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Leading News
GAS
EXPLORATION
Failure to demarcate ‘undisputed’ areas in Bay delays deal
signing
UNB, Dhaka
The government's failure to demarcate the "undisputed"
areas in Bangladesh's offshore gas blocks is delaying the
planned signing of agreements with two international oil
companies (IOCs) for hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay of
Bengal.
Almost a year back, the government finally came to a
decision to award three offshore blocks to two IOCs -
ConocoPhillips and Tullow - for exploration. But until now
no agreement was signed with them although the country is
facing severe gas crisis. It was decided to award gas
block No. 10 and 11 to the US-based ConocoPhillips and
block No. 5 to the Irish company Tullow.
However, ConocoPhillips initially qualified for as many as
eight gas blocks in offshore areas through an
international bidding invited by the state-owned
Petrobangla. But the decision by the government's highest
policymakers not to award more than two blocks to a single
company squeezed the Conoco's future. The government's
decision regarding the award of gas blocks to the IOCs
came following a Cabinet Purchase Committee meeting,
presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, in August
last year. While approving the state-owned Petrobangla's
proposal to award gas blocks, the committee also took a
decision that the IOCs will have to conduct their
exploration only within the "undisputed areas" in the Bay.
"No IOC should conduct their exploration in any disputed
areas," the committee said. But, interestingly, it is the
reality that all the three gas blocks offered to the IOCs
are located in the "disputed" areas. Neighbouring India
and Myanmar claimed that some parts of the blocks belong
to them. They also claimed that other gas blocks in
Bangladesh territory also belong to them.
To settle the disputes, Bangladesh finally moved the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
arbitration. In the meantime, the Petrobangla invited the
ConocoPhillips and the Tullow to sign agreements accepting
the government decision that they would only conduct
exploration in the undisputed areas.
Being informed about the government decision, the
officials of both the IOCs asked the Petrobangla to
demarcate and determine the "undisputed" areas before
signing any agreement. But, instead of determining the
"undisputed" areas, the Petrobangla referred them to the
Foreign Ministry to have a clear idea about the matter.
"But until now, the Foreign Ministry did not give any idea
to the IOCs about the 'undisputed' areas in the offered
gas blocks," said a Petrobangla director.
"Actually, the issue is under the jurisdiction of the
Foreign Ministry. That's why we can't give any idea about
undisputed areas. And the failure to determine the
undisputed area in Bangladesh gas blocks is delaying the
signing of agreements by the IOCs for gas exploration," he
said.
PM
urges expats to work for expanding export markets
UNB, Abuja, Nigeria
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Friday urged the expatriate
Bangladeshis living in oil rich Nigeria to take all out
initiatives from their respective positions to expand
markets for Bangladeshi goods abroad.
The Prime Minister gave the call when expatriate
Bangladeshis including doctors, engineers and other
professionals met her at her hotel suite in Abuja on
Thursday night.
After the meeting PM's deputy press secretary Mahabubul
Haq Shakil said that Sheikh Hasina asked the expatriate
Bangladeshis living in different countries of the world to
act as ambassadors of the country for enhancing the
country's image and upholding national interest.
Hasina, who attended the just concluded D-8 summit in
Abuja, said her government is actively considering opening
a Bangladesh mission in this West African country to
remove difficulties in getting visa and further enhancing
people to people contact.
The Prime Minister said that she had already urged the D-8
leaders to ease procedures in issuing business visa for
further increasing economic cooperation among the eight
developing countries.
Moreover, Bangladesh has ratified the "Simplification of
VISA Procedures for the Businessmen of the D-8 countries,
which will help businessmen of both Bangladesh and
Nigeria.
Mentioning her government's vision to build a digital
Bangladesh by 2021, Sheikh Hasina said the
government will introduce an internet program soon through
which expatriate Bangladeshis and their
children across the world will get the opportunities to
learn Bangla perfectly.
The Prime Minister said the government wants to send
Bangladeshi workforce for agriculture sectors in African
countries.
She said since establishment of D-8 in 1997 the relation
between Bangladesh and Nigeria has been strengthened.
Earlier, the expatriate Bangladeshis, mostly physician,
engineers, consultants of various multi- national firms
said they hoped that the Prime Minister's visit will open
up a new horizon in the bilateral relation between Dhaka
and Abuja.
GM
Qader under pressure to renew lease of old aircraft
UNB, Dhaka
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister GM Qader was learnt to
be in dilemma whether or not to continue in his
ministerial job as he is facing pressure from a certain
quarter for renewing the lease of an old 747 aircraft.
Sources close to the Minister told UNB Friday that GM
Qader is opposed to the renewal of the lease since the
aircraft is 25 years old and very risky for flying with
passengers. The aircraft is maintained by Kabo Airlines.
They said officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry also
gave their negative observations on the file about the
renewal of the lease of this 747 aircraft. But the
pressure group wants the Minister to sign the file.
Even Biman Bangladesh had sold 600 tickets to passengers
to fly on this risky aircraft, which has no flying
permission. Later, these passengers were flown by DC-10
aircraft in late June.
In view of the difficult situation, Minister GM Qader was
learnt to have met with the Prime Minister on Tuesday and
explained the situation.
At one stage, the sources said, Qader told the Prime
Minister that he would quit the ministerial job but would
not agree to renew the lease since it involves the
question of life and death of passengers and if any
accident happens he will have to bear the responsibility.
However, the sources said that GM Qader has not resigned
and is waiting for the Prime Minister's instruction about
the matter.
Meanwhile, despite repeated try Minister GM Qader could
not be contacted for his comments. An official at his
residence told UNB over phone Friday evening that the
Minister is not entertaining any press call.
EC finalizes rules for union council
polls
BSS, Dhaka
The Election Commission has finalized rules for union
council election for the first time in the country,
prohibiting processions and public meetings and with a
provision for setting up only one election office for a
chairman candidate.
The new rules make opening of bank accounts by the
chairman candidates mandatory and fixed their personal
expenditures at Taka 50 thousand and the highest election
expenditure Taka 5 lakh. The amount of personal
expenditures of ward members is fixed at Taka 10 thousand
and their highest election expenditures Taka 1 lakh. The
election expenditure returns would have to be submitted
within 30 days of polling.
Election Commissioner Muhammad Sohul Hossain told BSS that
there was no rule for union council polls earlier.
Therefore, the candidates conducted election campaigns at
they desired, which led to irregularities and violence. An
official of the EC said the final draft rules for union
council polls were sent to the law ministry recently. The
ministry sent it back to the EC after vetting on June 29.
Now the rules are under further scrutiny and those would
be published in gazette notification soon. As per the
rules, no educational qualification is required to contest
in union council polls.
The amount of deposit money for chairman candidates is
Taka 5 thousand while for members Taka 1 thousand. Earlier
the amounts were Taka 2 thousand and Taka 7 hundred
respectively.
Police identify caller threatening
bomb attack on Naogaon court
UNB, Naogaon
Naogaon sadar thana police has identified the person who
Thursday threatened bomb attack on Naogaon District and
Sessions Judge court.
Naogaon District Bar general secretary Pijush Kumar said
the local administration informed him that the police
confirmed that the mobile phone of assistant government
pleader Jamal Uddin Mahalot was used to issue the threat.
The police on Thursday night seized the mobile sets of
Mahalot and his wife. The caller using cell phone no.
01742333981 had telephoned District and Sessions judge
Hossain Shaheed Ahmed's residence land phone no 62577 and
warned that his court will be attacked if any judge sits
in ejlas for judicial function.
