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Leading News

Lack of fertilisers and power affecting farming
Staff Correspondent

Acute fertiliser crisis, worsening power situation and crisis of diesel during the peak cultivation season specially boro, is creating frustrations for farmers in achieving the target of boro production. "Serious fertilizer crisis now prevailing in the country is unlikely to improve in the near future due to lack of coordination and mismanagement in distribution, gradual fall in production at fertilizer factories and smuggling out of fertiliser," a reliable source told The Bangladesh Today.
The farmers of the northern region are the biggest users of fertilizer but no fertilizer factory has been set up there. As a result the farmers of this region have to face serious crisis of fertiliser during the peak season every year.
"To face the country’s food needs, government has laid its highest importance on boro cultivation and some 45 lakh hectors of land have been brought under boro cultivation with a view to produce 1.45 crore metric tons of rice. For the current season farmers need some 28 lakh metric tons of fertiliser. Out of 28 lakh metric tons, 15 lakhs metric tons of fertiliser have been sanctioned for boro cultivation," the sources pointed out.
The country’s seven fertiliser factories have a production capacity of 15 lakh metric tons against the demand for 36.40 lakh fertiliser per year. The rest 14 lakh metric tons of fertiliser is imported and also procured from the country’s export- oriented Karnafuli Fertiliser Factory in Chittagong.
"The farmers of the country will have to face this situation for an indefinite period if no new factories are set up soon. And the fertiliser crisis may intensify as most of the factories are old. Most of the seven fertilizer factories set up 30 to 40 years ago are now worn out and in bad shape. On the other hand, sometimes the factories experience low pressure of gas; as a result the production is hampered," the source said.
Fenchuganj TSP Fertilizer Factory with a production capacity of 80 thousand metric tons was established in 1961, Ghorashal with 4 lakh metric tons in 1970, Ashuganj Zia Fertilizer with 4.25 lakh metric tons in 1981, Palash Fertilizer Factory with 85 thousand metric tons in 1985, Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Factories with 5.15 lakh metric tons in 1987, Jamuna Fertilizer Factory with 5.5 lakh metric tons in 1991 and TSP Complex with 65 thousand metric tons TSP and 1.25 lakh metric tons SSP in 1974.
The present demand for Urea is 23.60 lakh metric tons, TSP-4.5 lakh, SSP-20 thousand, DAP-2 lakh, MOP 3.25 lakh, NPKS-50 thousand, Zipsum-1.20 lakh, Zink-15 thousand each year.
"The terrible power situation will deteriorate day by day as most of the power plants are old. Many power units of different power plants in the country with a generation capacity of 1500mw of electricity remain out of order," a source in the Power Development Board said. During the last few months power situation has worsened and the country has been experiencing about 800-1000 mw of electricity shortfall daily officially. On Wednesday, the PDB generated 3800 mw electricity against the demand for 4300 mw," the PDB official said.
The officials of Rural Electrification Board (REB), Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco) and the PDB said the actual demand is 5,500 mw. As a result the country is experiencing about 2400 mw of electricity daily. In the capital, frequent power disruption and loadshedding is also seriously affecting the city dwellers, educational institutions and business establishments as the supply of electricity falls short by about 700mw to 800daily.
Meanwhile, thousands of small and medium scale industries at different places including the old part of the city are facing an uphill task to maintain required output level due to random power failure, sources said.
Due to power shortage, the factories may not be able to meet the production target, likely to cause them losses in millions of taka, they added. Not only are business activities of these areas paralysed, but also the normal activities of thousands of people are being disrupted due to frequent power outage. Besides, the farmers are also facing diesel crisis during the current dry season hitting boro cultivations badly, sources in the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) said. "Bangladesh may face shortage of diesel during the dry season in the face of additional demand and probable halt in supply from one of the existing three sources," the sources said.

HC adjourns EC-BNP dialogue hearing
BDNEWS24, Dhaka

The High Court has adjourned the hearing until Monday on twin writ petitions that challenge the Election Commission's invitation to BNP's disputed secretary general Hafizuddin Ahmed for electoral reforms talks.
The HC bench of justices Mirza Hossain Haider and Mamunur Rahman heard the petitions on Wednesday.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's chief counsel TH Khan told the court that the BNP standing committee had appointed its secretary general through a "coup on Oct 29 last year".
"The standing committee members present at the meeting were there because former finance minister M Saifur Rahman invited them," Khan said. "There were also two unidentified individuals at the meeting."
"The meeting that day failed to fulfil the quorum, even though the two outsiders forced the standing committee members to add their signatures," said Khan quoting the four defendants of the writ petitions also members of the standing committee.
They are Dr RA Goni, M Shamsul Islam, Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui and Khandaker Mahbub Uddin. The hearing was originally scheduled for Feb 12.
The EC originally invited Hafizuddin to dialogue, slated for Nov 22. On Nov 18 last year, the HC stayed the EC's letter of invitation to Hafizuddin after Khaleda filed a writ petition challenging the invite.
The court asked the EC, six members of the BNP standing committee, and Hafizuddin to explain why the invitation should not be declared illegal.
They were also asked by the court to clarify why Khandaker Delwar Hossain, the secretary general appointed by the BNP chairperson, should not be invited to the electoral reform talks.
Former Chhatra Dal leader Nasiruddin Ahmed filed the second petition challenging the EC's invitation.

  Number of killings rising alarmingly in city
UNB, Dhaka

The incidence of killings is on an alarming rise in the capital city as three bodies, including of a minor girl, were recovered from four areas of Pallabi, Badda, Motijheel and Sabujbagh within a span of six hours since 9am on Wednesday.
Police said they recovered the dead body of Priti Rani Sarker, 7, daughter of Pradip Chandra Sarker and a class-one student of Mirpur Senanibas Government Primary School, from inside a cowshed adjacent to his house at about 9am.
Police suspected that the schoolgirl might have been strangulated by assailants following their past enmity with her family.
Family sources said Priti had been missing since Tuesday noon. "After hectic efforts, we found her body in the cowshed and informed police," they were quoted as saying. But they could not identify who are involved in the murder.
Body of another unidentified girl, aged about 20, was found in a sand-field of Aftabnagar Project under Badda thana at about 10am. The young girl was wearing black salwar and kamiz. Police suspected she was also strangulated as a black mark was found in her neck.
Meanwhile, two sliced parts of an unknown young man were unearthed from Sabujbagh and Motijheel areas in the city in the afternoon.
Police said the upper part of the body of the victim was dumped in a travel bag on the third floor of an under-construction building at Kadamtoli under Sabujbagh thana at about 2pm while Motijheel police retrieved its lower part from Indrapur rail-crossing at about 2:30pm.However, motives behind these heinous killings could not be ascertained immediately.
All the bodies were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy. Separate cases were filed with the police stations.

