, with 2.5 kg ganja and absconding convict Mokhlesur, 60, during the period.
Of the arrested, Kotwali police arrested 22 persons, Taraganj four, Badarganj 14, Gangachara seven, Mithapukur 11, Pirganj 16, Pirgacha one, Kawnia four and DB police arrested two persons during the period, the sources said.
The arrested persons were sent to jail hajat when police produced them before different Rangpur courts.

UP member held
BSS, Brahmanbaria
Police arrested a Union Parishad(UP)member on charge of selling government properties at Haripur village under Kasba upazila of the district on Friday.
Police said, the arrested was identified as Harunur Rashid, 54, son of Abdul Gani of Haripur village under Kasba upazila.

Editorial

Fanatics on Rampage

Since the last two months fanatics, under various banners, have been out on the streets of Dhaka in their hundreds every Friday protesting against everything that is of value to our Nation. They warmed up with protests against the Sector Commanders Forum’s call for trial of war criminals and when the Sector Commanders responded with massive nation-wide public display of support for their cause, the fanatics thought it prudent to shift their wrath to the more vulnerable and sensitive issue of equal rights to women. For two day running, that is, on 10 and 11 April 2008, these maniacs have been fighting running battles with the police right in the center of Dhaka, resulting in injuries to scores of common people and the police. On Friday, 11 April 2008, matters reached a stage where the police failed to control the mob that right after the Juma prayers went on a rampage, around the Baitul Mukarram mosque area, which lasted for hours – all of this when the Emergency is still in force and the Government is claiming full control of the situation. On 11 April 2008, in an Editorial titled “On the Way back to Square One” we had contended that we are on the fast track back to conditions and situations which prevailed before 11 January 2007 and these recent events are an indication of that.
These fanatical religious fringe groups have no ideologies save that of their own bigoted view of what Islam is all about and they have no appeal to the great mass of the common people and therefore the Emergency Government need not be overly sensitive of “religious sentiments” in suppressing them. These fanatics have made an issue out of a non-issue; no body in Bangladesh, least of all the Emergency Government, has demanded the elimination or even a modification of Muslim Property Rights or laws. So one really fails to understand the protests and the violence these bigots have unleashed at a time when the Nation is facing serious economic problems.
The point really is, if the Emergency government is unwilling to suppress fanatics, bigots and maniacs for fear of hurting “religious sentiments”, it would not only be appeasing such individuals and activities but more importantly it would be helping in creating fertile grounds for re-emergence of such phenomenon as the JMB within a short period of time. We cannot afford to forget the hard earned lesson of what a few mad individuals can do to an entire nation, if the problem is not eliminated at its very beginning. Amongst all our pressing economic, social and political problems, we cannot afford a serious law and order situation of the Bangla Bhai variety.
What surprises us all is that this Emergency Government too, like past governments, is all for suppression of secular politics citing reasons such as corruption and miss-governance where as, it is reluctant to suppress fanatical religious fringe groups on the plea of not hurting the “religious sentiments” of the people. As a matter of fact, secular opposition to government is more vulnerable to suppression than religious opposition because the later can operate within and behind a network of mosques, madrasahs, welfare organizations and foundations which the government feels it cannot suppress but secular opposition has no such cover and hence are more easily controlled or eliminated. This is exactly what is happening in Bangladesh time and again.

The contrast between Rich and Poor

Bangladesh is a poor, developing country with most of the people living in abject poverty, but all the citizens here are not poor. This reality, reflecting the sharp contrast between the economic condition of poor as well as middle class and rich people, was evident from some reports published in different newspapers on Saturday. According to a national daily as the middle class and poor people continue to throng the OMS centres and BDR outlets in the city in increasing numbers for procuring rice at a cheaper rate, many of them are covering their faces with clothes and requesting the press photographers not to take their photos. This exposes the helplessness of the people unable to purchase rice at higher price from the market with limited income.
On the other hand, a national daily reported, a pair of Hilsha fish weighing 3.8 kg was sold at Taka 7000 at Karwan Bazar in the city on Friday. Moreover, another daily said, a good number of people traveled from Dhaka to Barisal to procure quality Hilsha fish on the eve of the Pahela Baishakh. Besides, here in the capital there is huge rush of people at posh shopping malls at Baily Road, Basundhara City, New Market, Mirpur Jamdani Palli, Gulshan and elsewhere for purchasing sarees and gold ornaments ahead of Bangla Naboborsho. All these only show how affluent some people are in this land of the poor.
In fact, this situation has resulted from the unequal distribution of wealth in the country. Economic mismanagement, social injustice, and exploitation have made the poor poorer and the rich richer and widened the economic disparity between different sections of people over the three decades since independence. And it is the poor section which is bearing the brunt of the follies of the managers of the state affairs. True, the existence of poor and rich sections in the society is unavoidable, but the disparity and gap between them should be reduced as much as possible. The rich may have the right to spend as lavishly as they like to live in comfort, but the poor should also have the right and means to keep the body and soul together.