The judge immediately informed police super Mofazzal
Hossain of the matter and gave him the cell phone number
collecting it from his caller ID phone set.
On primary investigation, police has ascertained that Adv
Jamal Uddin Mahalot's sim card was used for giving the
threat. Mahalot is a member of Naogaon Ainjibi Samity.
Meanwhile, none was found at Adv Mahalot's Charmuktar
residence in the town at 8:30pm on Friday.
BSF kills
yet another Bangladeshi
33 people killed on border in four months
TBT Report
Yet another Bangladesh national was killed as the killing
spree of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on the
Bangladesh border continued unabated despite repeated
pledges made by the Indian government to stop this. With
this the number of Bangladeshis killed by BSF on the
border in last four months rose to 33.
In the latest incident, the body of a cattle trader who
was tortured to death and thrown into Ichhamoti river by
BSF was recovered from the river near Haraddah border in
Sadar upazila on Thursday.
According to UNB, The victim was identified as Anwar, 35,
son of Abul Sardar of Choubaria village in the upazila.
Local sources said Anwar was caught by the BSF troops when
he went to India for bringing cattle on July 6. Later, the
BSF men tortured him to death and threw the body into the
Icchamoti river.
Seeing the floating body of Anwar in the river locals
recovered the body with the help of BDR men in the
afternoon. On information, police rushed to the spot and
took the body to the thana. They later handed over the
body that bore torture marks to his family members at
night after postmortem.
Earlier, BSF killed one more Bangladeshi at Char Mazar
frontier under Rajpara police station in Rajshahi on
Wednesday.
The victim was identified as Faruque Hossain, 30, son of
late Zamshed Ali of Keshabpur under the same police
station. Second-in-Command of 37 Rifles Battalion Major
Arif Hossain told the newsmen that the BSF troops of
Kaharpara camp under Raninagar Police Station in
Murshidabad of West Bengal, opened fire on a group of
people when they were going near to the no-mans-land early
in the morning.
Of them, Faruque Hossain received bullet injuries and died
on the spot, he said. Soon after the incident, Indian
border guards took away the body to their territory. BDR
officials strongly protested the killing and urged their
counterparts to return the body immediately. With the
killing on Friday BSF killed 33 Bangladeshis in last 4
months.
2 pirates
killed in gunfight with law enforcers in Barguna
UNB, Barguna
Two pirates were killed in a gunfight with a joint team of
law enforcers in Baleshwar river at Gyanpara Batikata in
Patharghata upazila early hours of Friday.
The deceased were identified as Afzal Hossain, 35, son of
Abdul Majid of Lathimara village and Faruque Sarder, 28,
of Padma village in same upazila.
Upazila Coast Guard Camp Commander Lieutenant Musfique
said that a gang of 17/20 pirates were traveling on a
trawler in the river. Seeing their presence, a joint
patrol team of RAB, police and Coast Guard abroad a boat
asked them to halt, but they fired shots ignoring the
signal, prompting the law enforcers to fire back.
After a 15 minute gunfight, the joint forces arrested two
bullet injured pirates along with their trawler.
Other accomplices, however, managed to flee the scene. Two
bullet-hit pirates later died on way to local police
station.
Three home made guns, 10 cartridges and two ramda were
recovered from the possessions of the pirates. Coast Guard
sources said the pirates were the members of pirate gang
Zulfikar Bahini.
Back Page
Dhaka Flood Control Dam cum
Eastern Bypass project in limbo
UNB, Dhaka
The Dhaka Coordinated Flood Control Dam cum Eastern Bypass
Road Multi-Purpose Project has remained in limbo for
nearly a decade due to the absence of precise instruction
from the higher authority of the government. The PPP of
the project with estimated cost of Tk 2495.82 crore was
first approved by the ECNEC on February 3, 1999.
The project includes provision for controlling flood and
drainage in 124 sq km areas in the eastern region of Dhaka
metropolis as well as construction of a bypass road from
Kanchpur Bridge to Joydevpur crossing.
The project was included in the ADP of 2000-2001 and a
steering committee was constituted for implementation of
the project. But in 2002, implementation of the project
was stopped on the question of fund and absence of the
government direction.
In 2004, all previous feasibility studies and
Environmental Impact Assessment were updated. The latest
feasibility study report proposed to involve seven
organizations - Roads and Highways, WASA, LGED, DCC,
Forest and Environment Directorate, RAJUK and WDB - in the
project and the project cost reassessed at Tk 309521.50
lakh. After the present government took office, the Water
Resources Ministry submitted to the Planning Ministry DPP
(development project proforma/proposal) with estimated
cost of Tk 201668.64 lakh for land acquisition and
infrastructure works in the part of the Water Development
Board (WDB).
However, the Planning Commission held up the approval
process of the project, considering the size of the
project cost which cannot be met from the government fund.
The Planning Commission suggested mobilization of foreign
assistance for the project but donors have not yet
responded to the financing of the project.
On June 22, the WDB sent a summary on the project to the
Water Resources Ministry with an aim to seek the Prime
Minister's nod.
A top official of the WDB told UNB that if the Prime
Minister gives the directive, the Water Development Board
can alone implement the project. He, however, said that
seven related departments including Roads and Highways,
WASA, LGED, DCC, Forest and Environment Directorate, RAJUK
and WDB will have to start work simultaneously.
Suicide attack kills 56 in Pakistan
tribal belt
AFP, Yakaghund, Pakistan
A suicide attacker and suspected car bomb caused carnage
in a busy Pakistani market outside a government office on
Friday, killing 56 people and burying victims under
pulverised shops. The devastation struck Yakaghund town in
the district of Mohmand, one of seven that make up
Pakistan's northwest tribal belt which Washington has
branded a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most
dangerous place on Earth.
It was the deadliest attack in nuclear-armed Pakistan
since gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed prayer halls
belonging to the minority Ahmadi community in the city of
Lahore in May, killing at least 82 people.
A Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked bombing spree across
Pakistan has killed around 3,500 people in three years
since government troops besieged a radical mosque in the
capital Islamabad in July 2007.
Witnesses said a huge explosion damaged an administration
office, shops, a jail and other buildings in the small
town not far from the border with Afghanistan, where
140,000 US-led foreign troops are fighting the Taliban.
Wounded Raj Wali, 23, a labourer who was working on a
nearby road at the time of the blast, said he suddenly
felt a massive blow to his back."I turned round and saw
the area engulfed in smoke. People were crying. I also saw
body parts scattered near the blast site," he said. Bodies
were laid out on rope-slung cots, covered in white sheets
as relatives arrived to identify the dead. A mother, two
sisters and son were seen crying wretchedly over the body
of one man who was killed.
Rescue workers were sifting through the debris of
partially collapsed buildings and officials feared the
death toll could rise further. "The death toll is 56 now.
There are still 89 injured people in different hospitals,"
local administration official Rasool Khan told AFP
Trial
of war criminals to be held within this year : Qamrul
BSS, Dhaka
State Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Advocate Qamrul Islam on Friday hoped that the trial of
the listed war criminals would be held within this year.
"Trial of the war criminals will be held by constituting
tribunals according to the International Crimes Tribunal
Act, 1973," he said. The probe committee is taking time
for holding an international standard transparent trial as
per the International Crime Court Law-1973, he added.