Faulty Design-BJMB
Staff Correspondent

The Government will appeal to the International Court (IC) against the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company for compensation for faulty design of the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge. "If necessary we will go to the IC for compensation from Hyundai for faulty design of the Jamuna Bridge", said Communications Adviser Ghulam Quader while briefing newsmen at the secretariat on Wednesday. Asked when the Government will go to the IC, the adviser said, "We have to ensure at first that there was a faulty design in constructing the bridge". In reply to another query, he said, "We will certainly get compensation if it is proved to the IC that the design was faulty".
The bridge was constructed at a cost of around Tk 4,000 crore by the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company of South Korea under the ‘design and build’ contract in keeping with the criteria prepared by RPT-NEDECO-BCL, the consultant for the project. According to the contract, the Hyundai Company will be responsible for any kind of faults in the design till 2013. Following the cracks that have appeared in the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge since its construction, the Government selected M/S. Angel Lazaro and Associates as consultant firm to find out the causes for the cracks. Besides finding out the causes of the cracks, the firm will also suggest possible remedial measures along with design, specification and work methodology, preparing tender documents for the selection of the contractor for repairs, estimating the cost of repairs and other related works and also supervise repair works and certifying job completion.
As per agreement, Angel Lazaro would complete the work in two phases within a year and a half from the date of signing the agreement. Earlier, the Communications Ministry formed a seven-member committee headed by Jamilur Reza Choudhury to find out the cause of the cracks. After investigation and analysis, it was observed that the cause of the cracks in the bridge is Design Deficiency, Jamilur Reza Chowdhury mentioned. On March 2006, Hyundai Company was apprised of the cause of the cracks. Accordingly, after visiting the crack spots of the bridge, the Company submitted a report to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority. Denying the faulty design, the company says the main cause of the cracks is Temperature Differential. But the designer must recommends attaching sufficient Temperature Reinforcement in the structure before making any kind of design for a structure. The responsibility falls on the shoulder of the company if the designer does not recommend sufficient Reinforcement or the contractor does not work properly.

Bibiyana, Sirajganj power plant projects
Monopolistic consortium scares away other bidders
UNB, Dhaka

The move to set up two large power plants at Bibiyana and Sirajganj on top priority basis is likely to go away as some pre-qualified bidders formed a monopolistic consortium for bidding while others are showing little interest in the projects due to Power Cell’s policies.
Malaysia-based Powertek company has joined hands with Korean Kepco and Siemens Project Ventures and has already asked the Power Cell of the Energy and Power Ministry of their intention to participate in the bid as a consortium.
Sources in the industry said that as a result of this new move by the Malaysian company, there would be virtually no competitiveness in the bidding for the two large power plants - up to 450 Megawatt each - being planned to meet the fast growing demand for electricity across the country.
The country has now a total capacity of producing nearly 4,000 MW, but the demand for electricity is growing fast taking into consideration its burgeoning industrial sector, electricity needs for irrigation and expanding urban construction sector.
Industry analysts feared the Powertek-led consortium will have an easy walkover to clinch both the Bibiyana and Sirajganj projects, particularly when two other pre-qualified bidders -_ Chevron and AES _- both US-based, have reportedly shown their apathy in the bidding contest due to Power Cell’s allowance to form monopolistic consortium by Powertek.
AES had earlier set up two large power plants -_ the 450 MW Meghnaghat and 360 MW Haripur -_ and already sold them to Powertek, which now wants to control the power generation market in Bangladesh, in this case by forming unholy alliance, the sources observed.
AES appears to have lost interest on bidding for Bibiyana and Sirajganj, the sources indicated citing that the AES team did not even visit the Bibiyana site before leaving the country recently.
The situation with regard to the two proposed power plants at Bibiyana and Sirajganj may further become complex and troublesome as another potential bidder, which was declared unqualified for bidding on ‘flimsy grounds’, is contemplating to take their case to court.
Such litigation, observers feared, might delay the implementation of the two projects. Usually, it takes two to three years to put in place a large land-based power plant.
The said potential bidder, Summit Industrial and Mercantile Corporation (SIMC) in partnership with GE Llc had applied for pre-qualification but was made unqualified citing some minor shortcomings in its application.
It was first said that Summit did not submit its financial statement in accordance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) and was designated a "Conditionally Qualified Bidder" for Bibiyana project, asking it to submit its financial statements properly certified by a local major audit firm affiliated with any international audit company.
Sources said SIMC duly submitted the same providing all the company’s financial performance for past three years, its debt:equity ratio and the net worth of the company i.e. US$122 million, as certified by SF Ahmed & Co, an associate of Ernst & Young.
But the Power Cell, citing evaluation by IFC (International Finance Corporation), said Summit did not have the net worth of US$100 million, taking into account only the company’s ‘historical value’.
Summit on its part maintained that the company has grown and its present net value is worth US$122 million which was based on the audited certification made by SF Ahmed & Co. in accordance with IAS as per Section H.2.2 of the Prequalification Document.
Summit has requested the Power Cell to review its decision and make the company qualified for bidding for the proposed Bibiyana and Sirajganj power plants on the basis of its latest submitted papers.
Industry observers said Summit has a proven track record, having put in place on a fast-track basis the first barge-mounted power plant and a number of other smaller generation units across the country totaling 230 MW.
Summit was earlier awarded the Sirajganj project, which was cancelled by the then prime minister Khaleda Zia. At that time IFC, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank took a strong position with the government of Bangladesh to allow Summit to build the power plant.

Back Page

Exports to EU
Huge opportunities for BD trade expansion

Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh should formulate strategy to fully exploit the enormous scope for the country's export promotion in the European Union(EU) member states.
This was stated by speakers at a seminar on "Export Integration and Entrepreneur Development" organized by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on Wednesday.
There is still huge opportunities for our trade expansion in the EU member countries, they said the export earnings of Bangladesh have already increased significantly as a result of implementation of export-led growth strategy of Bangladesh.
Duty-free access and other special facilities like Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) offered by our major trading partners have added a new dimension to the country's foreign trade, they observed.
The EU member states approved EU's generalised system of preferences (GSP) on June 23, 2005 with the goal of giving additional priorities to the least developed countries (LDCs).
Calling upon the government to take necessary steps to properly utilize the GSP facilities, they said, the new GSP has been simplified and the provision of the "Everything But Arms (EBA) agreement allows duty-free and quota-free access for all products, except arms and ammunitions, to foreign states from the least developed countries.
Speaking at the seminar EU ambassador in Bangladesh Dr. Stefan Frowein said the EU is the largest trading partner of Bangladesh. Under the "Trade-Related Technical Assistance" (TRTA), Bangladesh received around 63 million Euros worth assistance during the period from 2002 to 2006.
From the year 2007 to 2013, Bangladesh will receive around 80 million Euros in the field of trade-related assistance, the EU envoy added.
Ten hand books on ten different topics were launched in the seminar in order to enable the local businessmen to understand the rules and regulations for different international trade agreements so that they can play an important role in promoting export.
The books were published under an EU-funded project titled " Support to Export Integration and Entrepreneur Development".
Project director of the FBCCI Mir Muniruzzaman, FBCCI secretary general Syed Jamaluddin also spoke at the seminar.