Analysis

The Failure of Gambari Mission in Burma

In the draft constitution the constitutional power has been given to the commander in chief to run the country, instead of vesting it in the people under the basic tenets of a democratic system.

Ahmedur Rahman Farooq

Turning a deaf ear to international outcries, Burma’s military rulers are going to perpetuate military domination in running the state forever through unilaterally holding a referendum on May 10;2008 on a pro-military constitution which will not be possible to amend without the consent of the military representatives in the parliament, while the UN especial envoy Ibrahim Gambari who was appointed on a mission to restore peace, democracy and human rights in Burma through a meaningful participation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic and ethnic minority leaders in the process of drafting a national constitution, has virtually reached to a position where the people of Burma can not see any ray of hope from his mission.
Mentionably, in the draft constitution the constitutional power has been given to the commander in chief to run the country, instead of vesting it in the people under the basic tenets of a democratic system. The commander in chief has been given the power to appoint 25 percent of the seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliament with hand picked military officials who will not be accountable to the people, but fully loyal to the commander in chief. It also stipulates that no amendments to the charter can be made without the consent of more than 75 percent of lawmakers, making changes impossible without the support of the military representatives in Parliament who occupy 110 seats out of the 440-seat lower house which is called Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives), and 56 seats out of the 224-seat upper house which is called Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities). Moreover, in the event of a “state of emergency” which the tatmadaw (armed forces) is given the authority to declare at any time, the commander in chief would assume full legislative, executive and judicial powers.
However, after returning from his third visit to Burma on March 6-10.2008, Ibrahim Gambari has briefed on Burma with the 15-member UN Security Council(UNSC) on March 18;2008 where he admitted his efforts had yielded “no immediate tangible outcome.” But he could not ask the Council to do something effective or to strengthen the mandate of the Secretary General in pressuring the military regime for an all party-inclusive national reconciliation process in Burma. Of course, he said that he had reason to believe that the Burmese government attaches importance to his mission and “continues to value the Secretary General’ s good offices as the best prospect for further cooperation through mutual trust and confidence, and constructive suggestions.” But the people of Burma can not find grounds for such optimism of the UN envoy.
Most unfortunately, Gambari failed even to persuade the Security Council members to release a Presidential Statement after his briefing. The draft Security Council presidential statement which was prepared by three Security Council members—the United States, Britain and France on the Burmese constitutional referendum reflecting the views of the people of Burma, was opposed by the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin. The draft UN statement called on the military regime to allow full participation of all political actors, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the referendum process in order for it “to be inclusive and credible” through the guarantee of freedom of expression, association and assembly in the political process leading to the referendum as well as independent monitoring of the referendum.
Opposing the draft statement the Russian ambassador said, “Responding off the top of my head, I said to the members of the Council that the way I heard this idea, to me it is somewhat improper for the Security Council to go into describing modalities for a referendum or an election because we are not an election board.” He also said, “We are the Security Council; we are dealing with issues of threats to international peace and security.” Sadly, the lack of peace of 57.6 million people of Burma who have been groaning under the military for the last 46 years and now going to be enslaved generation after generation through the sham referendum, is not a matter to deal by the UN Security Council as the Russian ambassador wanted to mean.
However, despite being purely rebuffed by the Burmese regime during his last visit which was widely reported by the official media and which made it clear to Gambari that his approach of accommodating the generals in an effort to engage them in a dialogue has not worked, the UN envoy failed to give a frank assessment of the current situation in Burma to the UN Security Council as well as the international community. All his proposals to the regime to amend the draft constitution, to allow a UN role in the May referendum and to include input from the country’s pro-democracy movement and other political parties, were rejected outright by the junta. He failed to make minimum visible progress towards achieving the goals set by the UN Security Council through its presidential statement in October 2007.
Mr Gambari is a veteran diplomat who holds the record of being the longest serving Ambassador / Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN and who served as President of the Security Council on two occasions and chaired the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid which has successfully seen the demise of the long-standing social injustice and the establishment of democratic rule in South Africa. He also chaired the UN Special Committee on Peace Keeping Operations from 1990-1999. But despite his several rounds of discussions with the junta leaders during his three times visit to Burma and also his countless trips to the capitals around the world over the past few months, he has been unable to accomplish any of the goals set by himself, by the UN Secretary-General, or by the Security Council towards a meaningful national reconciliation in Burma, even though there are reasons to consider broader factors for his ineffectiveness.
In fact, time is running out as the farcical referendum which is aimed at trampling the people of Burma for generations under the military boot, is going to take place on May 10 on the junta-drafted constitution. And in an effort to show some level of “eye-wash success”, the local authorities have already started ordering the people to support the constitutional referendum, with threats on those whoaz may say “No” to the draft. People of pro-military organs like Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC), Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and National Unity Party (NUP) are holding meetings at the village level, making known to the people of the consequences of voting “No” in the referendum. They are explaining to the villagers how to vote in the referendum and how the local authorities will observe the people -saying that the local authorities will check the ballots after the polling station is closed and if they find out who is against the draft constitution they will detain him / her to be interrogated immediately why he / she is opposing it. Now, many people have started to think that at least for the sake of one’s own safety, it will not be wise to vote “No” in the referendum as it will be like inviting the wolf by a lamb to attack him.
The pro-military people are also cautioning that the situation will be disastrous in the States or Townships where the ethnic minorities live. If the authority finds poor turnout or no-vote majority, the minorities who are defenseless and powerless, will have to be ready to face the worst. At the same time, in order to spread panic among the common people, the pro-military gangs are attacking the pro-democracy and human rights activists as the authorities tighten control on opposition groups ahead of the referendum.
There is no denying the fact that the Burmese military rulers are pushing the country to a dangerous road for the future. They are also trying to deceive the international community through the referendum in order to divert international attention away from last September’s brutal crackdown.
Now it is time for Gambari to frankly concede that he was unable to get things moving in his approach of “dialogue and accommodation” in Burma, so that the international community can reevaluate its approach to Burma’s ruling generals and also the UN can review its Burma policy.
It is also the expectation of the international community from Ibrahim Gambari to clearly outline what his mission or the international community can do to ensure that the junta addresses the demands of the international community.
Nevertheless, in the wake of the failure and frustration of Ibrahim Gambari, now it is important to strengthen the direct involvement of the UN Secretary General through a separate mandate of the UN Security Council in order to help maximize the international efforts to resolve the political impasse in Burma.