Advocate Qamrul Islam was addressing as the main speaker a
discussion of Bangabandhu Academy titled 'Context: War
Crimes and Present Politics' held at the Dhaka Reporters
Unity auditorium. After completion of investigation and
submission of charge sheet, he said, the trial will be
completed soon. Awami League (AL) Presidium Member and
Chairman of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Governing
Board Advocate Yousuf Hossain Humayun addressed the
discussion as the chief guest while Adviser of Bangabandhu
Academy MA Karim was in the chair.
AL Labour and Employment Affairs Secretary Habibur Rahman
Siraj, Information and Research Secretary Advocate Afzal
Hossain and Secretary General of Bangabandhu Academy
Humayun Kabir Mizi spoke at the discussion.
Advocate Yousuf Hossain Humayun said the trial of war
criminals, who committed crimes against humanity in 1971,
is now a popular demand. He called upon all concerned to
play an effective role to resist conspiracies, remove
confusions and project the logic for the trial to the
people. He said the government is committed to holding the
trial of the war criminals by constituting tribunals
according to the International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973.
He also urged all to come forward to politically face
those who want to resist the trial process. State Minister
Qamrul Islam said, "Ziaur Rahman started the process of
rehabilitating the war criminals socially after the
killing of Bangabandhu in 1975 and now Begum Khaleda Zia
is continuing that process."
"In this regard, she gave statement in favour of Nizami-
Mujahid-Sayedee," he said. Qamrul Islam said, "The trial
of the war criminals would be held as the trial of the
killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman was held after 38 years of the incident and the
murderers were executed.
CDA to build six dormitories for
working women
BSS, Chittagong
Chittagong Development Authority (CDA), in the backdrop of
acute problem of accommodation of working women, is going
to build six female dormitories at a cost of Taka 32 crore
by the end of this year.
The six-story dormitories would be constructed on 42
kathas of CDA land at Saltgola area under Patenga thana in
the city and it would be leased for long term to
Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Export Association (BGMEA)
for accommodating over 3,000 female garment workers.
Talking to BSS, CDA Chairman Abdus Salam, said the
industrialists couldn't create skilled female hands due to
scarcity of their permanent housing. Salam Murshedi said
construction of six female hostels is necessitated as per
the government commitment and to address the problem of
working women. Talking to BSS, Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, the
first Vice President of BGMEA said that the garment
workers, who mostly come from rural areas suffer from
accommodation crisis and sometimes feel neglected for
scarcity of residence pushing their life into insecurity.
The working women, especially the unmarried ones feel
unsecured in and face untold sufferings, Nasir said. Nasir
urged the government to set up more hostels for working
women at Agrabad Commercial area and Halishahar CEPZ area
very soon.
Govt's aim is to provide safe
healthcare to people: Sahara
BSS, Dhaka
Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun on Friday said the
aim of the present government is to provide equitable,
accessible, sustainable, timely and safe healthcare to the
people of the country.
The government under the dynamic leadership of Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina is working to reach healthcare
facilities to the doorsteps of the people for building a
healthy nation, she told an international medical
conference and consultation organized by Phyathai
Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand at the Gulshan Club here.
Thai Ambassador to Bangladesh Tasanawadee Maincharoen
addressed the conference as the special guest. Dr Yongyuth
Mayalarp, Dr Thitikorm Wanichkul and Dr Amrong J. of the
Phyathi Hospital highlighted the medical services and
treatment facilities of the hospital at the conference.
6 killed, 72
injured in separate road accidents in 2 dists
UNB, Dhaka
Four people, including a school student, were killed and
38 others injured in separate road accidents in Mymensingh
and Satkhira on Friday.
In Mymensingh, a hawker Sohel, 22, died on the spot as a
bus hit him at Boilor crossing in Trishal upazila at
1:30pm.
Angered by the accident, local people caught the bus and
damaged it.
In another incident, a leguna fell into a roadside ditch
at Cheler ghat in same upazila after hitting a schoolboy
at 7am.
Mostafiz, 10, a class III student, died on the spot while
five passengers of leguna were injured in the accident.
Satkhira Correspondent said: A man Mohammad Ali, 45, died
on the spot and 34 others were injured as a Satkhira-bound
bus plunged into a roadside ditch near Satpur Bridge in
Kaliganj upazila at 10:30 am.
The injured were admitted to Sadar Hospital where one of
them Paglirani Ghosh, 35, of Satpur Village in same
upazila died.
Editorial
River erosion
River
erosion has taken a serious turn at different places of the
country this year intensifying the sufferings of the affected
people, specially the marooned ones. According to reports
published in a national daily on Friday, more than 3.5 lakh
people have been rendered landless due to river erosion in
northern region of the country while 5o thousand families have
lost their homesteads. Every year over five thousand hectares
of land are devoured by erosion annually. Another report on
Thursday said erosion of Sugandha and Bishkhali rivers has
devoured ten villages in Jhalakhati district.Due to erosion
over 200 acres of farm land in Rangpur has gone into the bed
of Karotoa river. Yet one more report stated that vast areas
of land has been devoured by the erosion of Padma river
recently in Faridpur and Shariatpur districts.
River erosion is nothing new in the country. Every year vast
tracts of land with homesteads, different establishments and
crops and trees are being devoured by the rivers rendering
huge people homeless and destitute. This year the erosion by
rivers seems to be widespread and more devastating. According
to the latest reports, a large number of people of three
upazials in Sylhet district have been affected by the erosion
of Kushiara and Surma rivers. Many others rivers also are
eroding their banks and devouring land, crop fields and
homesteads at a number of places.
Major damages are caused every year mainly by erosion of the
rivers Padma, Meghna, Jamuna and Brahmaputra and this year is
also no exception in this respect. With the rise of water
level, large scale erosion by rivers is going on at different
places of the country. The mighty Padma has devoured two
kilometre crop land in Aliabad union under Faridpur Sadar
thana .Jamuna river has eroded vast tract of land at Saghata
in Gaibandha. In Ulipur of Kurigram, river erosion has
rendedred 200 families shelterless. Similarly rivers are
eroding their banks at Manikganj, Munshiganj, Shariatpur,
Bogra and Maulbibazar.
River erosion is a scourge for the people of Bangladesh as it
devours land and renders people homeless at different places
every yea. According to a statistics, every year huge people
fall victim to river erosion which causes damage to properties
to the tune of Taka one thousand crore. Erosion is the most
important cause behind the widespread rural poverty as many
solvent people are rendered destitute by devbastating erosion.
During the last rainy season also, river erosion played havoc
with land and homesteads at different places of northern,
central and southern zone of the country. The erosion of the
Brahmatputra, some of its tributaries and the Jamuna have
taken a devastating turn causing heavy damages to land, roads,
homesteads, schools, madrasas and properties in the northern
region. The mighty Padma in the central zone eroded its banks
in Faridpur, Shariapur and Munshiganj areas. This year also a
number of localities with huge agricultural land and
homesteads have been devoured by erosion in Faridpur and
Shariatpur and elsewhere rendering thousands of people
homeless.
The erosion victims across the country are passing days in
endless miseries as they have lost their land, crops and
shelters. The government should on emergency basis provide
relief for them and arrange for their rehabilitation on
humanitarian ground. The government declared river erosion as
national calamity in 1993 and budgetary allocations have also
been made to tackle this problem. In the given circumstances,
the allocations should be increased and efforts intensified to
combat this national calamity, because it is causing major
harm to the people and the national economy.
But unfortunately, effective measures are not taken to resolve
these problems and check their recurrences annually. The
sporadic and unplanned measures taken in this regard do not
serve any purpose. Well planned concerted efforts are needed
for permanent resolution of the flood and erosion
problems.Government should take steps to construct adequate
number of embankments and dump sandbags there to stop the
erosion. Meanwhile, government should provide relief materials
for erosion vitims.