Energy Sector

Govt revising energy policy
Staff Correspondent

The government is working on revising the country's energy policy to keep pace with the growing demand of power and energy and the draft on coal policy is expected to be completed soon. This was stated by special Assistant to Chief Adviser for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Professor M Tamim at a seminar in the capital on Wednesday.
He said, "We should go for coal mining immediately and the government would take the decision regarding coal mining considering the national interests, But before taking any decision, it must include the people with the complete process of coal mining living in the areas." He was speaking as chief guest in a seminar on 'Development of Bangladesh's Coal: Strategy and Method' jointly organized by country's only magazine in energy sector 'Energy and Power' and UNDP at the CIRDAP auditorium yesterday with its editor Mollah Amzad Hossain in the chair. He said the Government would send a concrete proposal to Myanmar requesting it to export gas to Bangladesh to meet its growing demand soon. "Before going for coal mining in any area, the concerned authorities must pay land subsidies to the victims of that particular area and besides they have to pay for other social and environment casualties," the Special Assistant observed.
Professor Tamim said, "We may have differences of opinion, but we must reach a consensus soon considering the maximum benefits to the country and in democracy all types of problems are solved through dialogue." Regarding the life threat given to eminent economist Anu Mohammad for his stance against the government policy to export coal, Tamim said, "It is very unfortunate that somebody has threatened Anu Mohammad only for his different opinion." He also said, "If everybody wants to get electricity by the end of 2020 as per the Government plan, then the coal could be the only option which can be used in producing power and in this regard the policy makers will have to take immediate decision to reach that target."
Dr Jayanta Bhattacharya, Department of Mining Engineering, IIT, Kharagpur, India, present the keynote paper where he emphasized on ensuring corporate social responsibility, transaction efficiency of material and money and leveraging before going to initiate any new coal mining business in any area.
DU Professor Badrul Imam said the country would face a serious energy crisis if the Government fails to take immediate steps and it should also take immediate steps to ensure the smooth power supply in the coming days to use in the agricultural purpose. He said, "As we have not enough hydro-power, so Bangladesh can look forward to establishing power plant to meet the growing demand of power by using coal “.

Japan to support to BD Projects
Staff Correspondent

"Japan will be happy to support clean energy projects in Bangladesh including nuclear energy," said the Chairman of the Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary League, Taro Aso MP to Foreign Advise Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdury when he called on him on Wednesday at the Japanese Parliament (Diet) office, said a Foreign Ministry press release issued to the press yesterday.
Taro Aso, a former Foreign Minister, who had just assumed the Chairmanship of the Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary League, the previous day, added that "while there were some reservations in Japan about anything nuclear, the Japanese people are persuaded that the time for nuclear energy has come"
Taro Aso praised the current reform process in Bangladesh, where "there has been no evidence of severe violence of any kind and no act of terrorism". He added that he would work for stronger Japan Bangladesh links.
Also present at the meeting were two others Japanese Members of Parliament, Kousuke Ito, and Akihiro Nishimura.
Earlier Iftekhar Chowdhury held a meeting at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation with its President Koji Tanami. They discussed the possibility of Japanese support for the proposed Padma Bridge, among other things.
"Support to the Padma bridge would be very much in line with the Japanese philosophy to assist infra-structural development, and hopefully will be forthcoming," the Foreign Adviser said to the media afterwards.
He also discussed Post Disaster Reconstruction with the Bank President for which Japan is providing US $ 60 million in soft loan terms. On both occasions Ambassador Ashraf-ud-Doula of Bangladesh to Japan, Shahidul Islam Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador Masayuki Inoue Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh were present.

Crime Watch

Five dead bodies recovered in city
Staff Correspondent
At least four people including a minor girl were murdered in separate incidents in the capital on Wednesday.
According to sources, Priti Rani Sarkar, 6, daughter of Pradip Chandra Sarkar and a student of Mirpur Senanibas Government Primary School was picked up by a gang of miscreants at about 1.30 pm while she was going to pond for taking bath on Tuesday. Later, the gang violated her and murdered her.
On information, police recovered the body at about 9 am from inside a cowshed adjacent to his house at Pallabi in Mirpur. According to police, the girl might have been killed over family-feud.
Pradip Chandra Sarkar lodged a case with Pallabi police station but police is yet arrest anyone in this connection.
In another incident, an unidentified woman aged about 20, was strangulated to death by miscreants at Aftab Nagar in the early hours of Wednesday. The woman might have been violated before killing her, police said.
Besides, police recovered two pieces of body of an unidentified young man from Sabujbagh and Motijheel areas at about 11:30 am.
Police said the upper part of the body was recovered from a ground floor of an under-construction building at Kadamtoli under Sabujbagh police station and Motijheel thana police recovered its lower part from Indrapur rail-crossing.
Meanwhile, Dhanmondi thana police recovered an unidentified dead body from in front of New Market Second Gate at about 1:30 pm. Police suspected the man might have been killed elsewhere in the capital and the body was left in the area at dead of night.
Police recovered the bodies and sent these to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital for autopsy. Cases were lodged.

Fake ACC official held
Staff Correspondent
One fake Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) official was arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from Khilhket in the capital on Tuesday night.
According to sources, acting on a tip-off, a patrol team of RAB-1 led by assistant superintendent of police, Abdul Momen went Zoar Sahara area at about 9:30 pm and arrested Majharul Haque Manju. The arrestee was collecting toll from innocent people introducing him as an ACC official, according RAB sources.
Earlier, the arrestee took Tk 2 lakh as toll from Nasir Ullah, a government official in the name of preparing wealth statement. Following the confessional statement, Nasir Ullah informed RAB-1 official of the matter. Besides, in another, the RAB members arrested Anwar Hossain, 27, from Azimpur bus stand at about 6 pm while he was taking toll from vendors identifying him a RAB official.
Cases were lodged in this connection.

Husbands to die for killing wives
UNB, Dinajpur
A tribunal here Wednesday convicted a man and sentenced him to death for killing his wife in 1999.
The convict was identified as Abdul Hannan Shah (37), of Gouripur village in Chirirbandar upazila.
According to the prosecution, advocate M Siddik Ali of Ganeshtala area in the town married off his daughter Nasrin Begum (27), to Abdul Hannan in 1997 with a promise to give dowry.
Soon after the marriage Hannan started torturing Nasrin demanding the dowry. Later, on July 18, 1999 Hannan following a quarrel over the issue beat Nasrin mercilessly, leaving her dead on the spot. A case was filed against Hannan and four others.
After examining the records and witnesses, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Badshah Alamgir delivered the verdict in the crowded courtroom acquitting four others.
UNB from Jhenidah adds: A court here on Monday convicted a man and sentenced him to death for killing his wife for dowry five years ago. The condemned convict was identified Abdul Aziz Mistri of Dora village in Kotchandpur upazila of the district.
According to the prosecution, Aziz married Lipi Khatun, daughter of Ishaq Ali of the same village, and took Tk 7,000 as dowry from her father. On August 30, 2003, Aziz again pressed Lipi for more dowry money and on her refusal he beat her mercilessly and at one stage hit her on the head with a trick, leaving her senseless.
Later, Lipi died on way to local hospital. After the incident, Aziz went into hiding. A case was filed.

2 snatchers busted
BSS, Chittagong
Members of Chittagong Metropolitan Police here arrested two snatchers after conducting
a drive in the port city on Tuesday.
The terrorist were identified as Khairul Basar (40) and Younus (20) hailed from Chokoria upazila of the Cox's bazar district.
Police said, one Habibullah, informed to the Detective Branch police that a group of snatchers snatched a Passport with Visa of Saudia Arabir and a ticket from his brother Mawolana Salim from GEC crossing area yesterday.
Police said Salim, went at Shah Amanat Market area where the snatchers detained him (Salim) and demanded Taka 30 thousand as ransom. Being informed the police raided the Saha Amanat Market area and arrested two miscreants from the spot. Police rescued Salim and recovered his Passport and ticket from their possession.