(Ahmedur Rahman Farooq, Chairman, Rohingya Human Rights Council (RHRC). Address: 2975, Vang i Valdres, Norway.
Email: rohingyas.rhrc@ yahoo.com,  rohingyas.rhrc@ gmail.com)

War Clouds Over Mideast

Just as the US contrived to come up with a pretext - or rather a series of pretexts - to invade Iraq, it has had to find excuses to sanction Tehran, perhaps as a prelude to military action. Indeed, a military assault on Iran looks ever more likely.

Linda Heard

Russian President Vladimir Putin was recently quoted as saying, "No one can seriously think that Iran would dare attack the US. Instead of pushing Iran into a corner, it would be far more sensible to think together how to help Iran become more predictable and transparent". Finally, a voice of reason amid a cacophony of belligerence! Indeed, the way Iran is being treated by the so-called "international community" a euphemism for nations hanging onto the coattails of Uncle Sam, does little except provide fodder for hard-liners and their incendiary rhetoric. As long as Iran is under siege it will lock down rather than open up. I'm reminded of the competition between the sun and the wind that saw a man pulling his coat around him. Both boasted that they would be the one to force the man to remove his coat.
The wind whipped up a gale but the man simply held on tightly to the garment. Then the sun shone brightly and you know what happened next. Iran is being demonized for a purpose. The deliberately orchestrated hype and fear mongering obscures the reality. There is no evidence that Iran is working toward the production of nuclear weapons as a US National Intelligence Estimate clearly stated and far from threatening its neighbors it is going out of its way to extend the hand of friendship to all except Israel, which, by the way, President Ahmadinejad did not advocate wiping off the map. His words were mistranslated and the Western media shirked its duty to correct the mistake.
The fact is Iran remains the last obstacle to America's complete domination of this region. If Washington could force Iran to do its bidding its hegemonic ambitions in this part of the world including control over its resources would be attained. This, my friends, is the bottom line. This is why Iraq was invaded and occupied and this is why Iran is being groomed to go the same way. Weakening Iran is just another phase of the neoconservative New Middle East itinerary, which has nothing to do with spreading freedom and democracy and all to do with increasing US power and that of its regional satellite Israel. If you look at it from the American/Israeli perspective, a defanged Iran might translate into a compliant Shiite population, and the eventual demise of Hezbollah and Hamas due to a lack of funding and weapons. But this truth isn't palatable to most ordinary people and flies in the face of international law. So, just as the US contrived to come up with a pretext - or rather a series of pretexts - to invade Iraq, it has had to find excuses to sanction Tehran, perhaps as a prelude to military action. Indeed, a military assault on Iran looks ever more likely. Now that the nuclear weapons pretext has been shelved, US officials have changed tack and are now accusing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard of supplying Iraqi Shiite militias with weapons, cash and training with which to attack US forces. They say Iran is using surrogates to wage a de facto war on the US. Gen. David Petraeus and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are expected to reinforce this message to Congress today; not that President Bush requires approval from lawmakers to launch strikes on Iran. The Daily Telegraph has quoted "a Whitehall assessment" to the effect "a strong statement" from Gen. Petraeus "about Iran's intervention in Iraq could set the stage for a US attack on Iranian military facilities".
Indicators that there may be a looming conflagration include the recent resignation of head of CENTCOM Adm. William Fallon, who famously said "there will be no attack on Iran on my watch". Then came the botched attack by the Iraqi military backed up by the US on pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Basra, which defeated the purpose of eradicating hostile entities by, instead, bringing them together to expose the feebleness of the Iraqi Army whose members deserted or switched sides in large numbers. At the same time, Israel is engaged in a five-day homeland security exercise that, according to Ha'aretz will "include a simulated missile attack on civilian areas - some missiles with chemical warheads". Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has urged his army to remain alert, while Hezbollah believes the emergency drill is a precursor to a new war. The Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert is trying hard to allay Lebanese and Syrian suspicions but when it comes to Iran he has made his position clear. He says he is absolutely certain Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and has called for a "concerted world action" to prevent it from attaining such "nonconventional capacity".
Another piece of the puzzle may be found in the presence of US warships off the coast of Lebanon, while, according to reports, the USS Abraham Lincoln strike force is heading for the Gulf along with a US nuclear submarine. It's also worth noting that Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Minister Robert Gates have recently been touring the region and holding discussions with its leaders. Countries here are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea on this issue. Most moderate predominately Sunni states fear the unencumbered rise of Iran that would empower Shiite populations and result in a power play.
But at the same time, they don't want another war on their doorstep in which they will be coerced to take sides for when the dust settles Iran will still be their neighbor and memories in this part of the world tend to be long. The mistrust between Sunnis and Shiites engendered by the occupation of Iraq has tragically fueled this divide, which plays right into the hands of the US and Israel.
A visiting alien might wonder why Muslim nations sharing the same turf and seas and with so much in common can't get together preferring instead to allow a foreign power to set their neighborhood alight to further its geopolitical interests with virtually no risk to itself. On second thoughts, one doesn't have to be an extraterrestrial to be shocked at the ridiculousness of that.

Source: www.arabnews.com

Viewpoints

Saving Zimbabwe to save Africa

If Kenya blows and if Zimbabwe continues to sink and if South Africa can't manage a smooth and uncorrupted presidential election all bets on a continent- wide breakthrough will be off.