Campus situation
Education
Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Thursday called for maintaining
educational atmosphere on the campus often vitiated by clash
and violence. Addressing the 57th founding anniversary
ceremony he said the students must dedicate to studies,
acquire knowledge and build them up as efficient and skilled
manpower. "You are to prepare for taking up the challenge of
modern world by acquiring world standard education," he told
the students.
It seems an irony that the education minister has called for
maintaining congenial atmosphere on the campus at a time when
the atmosphere is being vitiated mostly by violent activities
of the supporters of the government. As is known to all, on
Thursday the activists of pro-government Chhatra League were
locked in factional clashes in the Islamic University. This
incident was preceded by a bloody clash between two groups of
Chhatra League activists in Jahangir Nagar University on
Monday. On that day, the Vice-chancellor and Assistant Proctor
of Jahangir Nagar University were assaulted as rival groups of
BCL ran amok on the campus leaving at least 50 people wounded,
4 with bullets. This single incident is enough to indicate
that Chhatra League is mainly responsible for campus violence
and educational atmosphere on the campus cannot be restored
until the Chahatra League activists are taken to task.
If the government sincerely wants peaceful and congenial
atmosphere in the educational institutions for smooth pursuit
of knowledge, the unruly Chahatra League cadres have to be
controlled first and only Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is
also the President of ruling Awami League, can do that.
Analysis
No torture please; we're British!
If America won't then Britain will, even though
in both cases the culprits are the senior elected leaders of
the previous administration and their secret services whom
they allowed to do their dirty work.
Jonathan Power
Belatedly it now
looks that the new Conservative- Liberal Democratic government
of Britain is prepared to grasp the nettle of the previous
Labour government's alleged acceptance of torture.
If America won't then Britain will, even though in both cases
the culprits are the senior elected leaders of the previous
administration and their secret services whom they allowed to
do their dirty work.
A commission will investigate (although there is still no
when) what exactly was tolerated under the government of Prime
Minister Tony Blair.
The wheels of justice in Britain can grind exceedingly slowly
but in the end they usually grind small.
Thirty eight years after Bloody Sunday, when it was alleged
that British soldiers killed 16 peaceful demonstrators in
Londonderry in Northern Ireland, the official enquiry which
took 12 years to complete - a ridiculous amount of time -
announced two weeks ago that it found the soldiers guilty of
lying about the demonstrators use of guns. Cover up can last
an exceedingly long time, even in a democracy. In 1215 the
Lateran Council condemned torture as cruel.
From the fifteenth century onwards the common law of England
(which is also the original common law of America) adamantly
set its face against torture and the admission of evidence
procured ?by torture. The judges who presided over these
decisions pointed to the inherent unreliability of the
evidence in confessions procured by torture since a person
subjected to unbearable pain will say anything to get it
stopped.
Voltaire, who lived in London for three years, wrote of how he
admired the English attitude.
Nevertheless, the special Court of the Star Chamber could
issue torture orders, but one of the very first acts of the
Long Parliament in 1640 was to abolish this court and since
then no torture warrant has been issued in England.
In Prussia torture was abolished in 1740, in France in 1789
and in Russia in 1847. In 1791 the US constitution in its
eighth amendment forbad cruel and unusual punishment, echoing
word by word the British Bill ?of Rights of 1689.
All these countries are party to the Geneva Conventions, to
the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights
and, most importantly, the UN Convention Against Torture,
which allows no exceptions even in a time of warfare or
emergency. The very conservative administrations of President
Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were
founding ratifying members of the Convention.
Unlike the US, the UK is not accused of using torture on its
own soil but of sending those who it wanted to be vigorously
interrogated to countries which sanction torture. Even worse
it went to court to argue that it should be allowed to use
intelligence obtained by torture.
In October 2005 before the House of Lords (the Supreme Court)
for the first time in over 200 years
the government argued for the
right to use torture.
The law lords turned the government down flat. Nevertheless,
the government, reinterpreting the words of the judges, argued
that the judges had "held that it was perfectly lawful for
such intelligence information "to be relied on operationally
and also by the government in making executive decisions." -
presumably using the information obtained by non-British
intelligence services and only from torture victims not
selected because of a British government request. That is some
hair-splitting.
In his new book, "The Rule of Law", Tom Bingham, the former
Senior Law Lord of the UK's Supreme Court, argues that "it
cannot be said that that the UK has shown that implacable
hostility to torture and its fruits which might have been
expected of the state whose courts led the world in rejecting
them both."
He concludes his book by quoting the ringing words of a
Council of Europe (representing all European governments)
statement made in 2002: "The temptation for governments and
parliaments in countries suffering from terrorist action is to
fight fire with fire, setting aside the legal safeguards that
exist in a democratic state.
But let us be clear about this: while the state has the right
to use to the full its arsenal of legal weapons to repress and
prevent terrorist activities, it may not use indiscriminate
measures which
seek only to undermine the fundamental values they seek to
protect.
For a state to react in such a way would be to fall into the
trap set by terrorism for democracy and the rule of law". At
last, the question whether the government of Tony Blair was
complicit in the use of torture is being asked and probably
will be investigated.
Hopefully it will not take 12 years to unearth the truth in a
legally satisfying way.
If the commission finds that Britain of all nations has
allowed itself to cross the boundary from the lawful to the
unlawful then Britain should voluntarily forsake any
interventions it may wish to make in European and UN affairs
promoting human rights until it has made a suitable act of
public contrition.
Jonathan Power is a foreign affairs commentator and analyst
based in London
Peace in the
Middle East: Illusion and reality
Most prominent among the Israeli fears is that the
recognition of a genuine Palestinian state would mean
their exclusion from the Holy Land.
FR. Raymond G. Helmick & Nazir Khaja
Once
again Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming
to Washington.
He had to call off the last planned visit out of sheer
embarrassment at the rogue operation of his naval forces
against the aid flotilla. Clear as it has become that the
violence on board the Mavi Marmara was all carefully
planned as a way to pre-empt coverage of the story by
anyone other than the Israeli attackers themselves, the
obedient American media are still not publishing any of
the new information that has come out, such as the
immediate execution murders of the principal media
organizers of the expedition as soon as the attackers
arrived on board, with their printed books identifying
every person on board the flotilla. Much has become known,
but not to those who look the mainstream media for the
information.
There have actually been acts of war against two friendly
countries, Turkey and Ireland, whose ships were subjected
to armed assault at sea, forced into an Israeli port,
their personnel arrested and grossly abused. But that is
not to be mentioned.
How much of this can be the direct responsibility of
America's guest, Netanyahu? There is plenty of reason to
question how far he is in actual control of Israeli
policy, as he seems to be mastered and manipulated with
ease by his Foreign Minister Avigdor Liebermann and his
Interior Minister Eli Yishai.
But he is formally prime minister and accountable (if
anyone should care to ask for the account) for policies
and actions of his government and armed forces, even if
they should result only from his weaknesses.
His supposed subordinate, Yishai, has taken the occasion
of Netanyahu's visit to announce new massive demolitions
of Palestinian houses, and snarls back in defiance when
even Defense Minister Barak raises objection to his
action. Is Yishai actually trying to sabotage his boss'
relation with the United States? He is able enough to put
Netanyahu in a losing position with a manipulated public
at home if he concedes anything to his American partner.
But he and Liebermann are leading their own country to the
brink of imploding into one of the several dangerous modes
of the fascism they themselves represent. They could
easily lose the Jewish character of the state or drive
their saner fellow citizens to abandon the whole
enterprise.