Man gets 10-yr jail in extortion case
UNB, Chandpur
A local BNP leader was Tuesday sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a district court in an extortion case. The convict was identified as Abdul Jalil Sarder (40), secretary of BNP Haimchar upazila unit.
According to the prosecution, Jalil Sarder demanded a toll of Tk 40,000 from the authority of Haimchar Adarsha Shishu Niketan on May 2006 after Chandpur Zila Parisad anctioned a grant of Tk 75,000 for the school's repairing and renovation works.
Later, the founder of the school and chief of the school development committee Mazharul Islam handed over a cheque of Tk 40,000 to Jalil Sarder on June 18, 2006.
After examining the records and witnesses District and Sessions Judge Ranjan Kumar Saha pronounced the verdict in the crowded courtroom.

949 nabbed, 24 firearms recovered
UNBN, Bagerhat
Police arrested some 949 people and recovered 24 firearms, huge bullets and contraband drugs in the last 27 days in their special drive in the district till Wednesday.
Police Super of the District AKM Shahidur Rahman said the drive started on February 1 to nab the miscreants and recover arms, ammunition and drugs. Over 800 police took part in the drive, he added. Of the arrested, 676 were wanted in various criminal cases, 37 fugitive convicts, seven listed criminals and 170 were arrested in regular cases and 59 others under various acts.
The seized arms included nine rifles, three revolvers, eight pipe guns and four LGs. They also seized 206 rounds of bullet, 180 small packets of heroin and 700 grams of hemp.

Editorial

Human Rights

Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says : "Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national efforts and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each state, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and free development of his personality". That in a nut shall explains the ethical and moral goals of a nation-state or a state. We had occasion to touch upon the ethical and moral goals of our State in one of our editorials published on 24 February 2008, title "Three Questions Regarding Sustainability of Reforms"; we would like to continue in that strain bringing to the fore certain specific issues which affect children, women and other vulnerable groups in our State.
If one walks out into any street, bazaar, bus depot, railway station and river port anywhere is Bangladesh, one is immediately accosted by a miserable procession of humanity calling themselves beggars; they include children, women, the physically and mentally handicapped and old people. In Dhaka alone there are at least 75,000 beggars who are all managed and organized by 'gangs' and 'associations' who have made it their business to smoothly exploit human poverty and wretchedness for large monetary gains. The networks of these "gangs' extend throughout the Country and includes local law-enforcement personnel and hooligans who enforce 'rules', collect tolls and ensure 'discipline'. The gangs also carryout 'recruitment' drives whose main pray are abandoned and the very poor children and women. Once 'procured' the more attractive of the girls and women are sold to brothels or are hired out as street prostitutes while the children are drugged, physically abused and often disfigured by cutting off limbs and sent out into the streets for begging. A large mass of very poor physically and mentally handicapped streaming into the cities from the villages in search of livelihood, are also taken in hand by this network of beggars.
It will come as no surprise to our civil society, to our politicians and to our governments that such things happen to a considerable portion of our population and yet everyone ignores this ignominy considering that in a Country with limited resources and a large population such things will happen. By refusing to do anything about it we, our society and our governments are condoning activities which blatantly violate our sense of humanity, our culture and civilization; we violate our sense of morality and ethics which we love to vociferously preach but never practice; we violate our religion which we hold so dear that we are ready to kill or die for it and finally we violate the very essence of our Nation-State hood of which we are all so proud. We glorify the martyrs of our Language Movement and our War of Liberation and yet we allow our living generations to be reduced to animality and to a slow and miserable death. How can our Society and Nation prosper with such glaring contradictions within itself. We need to deeply look within ourselves and redefine our concepts of Nation-statehood, we need to redefine our concepts of prosperity and progress so that it touches the most vulnerable, the most poor and the least empowered otherwise all our reforms, all our elections, our politics and our Emergencies will have no sustainability, little validity and no relevance.

The Jute Sector

It is a good news indeed that the jute products are now in high demand in the global markets. The demand has increased as jute products are environment-friendly and this has raised the country's hope of regaining the lost glory. According to a TBT report, although the jute sector was ignored by the government in recent years, export of jute goods has earned Taka 267 crores during the last six months.
There was a time when jute was considered to be the 'golden fiber' as it used to infuse fresh blood to the national economy by fetching huge foreign exchanges. But the glory of jute faded gradually due mainly to the mismanagement of the jute sector by the successive governments. Farmers lost interests in cultivation of jute for want of fair price and production fell drastically, exports decreased in the face of tough competition specially from India and many jute mills were closed paralysing the jute industry. Thousands of workers at the jute mills and jute fields were rendered jobless.
It is against this backdrop that the news of high demand of jute goods in the international markets has come in. It is now the responsibility of the government to pay proper attention to the ailing jute sector to revive and revitalize it and let it make substantial contribution to the national economy by providing jobs for the workers and earning valuable foreign exchanges through exports of jute and jute products. Let us not forget that millions of our farmers and agricultural labourers still depend mainly on jute cultivation.

Analysis

Scrap “battle of ideas” Talk

The United States should recognize the true nature of the terrorist threat, identify its root causes, and partner with Muslims to eliminate them.

Aysha Chowdhry and Andrew Masloski

Washington, DC - Notably absent from the presidential primary campaign is serious discussion on how to implement an effective long-term strategy for protecting the United States from future terrorist acts. Many political leaders in the past have embraced winning “the battle of ideas” against Muslim extremists as the most important component of any strategy, yet this ubiquitous catchphrase stems from an erroneous and counterproductive framework for understanding extremists like Bin Laden.
The framework assumes that groups like Al Qaeda possess a coherent and compelling interpretation of Islam that the United States must counter to prevent Muslims from adopting it. This flawed understanding should be replaced with a more nuanced approach based on the true nature of the terrorist threat.
The “battle of ideas” approach is counterproductive for two important reasons: first, it encourages the concept of a Manichean struggle raging between two equally powerful and opposing world views, in effect legitimizing the extremists’ understanding of the struggle; and second, it overstates the extent to which Bin Laden’s world view constitutes a viable theological alternative for the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims. These zealous religious views are not only alien to most Muslims living today, but have also earned a place on the fringe of the history of Islamic intellectual thought.
For an effective strategy, the United States needs to take three important steps. The first is de-coupling Islam and terrorism. The 9/11 Commission Report states that “the enemy is not just ‘terrorism’… it is the threat posed by Islamist terrorism.” While it is true that America faces a significant threat from people who identify themselves as Muslims and dress their grievances in religious terms, this does not mean that such people are perpetrators of “Islamist terrorism”. The phrase implies that Islam sanctions terrorism and that Muslims are more likely to commit terrorist acts. “Terrorism in the name of Islam” is more accurate.
The second step requires recognition that most grievances expressed by extremists like Bin Laden are secular and political in nature. They are angry about what they perceive as the exploitation of Muslims at the hands of the United States. They enjoy sympathy from Muslims who perceive the United States – and the West in general – as perpetuators of an unjust global political-economic system. As many have already noted, the attacks of 9/11 targeted American financial and military complexes and not Western religious symbols. Though the United States should not accept at face value the legitimacy of Al Qaeda grievances, we cannot effectively prevent terrorist acts from taking place without a better understanding of their ultimately profane roots.
The third step involves ensuring the United States actively works for the promotion of human dignity. US policy makers should make a concerted effort to understand the circumstances of the countries of the Muslim world that cause a sense of deprivation and humiliation among their populations, as these factors contribute to sympathy for Al Qaeda’s political aims. Washington conventional wisdom maintains that Muslims need to believe in an alternative vision for their economic and political future, though the vast majority of Muslims need no convincing that economic prosperity and political freedom are good things.
Muslims share the same vision held by humanity everywhere – a secure future for their children and a life defined by dignity and liberty. Thus, policy makers should approach Muslims as partners on the path toward bettering livelihoods in Muslim societies. If the United States continues to be implicated in the social, political and economic underdevelopment of much of the Muslim world, Al Qaeda will continue to gain followers who are blind to everything but the perceived destructive effects of US hegemony.
In the end, focusing on winning the “battle of ideas” obscures our view of what must be done to prevent future terrorist attacks. The United States should recognize the true nature of the terrorist threat, identify its root causes, and partner with Muslims to eliminate them.