Jonathan Power

Africa is in danger of getting itself a bad name again, just when a lot of things have been going very well. The rather similar disputes in Zimbabwe and Kenya over who really won the election, if prolonged much further, risk blunting the wave of economic confidence that has swept through black Africa in the last three to four years. Investors have been pouring in. Some countries have even been able to issue well-subscribed bonds. The terms of trade, after 40 years or more of angst, have moved in their favor. Indeed, if these countries have the guts to allow higher food prices be passed on to their farmers, rather than wailing about the poor urban consumer, then Africa’s belated agricultural revolution could begin and then indeed Africa’s fortunes would be transformed within the next decade.
But if Kenya blows and if Zimbabwe continues to sink and if South Africa can’t manage a smooth and uncorrupted presidential election all bets on a continent- wide breakthrough will be off. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who engineered the electoral peace deal in Kenya, needs to return and bang heads together over a deal to settle cabinet membership. The Western countries, rather than threatening putative sanctions if the parties don’t agree, need to offer carrots instead- an offer to abolish barriers on all of Kenya’s agricultural exports if peace is made would be a good place to start.
Likewise in Zimbabwe where the situation is a hundred times worse. In Zimbabwe’s inflation-ravaged economy the only game in town that pays is a ministerial portfolio. No wonder the political class still largely gravitates to President Robert Mugabe who knows how to run a gravy train, even as he runs the economic train off the rails. Zimbabwe has been sanctioned close to death but all that has meant is that the poor suffer and the ruling political class who connive with the black marketeers get richer. Carrots could help change the mood- not only incentives in the international market place for agricultural exporters but, as Michael Holman has suggested in the Financial Times, an offer of massive donations of “fertilizer, raw materials and spare parts for industry, medicines for clinic and fuel for transport”. The West can be rather good at this. I recall watching almost in disbelief in post Idi Amin Uganda as tarred roads were rolled out in less than a month, empty clinics restocked overnight and so on as Western and international agencies went into overdrive to put the country back on its feet. If some of the wavering politicians of the ruling party could be persuaded that Zimbabwe has a bright future without Mugabe and that they could make money in legitimate business maybe they wouldn’t rally to him.
Most important of all Britain, the ex-colonial power, and the U.S. which was so intimately involved in the negotiations that led to the end of white power, needs to come clean about their unhelpful role in land reform in the early days of independence and also lay out some constructive policies for further reform today. The British mumbled their way through the 1980 constitutional conference when it came to land saying that while they favored a sensible land reform they couldn’t be explicit about how much money they would set aside. The Americans were also reticent.
From Mugabe’s new government there was also a deafening lack of initiative. A few months after independence I interviewed the minister of finance. “What’s going on about land reform?” I asked. “It’s not for now”, he replied. “It’s not on our list of priorities”.
I couldn’t believe my ears and popular resentment over the lack of land reform built up over the next 20 years. Only then, when Mugabe had his back against the wall, facing a crucial election, was a crude and self-serving (benefiting mainly Mugabe’s cronies) land reform initiated.
Britain has a measly $60 million earmarked for land reform, peanuts compared with the $2 billion development fund talked about at the time of the constitutional conference. Far more needs to be dangled before Zimbabwe’s nose, on condition this election is concluded honestly and on condition that the future of land reform will involve settling and agriculturally educating deserving black peasant farmers. The remaining 300 or so white farmers need also be made to feel secure.
For Britain this is a far more important task than anything it is doing in Afghanistan. For America, where African development is one of the few stars in President George W. Bush’s portfolio, making sure Africa continues to advance is arguably as important as anything he might do in the Middle East.

(Jonathan Power is an internationally renowned freelance columnist. Copyright Jonathan Power. Dateline Nairobi; April 11th 2008. E-mail: JonatPower@aol.com or phone: +46 706 51 08 79)

 US elections and positive change

While Clinton and Obama are destroying each other and the democratic party in a war of attrition, Republicans are making progress with an unquestioned leader, unifying political jargon and with the nuts and bolts of a successful campaign in place.