President Obama's calling the patently phony investigation
"an important step forward" truly did not serve truth or
justice - or peace. There are two Northern Irish winners
of the Nobel Peace Prize related to the affair of the
ships now. Mairead Corrigan Maguire would likely not be
considered as a non-Israeli balance for the inquiry, since
she had her direct involvement in the episode. David
Trimble is no less directly involved, because of his
absolute adherence to whatever narrative the Israeli
government chooses to put out in public. And the Canadian
general has a proven record of keeping his mouth shut and
telling no evil.
The question is really what is good for the State of
Israel and its society. Obama is surely not going to
decide for something that is not good for Israel, not
should he. But to feed the self-destructive thrust of this
extremist government with the full and unthinking support
of the whole American power system is to usher Israel
itself to its doom.
What is in fact good for Israel is to open up to Israel's
citizens the advantages that will come to them through the
full implementation of international law.
Crass dismissal of law is at the very heart of this
long-drawn-out tragedy. Having violated it for so long
many Israelis fear it now, as if the law would expose them
and their society to dangers, but in fact the law will be
the full protection of their rights as well as those of
the Palestinians.
Most prominent among the Israeli fears is that the
recognition of a genuine Palestinian state would mean
their exclusion from the Holy Land. But the Palestinians
have been assuring us all for years that that is not their
intention.
Jews too will be welcome to live in the Palestinian state,
but under Palestinian jurisdiction. Yet our media,
obedient to those who wish to keep the phobias intact,
omit to report that also.
There is need, too, for the admission of Hamas, which is
ready for it, into the process of negotiating peace. Hamas
has its own work to do here, as Israelis will never accept
this necessity until Hamas has shown them its willingness
to act constructively and to live in peace. All the pieces
are there for that, even though our managed media neglect
to report it.
But Hamas can do none of that so long as the United States
prohibits their Fatah colleagues from even talking to
them. Only President Obama can address that.
And thirdly, all the parties need constant reminding of
the Arab peace plan that has been on the table since 2002,
with regular Arab clarifications to ease Israeli fears,
instigated by their propagandist government, of touching
real peace proposals.
Why does no one touch that Arab peace plan? It is very
obvious. Israelis of the settler movement do not want it.
They prefer to take over the whole land rather than make
the peace that is so readily available to them.
Israeli government, within which the fascist element is
part and parcel of the settler movement, careless of the
peace, careless of anything that resembles true democracy,
realizes that it might have to fight the most fanatic of
the settlers, and has no stomach for it.
And American governments are afraid of offending these
governments of the Israeli right wing because its lobby
supporters in the United States will then attack them. The
result is a deliberate choice of continued war over peace.
Those of us who elected Obama as the president in whom we
could truly place hope expect more courage than that from
him.
- Fr. Raymond G. Helmick, S.J. is instructor in conflict
resolution, Department of Theology, Boston College and
author of Negotiating Outside the Law: Why Camp David
Failed (London, Pluto Press 2004). Dr. Nazir Khaja
(e-mail: Nazir.khaja@gmail.com) is a peace activist,
chairman of Islamic Information Service, Los Angeles. Both
authors have been members of Middle East peace delegations
with Rev. Jesse Jackson and others and have met the
Palestinian leadership.
Viewpoints
An emerging power
If Jinnah
were to return today, he would be gratified to find that at
least one Muslim country has largely, if not completely,
realised his dream: modern Turkey.
Dr Syed Amir
The
vision of Mohammad Ali Jinnah was for Pakistan to evolve as a
modern, secular, democratic state, a leader of the Muslim
world, which would make no distinction between its Muslims and
non-Muslim citizens.
Unfortunately, Pakistan never could attain any of these
transcendent ideals. However, if Jinnah were to return today,
he would be gratified to find that at least one Muslim country
has largely, if not completely, realised his dream: modern
Turkey.
Under the rule of the Justice and Development Party and the
leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey,
with its crucial strategic location between Europe and Asia,
has attained an unprecedented level of growth and prosperity
and has evolved into an important regional power. Its economy
is close behind China and India and surging at a rate of above
six per cent (Pakistan, less than three per cent), and its per
capita income is $13,400 (Pakistan, $2,600).
It is a member of G20, an association of the 20 wealthiest
industrialised countries of the world. After some setbacks,
democracy is now firmly established, and the Turkish army that
ominously lurked in the shadows and intervened on several
occasions in the past to oust democratically elected
governments, is now decisively under civilian control.
Like the impoverished Muslim countries, Pakistan, Egypt,
Jordan, Turkey has no oil; however, unlike them, it is not
dependent on American aid for sustenance. While Pakistan has
been plagued with the problems of religious extremism,
sectarian divisions and rampant terrorism, Turkey has been
peaceful and has been moving in a positive direction. It has
been shifting away from a policy of aggressive secularism that
had been in place since the founding of the republic, and had
infringed upon personal freedom and human rights. Its newfound
economic and political strength and a vibrant democratic
system have given Turkey unprecedented clout in world affairs.
The demonstration of that new assertiveness was showcased
recently. In May, Turkey and Brazil, both non-permanent
members of the Security Council, negotiated an agreement with
Iran related to its uranium-enrichment programme in the face
of strong opposition from the US. When the agreement was
rejected by the West, Turkey and Brazil, resisting strong
pressure, voted against the Security Council resolution to
impose new sanctions on Iran.
However, the event that spontaneously catapulted Turkey into a
highly visible and prominent role on the world stage was its
indirect support of a peace flotilla sent to defy the
three-year old blockade of the Gaza Strip which has caused
severe hardships to the people without loosening the grip of
hard-line Hamas rulers. The Israeli commandos raided the
flotilla over the high seas, boarded Mavi Marmara, the
Turkish-flagged ship, and killed nine unarmed Turkish peace
activists. In response, an infuriated Prime Minister Erdogan
recalled the Turkish ambassador to Israel and strongly
denounced the Israeli action, characterising it as state
terrorism.
Turkey's strong condemnation of Israel's action made the prime
minister a hero in the Arab/Muslim world. Israel, a regional
superpower, has been accustomed to dismissing all criticisms
from conservative, autocratic Arab regimes, knowing that it
could not progress beyond empty rhetoric. However, Turkey is a
different story. It is a vastly more powerful, technologically
advanced, modern country, and its anger could not be easily
brushed aside. Furthermore, it cannot be accused of
anti-Semitism, being the only Muslim country that has
maintained good relations with Israel since its inception.
Turkey has a history of friendship with the Jews, dating back
to the time when Jews, along with Muslims, were expelled from
Spain, following the Catholic takeover in 1492. Ottoman Sultan
Beyazit II personally welcomed them to settle in his realms.
During its 600-year history, the Ottoman Empire set a luminous
example of tolerance towards various religious and ethnic
minorities. In modern times, Turkey once again offered safe
haven to the Jews escaping the Nazi persecution in Europe.
Today, there are some 30,000 Jews in Turkey who are well
assimilated and consider themselves Turks. Prime Minister
Erdogan, while condemning the Israeli raid on Turkish ship,
was emphatic in his statements that Turkish Jews were citizens
of Turkey and no mistreatment of them would ever be tolerated.
The friendly relationship between Turkey and Israel has
benefited both nations. Turkey at times was able to soften the
harsh Israeli policies towards Palestinians, and nearly
succeeded in forging an agreement between Israel and Syria
that would have restored the Golan Heights to the latter. The
agreement, however, was abandoned when Israel invaded Gaza.