(Aysha Chowdhry and Andrew Masloski work for the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.
Source: Common Ground News Service. Copyright permission is granted for publication.)

 Enforce Building Code

Proper implementation of the Building Code has become imperative in the absence of which it is very easy for any builder to get away with a faulty design and use of low quality construction materials.

Sayed Eqbal Rezvi

Bangladesh National Building Code was issued through a gazette notification on November 15, 2006 but the government is yet to appoint any building official or delegate any agency to bring the code into practice -which is necessary for ensuring safe construction. It is really surprising that the government has not adopted any mechanism to enforce the building code properly, causing accidents to occur at the construction sites and allowing flaws in building, construction and demolition.
The provision in the code envisages that the government must designate authorities and appoint required number of building officials to enforce the code. The government’s Nagar Unnayan Committee headed by the Works Secretary complained to the media that he raised the issue of implementation of the Building Code at every meeting of the Nagar Unnayan Committee but his demand for implementation of the Code does not form part of the minutes of the meetings. This is really very intriguing. It may be noted that the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) is a complete set of codes to ensure sound construction, accountability of the professionals concerned, protection of environment and safe demolition. The code provides all the safety concerns like fire hazard, stability and strength of a building and quality of construction. Deaths have occurred due to non-compliance with the Building Code in both construction and demolition works in the city. At least four deaths have been reported at construction sites in Dhaka city over a span of four months.
To mention about a few deaths I consider necessary. An under graduate student Selim Hossain died on September 14 last year in Gopibagh in the city as bricks of a wall fell on him from the fourth-floor of an under construction six story building. Ashraf Ali, a pedestrian died in a similar accident on September 16, 2007 in Lalbagh area. A construction worker, Taslim died on November 23 falling off an under-construction building on R.K. Mission Road.
How intriguing that use of very poor quality construction materials caused the structural failure of a six-story sweeper colony building constructed by Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) on May 25 last year in the city’s Dayaganj area within a week of construction. An apartment building in Dhanmondi built by a known real estate builder developed cracks in the structure a couple of months back which was constructed two years ago.
Proper implementation of the Building Code has become imperative in the absence of which it is very easy for any builder to get away with a faulty design and use of low quality construction materials. Prof Sekandar Ali of Civil Engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) is on record to have said that the Building Code is essential for making strong, safe and environmentally sound buildings. Only then quality construction can be ensured.
Let us recall the tragedy in Rangs Bhaban demolition which was mainly due to non-compliance with the building code. At least 11 demolition workers died when trapped under debris as floors of the Rangs Bahabn Building caved in at night of November 8, 2007. Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Vice-Chancellor BRAC University and an expert in civil engineering said, “There are detailed provisions on demolition -work in chapter four of the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) but every sentence of the code regarding demolition has been violated in the case of Rangs Bhaban”.
It is learnt that the Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Public Works is to place a proposal to the ministry on how to ensure proper compliance with the BNBC but it remains to be placed.
There is a proposal to designate Executive Engineers of Public Works Department (PWD) as the building officials to monitor compliance with the BNBC in each of PWD’s engineering division. How far this will be feasible and beneficial, only time can tell. Actually Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) must perform the job of ensuring compliance with BNBC in the capital as it is directly involved in the development of the city. It is the Works Ministry which must delegate and appoint building officials to enforce the code.
A building official as per BNBC provision should be a technical hand like engineer, architect and planner and delegated full authority not only to monitor a construction process but also to approve building design. According to the code, professionals comprising civil engineers, architects and planners involved with any construction work will be legally liable and accountable for any lapses in the professional duty and responsibility.
The building code has to be updated every five year. The Building Construction Act, 1953 amended in 2006 provides for punishment with seven years imprisonment or a fine of Tk 50,000 or both in case of violation of the BNBC and the Building Construction Rules of 2006.
Any law -which is not enforced in the desired manner, becomes ineffective and the builders take full advantage of the laxity and negligence on the part of enforcing authority. What is needed most now is proper enforcement of the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) with all sincerity and fairness. In this connection a pertinent question arises regarding construction spree in other urban and rural areas where builders and individuals are constructing multi-story buildings without approval of plans and designs. The Public Works and Housing Ministry should give due thought to this as Bangladesh is also prone to earthquakes and high tides. The ministry should in right earnest form local technical committees where no organization like Rajuk exists to make a survey of unauthorized constructions and enforce the building code without any let or hindrance. Violators of the code must not be spared and all efforts concentrated to stop unauthorized constructions. The situation brooks no delay.

(The author is a senior Journalist & Columnist).

 Cold Warriors Do A Flip

To them, a world free of nuclear weapons is a distant destination. "The goal of a world free of nuclear weapons is like the top of a very tall mountain", they said.