Dr Moeed Pirzada

       TO MOST Americans and to many of us it was received wisdom that a democrat will win the US Elections in 2008. Not anymore. Many analysts fear this may not happen. They point out while Clinton and Obama are destroying each other and the democratic party in a war of attrition, Republicans are making progress with an unquestioned leader, unifying political jargon and with the nuts and bolts of a successful campaign in place.
They may be right. But irrespective of who wins and who lands in the 18th century House on the Pennsylvania Ave, the Democratic campaign we have seen was special. It was special for it brought out the yearnings of a changed US society. Agreed, the primaries were mostly registered Democratic voters and not the whole America but nevertheless the impact of the economic and social movements of the last few decades, and the values that were espoused, were reflected in the kind of choices people made.
To begin with some one like Barack Hussein Obama surviving till the end was in itself a testament of the changed times; a tribute to a changing America. Hilary Clinton is not just a twice elected New York Senator, or the former first lady; in many respects she epitomises the sphinx of power, authority and continuity in the traditional American consciousness. I remember during the height of the Monica Lewinsky affair the joke used to be: fire the president and her husband too.
The mere fact that a coloured man, whose ancestry could be traced to a Muslim father, who from the beginning took a position against the Iraq war gave tough time to the Ms Clinton - that blue eyed scion of the American establishment - was in itself a little miracle in this age of profanity. But then it does not end here. Obama sustained the support of the white middle class delegates; which only serves to show that how among educated white Americans idealism, political belief and a shared sense of identity prevailed upon the traditional considerations of race and colour.
But there are even more interesting symptoms of a changing American society. My friend, Professor Adil Najam, currently at the Boston University, was explaining to me that how older American women identified with Hillary Clinton. To them she is the symbol of woman's cumbersome struggle in a man's world. Not anymore for the younger ones. Poll after poll, contest after contest, showed that how younger women - under 45 - swung towards Obama. They are the products of a fast emerging post-feminist America where issues and concerns transcend boundaries of gender.
But whereas the changing social dynamics of the US might have found their way into the political preferences, there is as yet little evidence of a similar adjustment to global concerns. Difficult questions persist.
Two ways of looking at this will be instrumental. In an article, "Can a Democrat change US Middle East Policy?" an excerpt from his updated book: " Perilous Power: the Middle East and the US foreign policy" Noam Chomsky, argues that even someone like Obama is not up to any real change in foreign policy towards Middle East.
Chomsky was one of the most original American thinkers of his times. Since most of us are happy in imprisoning or exporting our own iconoclasts, we envied an America that can bear such self-flagellating critics in its midst. Even today we listen, read and cherish him but in a changed American context he is less relevant; to many on the campuses he is an academic of a bygone era and I am afraid not many on the campaign trail or on morning trains will care to read his arguments - however cogent they may appear to us.
Visakha N Desai, president of the Asia Society, however, refers to something which may be more understood. In a recent provocative article, "Questions for America's next leader" she wonders how the next US president will provide a clear understanding of how he, or she, will prepare America for a twenty first century in which the local issues are tied with the global developments?
American ears may be deaf to what is perceived as Chomsky's old fashioned rhetoric; but Desai is raising questions from the perspective of new market economy; she is concerned that the US election campaign by both the Democrats and the Republicans has not touched on the question or issue of US global responsibilities in an age when global trends can have local implications? And she is worried how America's international authority will confront or adjust to Asia's new found clout?