Israel's friendly relations with Turkey have lessened its
sense of isolation, while providing thousands of Israelis
tourists a safe location for travel.
Israel has been helpful in several ways. It has helped
refurbish Turkish military equipment, fighter planes and
tanks, and provided crucial intelligence about the movement of
Kurdish insurgents that have been ambushing the Turkish army
with deadly results. On a diplomatic level, Israel's
formidable lobbying machine in the US has helped shield Turkey
from hostile actions in the Congress, and various resolutions
accusing Ottoman Turkey of Armenian genocide before and during
the First World War have been blocked.
Turkey has been frustrated for two decades in its attempts to
join the European Union (EU). Although it has fulfilled many
of the preconditions, the union of 27 Christian countries is
evidently not ready to admit a Muslim country as large and
populous as Turkey. Membership, however, may have lost some of
its allure, as several EU countries are currently undergoing
severe economic problems. By contrast, Turkey has a strong
economy, having escaped the recession and economic downturn.
Some critics have attributed Turkey's growing ties to the
Arab-Muslim world to its disenchantment born of the
unsuccessful attempts to gain admission to EU. However, it is
unlikely to be the whole story. Erdogan is a shrewd and
pragmatic politician. He will always pursue a policy that is
in the best interest of his country. Ultimately, he also knows
that a drift towards conservative, religious extremism or a
complete break from the West or Israel is neither in the
interest of Turkey nor the wider Islamic world.
A colossus
has departed
The Islamic
state of the Islamic Mission Party would not be clerically
run, but rather leaders such as physicians and attorneys
could play a leading role.
Juan Cole
The
death of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husain Fadlallah at 75
marks the passing of a cleric revered by many Shia Muslims
and by many Lebanese and Iraqis. His life exemplified the
awakening and increasing global influence of Shia Islam.
Although Fadlallah became less radical with time, changing
his view of deploying violence for political purposes, he
did not become less anti-imperialist. He recently decried
US military operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He opposed Bush's invasion of Iraq. He denounced Arab
countries for failing to respond vocally to the Israeli
assault on a humanitarian aid flotilla on May 31, and
called for an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza. He
preached Sunni-Shia unity and warned that the disunity of
Muslims made imperialism in Muslim lands possible. He is
said to have gone to his death hoping for the collapse of
Israel.
Fadlallah was born in 1935 in Najaf, Iraq, to Lebanese
parents, and he lived and was educated and lived there
until 1966, when he came to the homeland of his ancestors,
Lebanon. When Fadlallah was born, the Shias of southern
Lebanon were mired in grinding poverty as hardscrabble
farmers in scattered villages or as tobacco sharecroppers,
virtually ignored by the authorities in French Mandate of
Lebanon. Even when the rise of secular, Sunni-dominated
Arab nationalism in Iraq impelled him to leave for Beirut
in the mid-1960s, the Shias of south Lebanon lagged in
access to roads, rural electrification, and other state
services, though that was beginning to change.
In Iraq around 1957, Fadlallah, a seminary student, was
among the founders of the Islamic Mission Party (al-Da'wa
al-Islamiyah) in Najaf, an Iraqi Shia answer to the
burgeoning mass movements of the era-the Communist and the
Baath parties. The Da'wa dreamed not of a workers paradise
but of a Shia paradise. Islamic law would be the law of
the land. Social injustice would be abolished through the
judicious implementation of Islamic legal principles such
as tithing.
The Islamic state of the Islamic ?Mission Party would not
be clerically run, but rather leaders such as physicians
and attorneys could play a leading role.
Fadlallah did community development work for the
poverty-stricken Shias of Beirut's slums. In the 1970s and
early 1980s he became radicalised by Israel's increasingly
heavy-handed interventions in South Lebanon. In 1978,
Israel briefly invaded Lebanon's south, displacing
thousands of Shia families. In 1982, Israel invaded again,
determined to wipe out the Palestine Liberation
Organisation then headquartered in Beirut. This time Tel
Aviv occupied South Lebanon, remaining there for 18 years
and brutally repressing local Shias.
As Shias suffered under direct Israeli occupation, they
began throwing up a radicalised resistance. The relatively
staid Amal Party was not sufficient for some, who formed
the Islamic Amal. In 1984, the various Da'wa branches and
Islamic Amal, among other small factions, formed
Hezbollah, or the Party of God in Arabic.
Already in 1983 Islamic Amal had hit the US Marine
barracks, killing over 260 Americans. Although it is
sometimes alleged that Fadlallah authorised this attack,
he denied it. It has also been alleged that Fadlallah was
the spiritual guide of Hezbollah, but he and they both
deny it and it is certainly the case that Fadlallah did
not always see eye to eye with Hezbollah.
From 1983-1986, a vigorous Shia guerrilla resistance to
Israeli occupation of Lebanese soil grew up, and Fadlallah
cheered it on. Fadlallah was seen as an enemy by the US,
especially the CIA, and by Israel. In 1985 someone
attempted to assassinate him with an enormous bomb, but he
had been delayed and it killed 80 other persons and
wounded over 250, instead. The dead included women,
children, and a bride.
One of Fadlallah's bodyguards who escaped death but saw
the carnage was Imad Mughniya, who went on to become one
of the legendary fighters of the past few decades. Unlike
Mughniya, Fadlallah mellowed with age. He also tried to
modernise Shia law affecting women, and in 2007 gave a
fatwa condemning honour killings in absolute terms that
made his stance more progressive than Lebanese statute on
the matter.
Fadlallah lived to see his Da'wa Party come to power in
Iraq. The first post-Saddam prime minister in Baghdad was
Ibrahim Jaafari, an old-time Da'wa activist. The second
was Nuri al-Maliki, who reinvigorated the Da'wa and made
it a leading party in its own right. When we say that Vice
President Joe Biden is in Baghdad trying to broker the
formation of a new Iraqi government, we are in part saying
that Biden is dickering with the Da'wa Party over whether
it will continue to provide the prime minister. And one of
the implications of this debate is that the Shia
fundamentalist parties that will likely play a significant
role in the new government want to see the fall of Israel
as much as Fadlallah had. That is, post-American Iraq will
likely be a big headache for Israel.
Most Lebanese Shias either follow Sayyid Ali Sistani of
Najaf in Iraq, or Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of Iran. But
some followed Fadlallah. His partisans will likely now
turn to Sistani, strengthening the new, Shia-dominated
Iraq's influence in Lebanon.
Fadlallah's life was shaped by British imperialism in
Iraq, by the rise of secular Arab nationalism and of
Communism, by the Israeli expulsion of the Palestinians in
1948, by the Israeli invasions of Lebanon, by the rise of
theocratic Iran, and by the advent of an imperial US in
the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Fadlallah in the second half of his life sought an
accommodation of Shia tradition to modernity. By his own
lights, he did not take extreme positions, rejecting
Iranian theocracy but also decrying American dominance,
preaching against Israel but also blaming internal Muslim
disunity for the ease with which enemies dominated
Muslims. His activism in many ways foreshadowed the great
Shia awakening of the 1960s and after, and helped change
the ideological landscape of the Middle East.
Juan Cole is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor
of History and the Middle East scholar at the University
of Michigan. He has written extensively on the Middle East
and the West-Islam relations. For comments, write to
opinion@khaleejtimes.com
Treatment
of detainees
Questions have been asked of our Intelligence Services.