Shyam Saran

George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn have little in their distinguished careers that would point to a strong advocacy of nuclear disarmament.
On the contrary, their preoccupation as public servants was to maintain US nuclear deterrence against its Cold War adversary, the Soviet Union. They dismissed the goal of nuclear disarmament as fantasy.
And yet today, these same veterans of the Cold War are arguing forcefully for putting nuclear disarmament back on the inter-national agenda.
In two important articles they wrote in the Wall Street Journal last year and in January this year, they call for a global effort to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons, prevent their spread into potentially dangerous hands by strengthening non-proliferation and technology denial regimes and eventually end their threat to the world through their total elimination.
However, to them, a world free of nuclear weapons is a distant destination. "The goal of a world free of nuclear weapons is like the top of a very tall mountain", they said.
The acknowledgement by four leading Cold War personalities that we must, once again, put a nuclear weapon-free world on the international agenda is welcome. The authors have referred approvingly to Rajiv Gandhi's Action Plan for Nuclear Disarmament whose 20th anniversary we will be celebrating in June this year.
India's position on nuclear disarmament has been remarkably consistent. Even in May 1998, when India declared itself to be a nuclear weapon state, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee reaffirmed India's conviction that a world without nuclear weapons would enhance India's security and the security of the world at large.
Laudable as it is, the initiative of Shultz & Co does not go far enough in responding to the compelling nature and the urgency of the challenge the world confronts today. Rather than consigning the goal of nuclear disarmament to "the top of a very tall mountain", the need of the hour is to bring it down into plain sight.
What is different in the nuclear landscape today? The world does not need more states with nuclear weapons. But the danger of proliferation to additional states pales in comparison with the new and much greater risks posed by the clandestine acquisition by terrorists, particularly of jehadi persuasion, of nuclear weapons and fissile material.
Proliferation to additional states, it may be argued, could perhaps be dealt with through imposition of sanctions, technology-denial and through nuclear deterrence.
They will not work when dealing with non-state actors and terrorist groups. The authors fail to distinguish between these two different kinds of threats. A different approach is required to deal with this enhanced threat.
Making nuclear disarmament a distant objective will fail to mobilise the kind of broad and effective international cooperation required to deal with the new order of nuclear threat the world faces.
There is the risk that the renewed focus on nuclear disarmament, without an assurance of an early and time-bound elimination of nuclear weapons, may well become a further pretext for the imposition of even more restrictive and discriminatory technology denial regimes.
These will inevitably target mainly developing nations. The latter's ability to turn to nuclear energy to enhance their energy security may also be adversely affected.
To forestall this, India should join like-minded countries to shape international discourse towards a global consensus based on the following key elements.
First, the threat of nuclear terrorism can be dealt with effectively only through the earliest possible elimination of nuclear weapons, with the US and Russia, holding the largest arsenals, taking the lead.
This will enable the adoption of effective measures, on a global scale, to ensure strict control over fissile material and incorporate universally applicable verification procedures. The new consensus should permit the sharing of information and cooperative enforcement without which our efforts will have limited success.
Second, the threat from so-called "rogue states" with nuclear capability and that from non-state actors cannot be dealt with as a single category. Nuclear terrorism threatens all states alike and they should be mobilised to confront it collectively.
Third, we need to acknowledge that a clandestine market, of the A Q Khan variety, is what could enable terrorist groups to acquire fissile material or even nuclear explosives. Driving this clandestine market is the permanent incentive for additional states, NPT members or others, to break into the self-created exclusive club of nuclear weapon states.
The NPT and technology denial regimes may retard proliferation. They are unlikely to prevent it. Only nuclear disarmament will remove this incentive and enable credible efforts to eliminate the clandestine market.

(The writer is a former foreign secretary of India .)
Source: www.Timesofindia.com

Viewpoints

The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism

Though the Medvedev would be elected the next president of Russia, nothing much is clear about his future plans except what he has so far said about economics and security matters.

Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

Presidency poll in Russia slated for 02 March has generated a lot of heat in the country, though Putin’s official choice Dmitry Medvedev from Unity Russia party has a clear lead far ahead of other candidates in the fray. Leading political and economic centers of Russia, Moscow and St. Petersburg (earlier Leningrad) are keenly watched regions in the polls.
As such, a lot of campaign activities are taking place in Moscow considered to be the key center to influence the Russian voters across the country. Several heavyweights are seen busy making maximum benefits out of the emerging scenario. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin and an unsuccessful silent contender for the Kremlin high office, has been in news for quite some time campaigning for high turn out for the March 2 presidential poll with a view to wooing Putin’s Unity Russia candidate Dmitry Medvedev. Across the country, governors, who are appointed and dismissed by the president, are viewing the vote as an opportunity to show Medvedev their loyalty. Moscow, which holds the status of a region, seems to be no exception.
Along side, the leaders vie with each other to appease the future president in order to gain favors in due course. Many billboards laid around the city show Mayor Yury Luzhkov urging Moscow residents to vote for Medvedev on March 2. Moscow doesn’t want any changes,” said an official. The ads, sponsored by City Hall and plastered on the streets and in the metro, show Luzhkov with the slogan: “I am voting for the future of the country.” It looks as if they will be voting for is not a continuation of President Vladimir Putin’s course but of Luzhkov course. With a view to convincing future Russian president Medvedev to let him stay and thereby preserve the status quo in Moscow, Luzhkov is hoping to provide the Kremlin with a high turnout for the presidential election.
Although he could not become the top favorite of Putin to be proposed for presidency, Luzhkov is only keen to retain his Moscow Mayorship for some more time. Putin has Luzhkov to stay until April, but he could reach a new agreement with a new president. Putin appointed Luzhkov, the 71-year-old mayor leading the city since 1992, to a new four-year term last June to help assure the Kremlin of a smooth transfer of power this year. Luzhkov is said to be is looking to retire now. Luzhkov, however, has been facing mounting pressure from Moscow businesses and city officials to stay well past the presidential election or to select a successor who would follow in his footsteps. Luzhkov still hopes to retire, but he does not want his post handed to an outsider, in part because he wants to make sure that his wife’s multibillion-dollar business empire is protected once he leaves office.
During the December Russian Duma (Parliament) polls that gave a thumping majority for Putin’s Unity Russia party, Moscow recorded a turnout of 50 percent, with 54 percent of the vote going to United Russia. But, nationwide, turnout was 60 percent and United Russia collected 63 percent. So, Luzhkov is keen to improve the tally now. The election could also provide Luzhkov with a chance to keep the status quo in Moscow. Luzhkov recently called together Moscow election officials and ordered them to work to get turnout of at least 65 percent and 70 percent of the vote for Medvedev, said the city official, who attended the meeting. Luzhkov took responsibility for Moscow’s northern districts, while Deputy Mayor Vladimir Rezin was put in charge of the western districts.
The Kremlin would like to tap Sergei Sobyanin, Putin’s chief of staff, as the next mayor, the City Hall official said. Sobyanin, a former Tyumen governor, is running Medvedev’s election campaign. “Sobyanin would come with his people and get rid of everyone linked to Luzhkov. This would be a catastrophe for a city like Moscow,” an official said. Connections do play a key function in Moscow. If Luzhkov leaves office, by law many other city officials would have to tender their resignations — a scenario that companies would like to avoid because it would mean that they would have to develop relations with new officials. “I know my bureaucrats now. I pay them, and things are fine,” said a businessman Mikhail. “A change would mean that I would have to rebuild those relationships once again.”
Moscow is Russia’s economic powerhouse, and Luzhkov is well known for keeping close control over its economy. Businessmen find that they need to develop good links with City Hall to work in Moscow. Luzhkov and his retinue are thought to have close ties with major banks, real estate firms and other big companies. Luzhkov’s wife, Yelena Baturina, controls Inteko, a giant holding company, and she is worth an estimated $7 billion. “If Luzhkov leaves, there will be a huge redistribution of property. Nobody wants that, says an official, If Moscow performs well, and Luzhkov can go to Medvedev and say: ‘You see, the situation here is under control. The percentage of the vote you got was super and the turnout was excellent. Can I stay a bit longer?’ Luzhkov’s grip goes far beyond the economy. Among other things, the mayor is believed to control the city’s judicial system — which critics say he secured by supplementing the low official salaries of judges and prosecutors with cash or perks such as luxury apartments. However, control of the government over judiciary is a global phenomenon, not just Russian specific.
Though the Medvedev would be elected the next president of Russia, nothing much is clear about his future plans except what he has so far said about economics and security matters. But even more intriguing is the future plans of president Putin. However, Moscow Mayorship cannot be a very crucial matter for either Putin or Medvedev.

(Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal is a Research scholar, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal University, Delhi 110067)

Kosova wins freedom

Mother Theresa of Calcutta’s family had to flee Serb ethnic cleansing from their native Kosova.

Eric Margolis

THE Bush Administration has lurched for the past eight years from one foreign policy disaster to another. We have almost forgotten what it's like to see the United States do the right thing.
But we finally did so last week, and a very welcome sight it was. After suffering decades of oppression from their Serb overlords, the two million ethnic Albanians of the former Yugolsav/Serb province of Kosovo finally achieved their long-sought independence. This marked the final act in the long, painful death of that Frankenstein state, Yugoslavia.
The United States was the first major power to recognise the new Republic of Kosova - as it should henceforth be called, using the proper Albanian spelling rather than the older Serb version. There were almost as many American flags in the streets of its capitol, Prishtina, as Albanian ones. President George Bush deserves a hearty salute.
The United States had once more rescued the Albanians. In 1918, victorious Serbia landlocked was about to annex tiny Albania to gain its deep-water Adriatic ports. US President Woodrow Wilson ordered Serbia back, saving Albania.
After Communist demagogue Slobodan Milosevic sought to build a Greater Serbia in the 1990's through ethnic terrorism, the Clinton administration in Washington forced a reluctant Nato to halt Serb genocide in Bosnia.
In 1999, while Europe watched impotently, Milosevic's forces killed 13,000 Kosovar Albanians, blew up mosques, gang-raped Muslim women, burned Albanian villages and drove one million Albanian Kosovars into frigid winter fields where they would have died of exposure without outside help. The United States again rescued the Kosovars by launching a short air war on the Serbs.
Outraged Serbs claimed they were victims of an American-German conspiracy. Kosovo was their historic medieval heartland, they insisted, Serbia's very soul. But by 2008, Kosova's population was two million Albanians and only 60,000-80,000 Serbs and gypsies, mostly in the Mitrovica enclave. About 100,000 more Kosovo Serbs had moved to Serbia.
Kosovo was indeed the heartland of medieval Serbia after Serb tribes invaded the region in the 6th Century AD. But the original inhabitants of the Kosova valley were Illyrians - ancestors of today's Albanians.
Serbs sought to ethnically cleanse Kosovo of Albanians three times: in the 1911-12 Balkan Wars after they seized it from the Ottoman Empire; in 1945; and in the 1990's. This brutal record, and persecution of Albanian Kosovars in the post-Tito era, invalidates any legitimate claims Serbia has to Kosovo. Mother Theresa of Calcutta's family had to flee Serb ethnic cleansing from their native Kosova.
Wounded pride aside, Serbia is better off without Kosova. History teaches it's often counter-productive to try to retain by force a region that wants out (the US Civil War is a strong exception).
Serbs, an intelligent, talented people, became international pariahs after the demagogue Milosevic intoxicated them with Nazi-style bogus historic mythology, primitive nationalism, and anti-Muslim racism. Serbia's future lies in the European Union, not in dubious medieval mythical glories.
America once again saved Albanians from extinction. By contrast, it was noteworthy that Romania refused to join Britain, France, Germany and Italy in recognising the new Kosova republic. That's because Romania also has its own dirty secret.
The post-World War I Treaty of Trianon was ever bit as evil and immoral as the 1938 Munich Pact. At Trianon, the victorious allies handed over 66 per cent of the Hungarian people to Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Romania got the lion's share, including Transylvania. The Hungarian problem still faces Europe.
Albanians were also split between Albania proper, and Yugoslavia's provinces of Kosovo and Macedonia. So Albanians and Hungarians remain Europe's last divided peoples.
But there is no hint free Kosova will anytime soon join neighbouring Albania. The Kosovar leadership under able PM Hasim Tachi rejects any talk of union; so does Albania's capable prime minister, Dr Sali Berisha. Kosovars are not eager to merge with impoverished, struggling Albania; they want to be in the EU.
It certainly is a tonic seeing people abroad joyously waving American flags and blessing the United States. This is what my America used to be about. One hopes that under new presidential leadership, the USA will resume this honourable tradition as liberator and defender of human rights.

Source: www.khaleejtimes.com

Just Who Is the Enemy?

The crisis in Lebanon is an issue that is best left to the Lebanese to solve to their best interests. Hasan Nasrallah is Lebanese as are his supporters.

Tariq A. Al-Maeena

The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post recently praised a column written by a Saudi journalist attacking the motives of Hasan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
Writing in the London-based daily Al-Hayat, journalist Musaid Al-Khamis questioned the political tactics of the Hezbollah chief.
He wondered whether Nasrallah "wishes to be the Al Capone of Lebanon and the Arabs, to sit in his lair and receive orders from the Great Satan (Iran), and carry them out in exchange for a fistful of dollars."
Criticizing Nasrallah's charge that Israelis were behind the murder of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's No. 2 in command, Al-Khamis tries to justify his reasoning by stating that even Syria had not yet blamed anyone. Damascus is waiting for all investigations to be completed.
While not trying to figure out the reasoning behind Al-Khamis' views or questioning his political acumen, I venture to burst Israel's bubble that Saudis have suddenly found a new bosom buddy in the person of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and company, and would like nothing better than to team up and get rid of Lebanon's "Al Capone".
The crisis in Lebanon is an issue that is best left to the Lebanese to solve to their best interests. Hasan Nasrallah is Lebanese as are his supporters.
They have a right to preach what they choose in defense of their country. Not long ago, they defended Lebanon against these same Israelis who indiscriminately bombed, maimed and murdered thousands of civilians in major cities of Lebanon.
And what have the Israelis been up to since? All political initiatives taken by interested parties in the region are now at a dead end due to Israel's intransigence.
A couple of months ago at the Annapolis conference in the US, both Palestinians and Israel vowed to implement the US-brokered road map plan, which demanded the Palestinians crack down on militants and Israel halt Jewish settlement activity. But nothing significant had been achieved since.
Israel continued its settlement activities and the Palestinians responded in kind. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal stated that Arab countries had taken active steps to support the Middle East peace process in a bid to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement with Israel.
In a speech during the South America-Arab foreign ministers meeting in the Argentine capital, the Saudi foreign minister made it clear that the Arab world would scale back its support for the Annapolis deal if Israel continued its settlement expansion in the West Bank in defiance of previous agreements.
The Saudi minister also urged the international community to adopt a just and impartial approach toward the parties in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying it was unfair if the international community allowed Israeli expansion while slapping sanctions on the Palestinians.
Simply translated, it means that if Israel is to stop annexing more land under one pretext or the other in violation of all international conventions, then perhaps the rocket attacks from those deposed off their lands would cease.
Elsewhere, the European Union, in a bid to prevent a humanitarian crisis, is mounting pressure on Israel to end its nine-month-old blockade of the Gaza Strip. "EU ministers are expressing growing concern over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the lack of progress in the peace talks" with the Palestinians, an official told AFP.
It may be expedient for an Israeli newspaper to insinuate that the Saudis are leaning with them against parties in Lebanon or elsewhere on the basis of a column or two questioning the wisdom of some of our Arab political figures. But the truth is far from it. One only has to walk down any Arab street and ask this question: Whom do you trust - Olmert or Nasrallah? Most, if not all, would opt for the latter.