To their concerns I want to add mine. And contrary to Chomsky's well rehearsed analysis and Desai's own sophisticated market economy related thoughts I have a basic fundamental and dumb question; why is our fate being decided by the American voters?
Whether we like it or not, the US government for all practical purposes is a de-facto global government. Ok! The US has not designed it to be so but this is what the strange reality is. What will happen in Iraq, or Afghanistan; will there be a war with Iran; how will energy policies be developed; everything affects us. Yet a US president, elected primarily on the strength of local concerns, understandings and prejudices, will bring his or her team and together their decisions will affect the whole world; for good or bad they will control and shape our lives. Yet we - the people of the world - do not have the slightest input into who should win the primaries and who should sleep in the white House? Isn't it funny?
Folks, I am not a poet, just someone wedded to the school of political realism. I am not condemning the current situation either; merely pointing to the sheer irrationality of a global power design. With United Nations dead or worse a rubber stamp, the term sole superpower is a mere euphuism for global government; yet the system for its selection is patently undemocratic and destabilising for the planet.
Every age throws up new problems and needs new solutions. The changed preferences of the democratic voters in the primaries reflected an admission of new realities inside the US; my question, like that of Vishakha N Desai, relates to a changed global reality, it may look irrelevant at this moment but with every passing year this will assume greater significance?

Moeed Pirzada, a broadcaster and political analyst with GEO TV, has been a founding member of the Association of Pakistani Professionals (AOPP) in New York. Email: mp846@columbia.edu

 Opinion

Torching freedom

China's chairman is our chairman," was the preponderant Naxalite graffiti in Kolkata in the '60s-'70s. The CPM was then battling Naxalites. China's Olympics are our Olympics, the CPM seems to be saying now and, of course, after 30 years of institution-capturing that Chairman Mao would have been envious of, there is no one left in Kolkata to battle the CPM. So Tibetans who have protested all over India and all over the world have been banned from the streets of the city that hosts more rallies than road signs and more bandhs than BPOs. China's consul general, as reported in this newspaper, is delighted. Well he might be. Which other government apart from that run by China's communists has understood that, since Beijing decided that the Olympics would be the event when it walks down the world's ramp, no one else must be allowed to share the spotlight?
But India hosts rambunctious protests by all kinds of groups and the one thing India understands better than China's apparatchiks is the value of freedom of association. The CPM is one of the biggest beneficiaries of that freedom - where would an agitation-prone party, which reckons blocking streets in Kolkata would change American foreign policy, be if protest were circumscribed? So the CPM banning the Tibetan rally in Kolkata is not just democratically abhorrent, not just an embarrassment for India, but chillingly hypocritical. Will the Congress take on the CPM on this? It must. The issue is not safe passage for the Olympic torch. That the government is handling. The political issue is basic freedom. And the Congress must also remember realpolitik. The CPM boycotted Parliament when American President George W. Bush was to address it. Comrades organised massive protest rallies during his visit. That was the CPM's democratic right. Now, when India's credentials as a democratic country are in question thanks to the Kolkata ban, the Congress as the ruling party must bluntly and publicly criticise its ally.
There have been questions about the CPM's China sympathies. Some of the interrogation has been crude. Some misplaced - the CPM was right in saying Chinese companies shouldn't be victims of security paranoia. But since the party has decided that Chinese communist sensibilities must be protected from a handful of young Tibetans, it invites very sharp questions. The first question is: why does the CPM think India's democracy must carry the torch for China's Olympian intolerance?