Our reputation as a country that believes in human rights,
justice, fairness and the international rule of law faces
being tarnished.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi
For
the past few years, many British citizens including
British Muslims have been disturbed by allegations over
the treatment of detainees held abroad. There have been
allegations of torture. Other allegations have focused on
the role of British Security Services in the rendition of
detainees in the aftermath of 9/11.
These allegations are not proven, but they risk leaving
scars on our society. Public confidence has been eroded.
Questions have been asked of our Intelligence Services.
Our reputation as a country that believes in human rights,
justice, fairness and the international rule of law faces
being tarnished.
Let me be clear. The men and women in our Security
Services perform an extraordinary service for our country.
Indeed, I believe we have the finest intelligence services
in the world. They prevent the world's most dangerous
weapons falling into the hands of the world's most
dangerous states. They give our forces in Afghanistan the
information they need to take key decisions. And they do
this without any public recognition - despite the massive
personal risks they take.
While there is no evidence that any British officer was
directly engaged in torture in the aftermath of 9/11,
there are questions over the degree to which British
officers were working with foreign security services who
were treating detainees in ways they should not have done.
These questions need to be resolved. That is why Prime
Minister David Cameron has set out how we can do that and
clear these issues up once and for all.
A key part of that is about dealing with the problems of
the past. About a dozen cases have been brought in court
about the actions of UK personnel. This has led to
accusations that Britain may have been complicit in the
mistreatment of detainees. The longer questions remain
unanswered, the bigger the potential stain on our
reputation as a country that believes in freedom, fairness
and human rights grows.
We are determined to get to the bottom of what happened so
we can stop these issues from arising in the future. So
the Government is committed to mediation with claimants in
Guantanamo Bay civil damages cases - and where
appropriate, we will offer compensation.
Next, we need a single, authoritative examination of all
these issues, carried out by an independent Inquiry. This
Inquiry will be lead by Sir Peter Gibson, a former senior
Court of Appeal judge, and the three-member inquiry team
will also include Dame Janet Paraskeva, head of the Civil
Service Commissioners, and the journalist Peter Riddell.
The inquiry will look at whether Britain was implicated in
the improper treatment of detainees held by other
countries that may have occurred in the aftermath of 9/11
- and if we were, what went wrong, and what do we need to
do to learn the lessons and make sure we uphold the
standards that people expect.
But just as we are determined to resolve the problems of
the past, so are we determined to have greater clarity
about what is acceptable in the future. That's why we are
also publishing for the first time the guidance issued to
intelligence and military personnel on how to deal with
detainees held by other countries. The previous Labour
Government promised to do this, but they didn't. We are,
and the guidance makes the following things absolutely
clear.
First, that our Security Services must never take any
action where they know or believe that torture will occur.
Second, if they become aware of abuses by other countries
they should report it to the UK government so we can try
to stop it. And third, in cases where our Services believe
that there may be information crucial to saving lives but
where there may also be a serious risk of mistreatment, it
is for Ministers to determine the action, if any, our
Services should take.
I am confident that these steps will help to resolve these
problems in a decent, fair, and authoritative way. But I
also believe there is a wider issue at stake.
In Opposition my colleagues and I in the Conservative
Party argued passionately in defence of our civil
liberties. We campaigned against Labour's ID card scheme.
We opposed the creation of the National Identity register.
We fought to stop Labour's plan to increase the period of
detention without charge to 42 days.
We did all of these things not just because we see the
close link between our civil liberties and our security.
Not just because clamping down on our freedoms will only
drive more people into the kind of radical politics we
need to prevent. We did so because we strongly believe
that Britain's historic reputation as a fair, open and
law-abiding country is one of our greatest strengths in
the world. Dealing with these allegations about detainees
held abroad will help us to rebuild this reputation, and
restore Britain's moral leadership in the world.
The writer is UK cabinet member and co-chair of the
Conservative Party.
International
Sri Lanka
minister resigns, vows to pursue anti-UN fast
AFP, Colombo
A Sri Lankan minister quit his post Friday and vowed to
pursue an anti-UN hunger strike, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon
recalled his top envoy in Colombo and closed the world
body's besieged offices there.
Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa had begun a "death fast"
Thursday outside the compound of the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) to protest a UN probe into alleged rights
abuses committed in the final stages of Sri Lanka's
decades-long civil war.
Weerawansa said Friday he was resigning his cabinet seat
to deflect criticism that his agitation was being
orchestrated by the government.
"I have no intention of causing embarrassment for the
government," he said in a letter to President Mahinda
Rajapakse. "I choose to resign from cabinet and keep up my
struggle."
Several government ministers visited Weerawansa, who is
camped outside the UNDP office, to express solidarity with
his stance.
Demonstrators have held angry protests outside the
compound for the last four days, prompting Ban on Thursday
to recall his chief representative in Sri Lanka, Neil
Buhne, and close the UNDP's regional centre.
"The minister is adamant. He will keep up the fast,"
Weerawansa's spokesman Anuruddha Bandara told AFP.
"A doctor saw the minister and said he can last only about
five days without food and water," Bandara added.
Opposition MPs have dismissed the hunger strike by the
40-year-old as a stunt.
The minister's supporters marched to the Russian embassy
Friday to seek Moscow's support in quashing the UN probe
into reports of abuses by government troops in the final
months of the conflict with Tamil Tiger separatists.
Russia's foreign ministry had criticised Ban for not
conferring with the UN Security Council or the General
Assembly before convening the investigating panel.
The Tiger guerrillas were defeated in May 2009 and the
United Nations has said that at least 7,000 ethnic Tamil
civilians were killed in the military's final offensive.
Many observers view the UN panel, headed by Marzuki
Darusman, a former Indonesian attorney general, as a
precursor to a full-blown war crimes investigation.
The demonstrators in Colombo have promised to keep up
their agitation until Ban withdraws the probe.
Comms breakdown behind Afghan
friendly fire deaths: NATO
AFP, Kabul
A NATO helicopter patrol mistook Afghan soldiers for
militants planting roadside bombs and opened fire on them,
killing six and wounding one, the alliance said Friday.
The "friendly fire" incident is the latest in a string of
botched attacks and comes as the new commander of
international forces in Afghanistan is said to be
considering changing the way the war is fought.
The Afghan soldiers died on Tuesday as a "result of
miscommunication" between NATO's International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Afghan National Army
(ANA), a statement said.
The incident took place in Ghazni province, south of
Kabul, described by an ISAF official as a "very active IED
area", referring to improvised explosive devices which are
widely used by Taliban-linked insurgents.
Since April there had been 129 attacks or discoveries of
IEDs in the area where the friendly fire incident took
place, he said. The Afghan soldiers had been mistaken for
a group of insurgents planting IEDs, he said, speaking
anonymously as the investigation proceeded.
Taliban IEDs-many of which enter Afghanistan from
Pakistan, military officials say-are taking a huge toll on
international forces, of whom more than 340 have died this
year. "ANA soldiers planned a patrol and had coordinated
the patrol location with ISAF elements," the statement
said, adding: "While passing the information to the local
ISAF unit, the wrong location of the ANA patrol was
identified."
It said the ISAF helicopter patrol saw a group "digging
beside the road in an area that has experienced daily IED
detonations and significant casualties".
After checking if "friendly forces" were in the area, the
helicopters were cleared to open fire on "individuals
believed to be insurgents", it said, adding "this approval
to engage was based on inaccurate information about the
location of the ANA patrol".
Kashmir curfew widens amid call for
Friday protests
AFP, Srinagar, India
Indian security forces widened a curfew in Kashmir on
Friday to contain violent protests over the killing of
civilians as fresh attacks injured two policemen,
officials said.