Source: www.arabnews.com

International

Militant linked to Benazir attack arrested: Pakistan
AFP, Islamabad

Pakistani security forces arrested a top militant with links to Osama bin Laden in connection with an October assassination attempt on Benazir Bhutto, the interior minister said Tuesday.
Qari Saifullah Akhtar-a top extremist leader accused by Bhutto of plotting against her in a book published after her assassination in December-was seized on Monday, interior minister Hamid Nawaz told AFP.
"Most probably he is involved in the attack in Karsaz on Benazir Bhutto's rally. He is a big character," Nawaz said, referring to the October attack on Bhutto's homecoming parade in Karachi's Karsaz district that killed 139 people.
Two-time premier Bhutto was unharmed in that attack, but was killed two months later in another assassination attempt, in Rawalpindi at an election rally.
Akhtar was seized with his three sons, Nawaz added.
Akhtar was the one-time head of Harkat Jihad-e-Islami, the main Pakistan support group for Afghanistan's extremist Taliban movement, and he spent most of his time before 2004 living in Afghanistan, and met bin Laden several times.
He was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in August 2004 and later extradited to Pakistan, where he was released under unclear circumstances.
An official in Punjab province said that Akhtar was recently engaged in a brawl with a rival jihadi group over the occupation of a shrine there, and said the arrest was likely linked to the dispute, not the attack on Bhutto.
Bhutto's assassination on December 27 overshadowed elections held on February 18, which saw her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) trounce President Pervez Musharraf's political allies, but a fresh wave of violence has followed the polls.
In the latest attack, the Pakistan army's top medical officer was among eight people killed in a suicide bombing on Monday in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig, the army's surgeon general, was the most senior Pakistani military official to be assassinated since Musharraf joined the US-led "war on terror" in 2001.
Pakistan's military said the brazen attack was likely in retaliation for operations against Islamic militants near the Afghan border.
"I think apparently it is in response and reaction to the Pakistan army's operations against militants in South Waziristan and other places in FATA (the Federally Administered Tribal Areas)," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.
Pakistan has lost about 1,000 troops in operations against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who have built safe havens in the lawless tribal areas in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Suicide attacks blamed on tribal militants, especially Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander with links to Al-Qaeda who is based in South Waziristan, have soared since the start of 2007.
 

Thaksin to return from exile
AFP, Bankok

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra plans to return to Thailand on Thursday for the first time since the military toppled his government in a bloodless coup 17 months ago, officials said.
Thaksin has lived in exile since the coup, staying mainly in Britain where he owns Manchester City football club.
Two government officials said Thaksin would arrive in Bangkok at 9:40 am (0240 GMT) Thursday on a Thai Airways flight from Hong Kong. "As far as I know, he will be on the Thai Airways flight arriving in Bangkok mid-morning tomorrow," said Supamas Isarabhakdi, a close aide to Thaksin who now works in the office of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.
A second senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Thaksin would arrive Thursday in Bangkok and then go directly to the Supreme Court and the justice ministry's special investigations department to hear corruption charges against him.
The chief of immigration at Bangkok's airport, Lieutenant Colonel Pakkapong Sai-ubon, said a special room was being prepared for Thaksin's arrival, adding that he would be handed over to police immediately on arrival to be taken to court. The corruption charges were brought by the previous military regime, which Samak's government replaced after winning elections in December. Samak openly campaigned as a proxy for Thaksin and had promised voters to bring the divisive former premier back to Thailand.
Thaksin is still adored by his supporters, mainly in rural Thailand where his populist policies poured money into local economies.
But his opponents in Bangkok have already threatened to take to the streets if the new elected government tries to interfere in corruption cases against him.
Samak on Tuesday warned activists not to take to the streets, and officials have said that protesters could be charged with obstruction of justice if they block Thaksin's movements as he reports to court. Samak told Japanese media Wednesday that he had not spoken with Thaksin but that he welcomed the billionaire politician's homecoming.
"It's normal that he must defend himself in the court and my government will not interfere," Samak said according to an account of the briefing released by his spokesman.
Thaksin is expected to seek bail when he appears to hear the charges. His wife Pojaman, who is charged in the same corruption cases, was granted bail when she returned to the country last month.

Fourth protester killed in Nepal ethnic unrest
AFP, Kathmandu

Police have shot dead a fourth protester in ethnic unrest in southern Nepal which threatens to derail crucial polls set for April 10, officials said Wednesday.
A home ministry official told AFP that five people-four protesters and one police officer-have now died and hundreds been injured in the violent protests in the southern plains region known as the Terai.
"A mob tried to attack a police post in Nawalparasi, the police fired bullets to control the crowd and one protester was killed Tuesday afternoon," ministry official Modraj Dottel told AFP.
He was referring to a town 160 kilometres (100 miles) south west of Kathmandu.
The United Democratic Mahadhesi Front (UDMF), a grouping of three political parties from the Terai, has organised a paralysing general strike in the south for the last 15 days.
Nepal's capital depends heavily on road imports from southern neighbour India, and the strike forced up food prices dramatically and led to a severe fuel shortage.
Three Terai districts were under day-time curfew Wednesday to prevent unrest and allow crucial fuel and food supplies to reach the capital, the ministry official said.
Political parties from the Terai have failed to register candidates for the elections, but Nepal's former rebel Maoists and mainstream parties have registered, and vowed that the elections will take place as planned.
The UDMF has been in talks with the government for days, and despite continuing the protests, the group says it is committed to taking part in the constituent assembly elections.

Caught between bullets and rockets on Gaza border
AFP, Gaza Strip

"When I got to the door, I saw him lying in a pool of blood. He looked like a sheep whose throat had just been cut."
Deep in the clutches of grief, Sabah Abu Shaar describes how she found her 10-year-old son, Tamer, shot by what she believes was an Israeli bullet during a recent incident near the Gaza Strip's border with Israel.
It was early afternoon at the tumbledown assembly of rusty sheet metal that was home to the widowed mother of seven girls and two boys, built on a rise just across the border from an Israeli army post in Kissufim.
Abu Shaar, 41, had just prepared some cakes for her children, when she heard the shooting start. She was used to it.
"I opened the door and saw there were bullets flying everywhere," she said.
Somehow, Tamer managed to slip outside. He was shot in the head. Rushed to hospital, he died on arrival.
Abu Shaar's tragedy illustrates the lives of so many people who live along the fence that divides the narrow Gaza Strip from Israel and who can get caught in the almost daily battles between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants.
She and other witnesses insist it was an Israeli gun that killed Tamer, but the army does not think so.
A spokeswoman confirms that soldiers had opened fire, but had hit only armed men. "As far as we know, we did not hit a child."
Troops regularly carry out incursions into Gaza in search of militants responsible for the almost daily firing of homemade rockets and mortars at Israel.
At the same time, from their posts along the border, they will fire at virtually anything approaching the separation fence.
Tamer's uncle, Mohammed Abu Shaar, says "we live in a dramatic situation. Once the sun sets this area becomes a ghost town. No one dares go outside because the Israelis fire at anything that moves."
Mohammed Abdelrazak, a neighbour, says "we live in a permanent state of fear. To go out means to die."