Source: www.editor@expressindia.com

International

Nepal’s Maoists take early surprise lead in count: Officials
AFP, Kathmandu

Nepal's ex-rebel Maoists have taken a surprise early lead in elections to rebuild the country after a bloody civil war and create a republic, results showed on Saturday.
Full results of the impoverished Himalayan nation's polls-a dual first-past-the-post and proportional representation system-will not be known for at least a week.
But five Maoists have been already been declared winners, giving the former guerrillas room for hope they would exceed the 15 percent of total votes diplomats and analysts had forecast.
"As of Saturday morning, the Maoists are leading in 56 of 102 constituencies currently being counted," election commission spokesman Laxman Bhattarai spokesman told AFP.
In the capital, hundreds of Maoist supporters staged impromptu victory rallies, waving hammer-and-sickle flags, shouting Maoist slogans and throwing red celebratory powder to celebrate their early wins.
"We're a new party and we don't have any experience in elections but the way things are working out we're very excited," said Rajkaji Maharajan, the 29-year-old Maoist victor in Kathmandu's Laliptur district.
"We're ready to lead the nation if people give us the mandate," he said.
The Maoists spent a decade fighting the national army in a deadly insurgency to topple the nation's monarchy that claimed at least 13,000 lives.
But in 2006 they signed up for peace with mainstream parties, and last Thursday's polls-the climax of the peace process-were held to elect a 601-seat assembly to rewrite the constitution and likely sack King Gyanendra and abolish the monarchy.
"It's a great moment for me to be a part of the Maoists' victory," said Ratna Maharajan, a 36-year-old grocery shop-owner.
"I hope they don't turn out to be like all the old parties," said the grocer, referring to the two biggest parties-the centrist Nepali Congress and left-of-centre Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist- Leninist) which is regarded as communist in name only.
The strong early showing by the Maoists was regarded as unexpected by observers.
"Of course it's a surprise," said a Western diplomat on condition of anonymity. "We were expecting around 10 to 20 percent, we heard they were unpopular, but the reality has turned out to be different."
Maoist warlord turned statesman Prachanda-whose nom-de-guerre means "the fierce one"-said in an interview in December 2006 he was willing to be president of a future republic "if the masses want to give me the responsibility."
The Maoists' transition from feared guerrillas to a mainstream party has not been smooth, and they came in for a barrage of criticism for their conduct in the poll build-up, accused of using threats and violence to intimidate voters.
The Maoists are still classed by Washington as foreign "terrorists" but they have promised to accept the poll results-if they consider them to be fair. "Given a choice we would like peace. Our form of struggle has changed," the ultra-leftist's second-in-command Baburam Bhattarai told AFP before the polls.
 

China's Hu hits back over Tibet crackdown
AFP, Boao

Chinese President Hu Jintao Saturday defended the crackdown on protests in Tibet and denied the disturbances were linked to human rights in his first public comments on the incident.
Hu told Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd the unrest was aimed purely at "splitting the motherland" and insisted Beijing's handling of unrest was its own affair, according to state media.
The clampdown has provoked a wave of anti-China demonstrations with activists targeting the Beijing Olympics torch relay as it passed through Europe and the United States this week.
"Our conflict with the Dalai clique is not an ethnic problem, not a religious problem, nor a human rights problem," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as saying at a regional forum here.
"It is a problem (of) either safeguarding national unification or splitting the motherland," he said on the southern island of Hainan.
"The Tibet problem is entirely an internal issue of China."
Exiled Tibetan leaders say Beijing's suppression of the rare protests, which began last month, left about 150 dead. Hu, whose officials say only that Tibetan "rioters" left 20 dead, maintained the response was justified.
"No responsible government will sit idle for such crimes, which gravely encroach human rights, gravely disrupt social order and gravely jeopardize the life and property security of the masses," he said.
China's communist rulers vehemently deny they are responsible for religious and cultural repression in Tibet, and insist their control of the region has benefited its devoutly Buddhist people.
The rare unrest has thrown an unwelcome spotlight on China ahead of this year's Beijing Games, with Olympics chief Jacques Rogge admitting the event was in "crisis" as protesters disrupted the torch relay.
Hu was Tibet's Communist Party chief from 1988 to 1992, a key step in his political rise. He said the door was open for talks with the Dalai Lama, the region's exiled spiritual leader.
"The barrier to contacts and talks does not lie on our side, but on the side of the Dalai Lama. If the Dalai Lama has the sincerity, he should put it into action," the president said.
"As long as the Dalai side stops activities splitting the motherland, stops activities scheming and instigating violence, and stops activities sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games, we are ready to continue contacts and talks with him at any time," Hu said.

Israeli army withdraws after Gaza raid kills seven
AFP, Gaza City

Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the army said, after a raid that left seven people dead, including a 10-year-old boy.
Palestinian medics said the toll from the operation rose to seven overnight when a militant from the armed wing of the Hamas movement died of his wounds. Another 27 people were wounded, with four in a serious condition.
Palestinians reported seeing several Israeli tanks rolling out of the territory before dawn, and the army confirmed that the operation had ended at 4:00 am local time (0100 GMT).
Israeli tanks and armoured bulldozers, backed by assault helicopters, had advanced one kilometre (about half a mile) into central Gaza early on Friday near the Bureij refugee camp in the south, drawing heavy fire from militants.
Israel has vowed to "settle the score" with the Islamist Hamas movement for a border attack that killed two Israeli civilians on Wednesday, ending a month of relative calm in and around Gaza.
Three smaller armed groups claimed responsibility for the attack, but Israel blames Hamas because it controls Gaza, where it ousted forces loyal to moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in June.
At least 387 people have been killed since Israel and the Palestinians formally relaunched peace talks at a US conference in November, the vast majority of them Gaza militants, according to an AFP tally.

NKorea to quietly acknowledge US nuke charges
AFP, Tokyo

North Korea has agreed with the United States to resolve a months-old standoff through a face-saving private acknowledgement of US allegations over its nuclear programmes, a report said Friday.
Pyongyang missed a deadline in a six-nation disarmament deal to declare all nuclear programmes by the end of last year. But the chief US and North Korean negotiators reported progress at a meeting Tuesday in Singapore.
Japan's Kyodo News, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources, said the two sides struck a tentative deal under which North Korea would privately acknowledge two US allegations-that it has a secret uranium programme and shared nuclear technology with Syria.
North Korea would submit a document to the other nations in the six-way talks that it "acknowledges" and takes "seriously" the two US assertions, which have been key sticking points, Kyodo News said.
But the document would not be made public, avoiding embarrassment for the communist state, which has steadfastly denied that it has proliferated or secretly enriched uranium.
North Korea has an acknowlegded plutonium programme, which it used to detonate an atom bomb in October 2006.
US President George W. Bush's administration is seen as considering the North Korea disarmament deal a key diplomatic success in its final months in office. Kyodo News said the agreement reached in Singapore was a first step in jump-starting the dormant six-nation talks, but quoted an unnamed Asian diplomat stressing it was "not a final deal."
"While there is movement in the process compared to the time when it was completely stalled, we have yet to reach a point where we can say when we could hold the next six-party talks," the diplomat was quoted as saying.
Kyodo News also said the United States had reiterated to North Korea it would remove it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism if the process moves forward.
A delisting would allow the impoverished state to seek multinational loans. But the move is steadfastly opposed by Japan, which has tense relations with Pyongyang due in part to the regime's past kidnappings of Japanese civilians.
The six-nation talks involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

 No plans to attack Iran: Bush
AFP, Crawford

US President George W. Bush said Friday he has no intention of attacking Iran, in an interview in which he also gave some advice to his successor on how to deal with the Islamic Republic.
Questioned during an interview with ABC television whether his intention was to not attack Iran, Bush replied: "Exactly"-although he refused to rule out the use of force altogether.
"I have always said all options need to be on the table, but my first effort is to solve this issue diplomatically," he said from his Texas ranch.