"We have widened the curfew to ensure a violence-free
Friday," a police officer, who declined to be named, told
AFP.
Towns such as Kupwara and Handwara in the north, Kakpora
and Pulwama in south and Gandherbal in the east were
placed under fresh curfew. Violent flashpoints such as
Sopore, Srinagar and Anantnag remain restricted.
In Sopore, suspected militants launched three gun and
grenade attacks on security forces Friday that left a
policeman and a paramilitary trooper injured, a police
spokesman said.
Indian police and paramilitary forces, who have been
struggling to control the wave of protests in the
Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, have been accused of
killing 15 civilians in less than a month.
Each death has sparked a new cycle of violence since the
first killing of a 17-year old student by a police teargas
shell during protests June 11 in Srinagar, the summer
capital of Indian Kashmir.
Hardline separatists urged residents to march to the
region's revered Muslim shrine of Hazratbal in Srinagar on
Friday. Two men and a woman were killed in the city on
Tuesday.
"Whenever the curfew is relaxed in any of the areas,
people are requested to come out on the streets and
continue with a peaceful sit-in," a statement by
hardliners said. Police had sealed all the roads leading
to Hazratbal, but residents said dozens of locals prayed
inside the lake-side mosque and later held noisy
anti-government demonstrations.
The Jamia Masjid, the main mosque in Srinagar, was among
the many mosques worshippers were unable to attend for
Friday prayers.
The army was called in on Wednesday in Srinagar after
residents defied curfew restrictions and held protests.
Their presence brought calm to the streets.
Helicopters revolutionise mountain
rescue in Nepal
AFP, Kathmandu
Sabin Basnyat made history this year when he piloted the
highest ever helicopter rescue mission, airlifting three
sick and exhausted Spanish climbers to safety from Nepal's
Mount Annapurna.
The dramatic and daring rescue, almost 7,000 metres
(23,000 feet) up on one of the world's tallest and most
dangerous mountains, pushed high-altitude helicopter
flight to its limits-and probably saved the climbers'
lives.
It was possible thanks to a new service run jointly by
local helicopter company Fishtail Air and Switzerland's
Air Zermatt, which has been rescuing climbers in the Alps
for four decades.
"By the time we got to the Spanish climbers on Annapurna
they were in really bad shape, exhausted and suffering
from frostbite and altitude sickness," Basnyat told AFP.
"They had already had to leave one expedition member
behind, and there is no way they could have climbed down
on their own."
Home to Mount Everest, Nepal is a major draw for amateur
adventure seekers and top mountaineers alike.
But until recently it had no helicopters capable of being
flown above 4,500 metres-around 1,000 metres below Everest
base camp-and mountaineers who got into trouble had to
rely on teams of sherpas reaching them on foot.
Then, last November, the renowned Slovenian mountaineer
Tomaz Humar died after apparently falling and injuring
himself during a daring solo attempt on the south face of
Nepal's 7,234-metre Langtang Lirung peak.
Fishtail had just acquired a new Ecureuil helicopter
manufactured by Eurocopter and specially designed to fly
at altitudes of up to 7,000 metres, but the sheer mountain
face meant it was impossible to land.
Air Zermatt, pioneers of a high-altitude mountain rescue
technique known as the "human sling", dispatched a team of
experts to Nepal, where they used the Fishtail helicopter
to mount a rescue operation.
Japan election a litmus test for new
PM
AFP, Tokyo
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, in power for just a
month, will seek the popular mandate he lacks so far at
upper house elections Sunday, but opinion polls suggest
his chances are mixed at best.
The vote will be the first national ballot box test since
his centre-left party swept to power under a different
leader last August, transforming politics in Asia's
biggest economy after a half-century of conservative rule.
Kan, a pragmatist who has vowed to restore Japan's
tattered finances, is seeking popular support to draw a
line under a period of revolving-door politics that has
seen five new premiers in four years.
Although voters will elect only half the members of the
upper house, the poll will be a litmus test for his
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), whose 10-month-old
coalition rule has left many voters underwhelmed.
The poll will make the difference between a strong
government that can tackle the country's
problems-including sluggish growth and a public debt
mountain-and one that remains mired in messy coalition
politics.
Given recent poll numbers, most pundits predict the latter
outcome.
Three newspaper polls published on Friday said Kan's
coalition may fall short of keeping a majority in the
upper chamber, meaning he will face a deadlocked
parliament unless he seeks new political allies. It will
be a tough test for Kan, a 63-year-old former leftist
activist who was propelled to the leadership just weeks
ago.
Kan on June 8 replaced his hapless predecessor Yukio
Hatoyama, who had fallen out of favour with voters over
political funding scandals and for his waffling style,
especially on a damaging dispute over a US airbase.
N.Korea proposes military
talks with US on warship
AFP, Seoul
North Korea Friday proposed high-level military talks with
the United States over the sinking of a South Korean
warship, hours before the UN Security Council was due to
issue a statement on the issue.
The North's military had earlier called for talks only
with their South Korean counterparts about the sinking, a
proposal rejected by Seoul which accuses Pyongyang of
torpedoing the Cheonan corvette.
South Korea had said the matter should be handled at talks
between the US-led United Nations Command and North
Korea's military, within the framework of the armistice
agreement which ended the 1950-53 war.
The North, which denies any role in the sinking,
previously refused to deal with the US-led command but
appeared Friday to change its stance.
Its military proposed holding working talks at the truce
village of Panmunjom next Tuesday to discuss the possible
opening of general-level talks with the United States.
"This proposal is a manifestation of the unshakable will
of the army and people of the (North) to probe the truth
behind the Cheonan case in an objective, scientific and
fair way," its official news agency said.
A draft Security Council statement set to be adopted later
Friday will condemn the attack which led to the sinking.
But it stops short of directly blaming the North for it,
as Seoul and Washington had wanted.
Myanmar democracy activists
allowed to form new party
AFP, Yangon
Former members of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy have been allowed to
form a new political party to run in upcoming elections,
state media reported Friday.
The activists have been granted permission to create the
National Democratic Force (NDF) to stand in the
military-ruled country's first election in two decades
some time this year, according to state TV and radio.
The NLD refused to meet a May 6 deadline to re-register --
a move that would have forced it to expel Suu Kyi -- and
opted to boycott the vote, which critics say is a sham
designed to legitimise the junta's half-century grip on
power.
Under election legislation unveiled in March, anyone
serving a prison term is banned from being a member of a
political party and parties that fail to obey the rule
will be abolished.
The NLD, which was founded in 1988 after a popular
uprising against the junta that left thousands dead, won a
landslide victory in 1990 elections but the military
rulers never allowed it to take office.
Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20 years in jail or
house arrest.
There have been signs of friction between older hardline
opposition figures and younger more moderate figures who
opposed the boycott decision.
Former top NLD members have accused the NDF of copying
their symbol of a bamboo hat and recently lodged a
complaint with the election commission in the capital
Naypyidaw about its use of the image in an official seal.
So far 38 political parties out of 43 which applied to be
recognised have been given permission to register ahead of
the elections.
Ahmadinejad
says sanctions will not alter nuclear drive
AFP, Abuja
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that new
sanctions slapped on his country will not alter Tehran's
nuclear drive, remaining defiant in the face of growing
Western pressure.
Speaking on Thursday after meeting fellow Muslim leaders
at a summit in Nigeria, the Iranian leader said no matter
how many sanctions resolutions are approved, "there will
be no minor change in our nuclear programme."
"Those resolutions are only paper," he said through a
translator.
Ahmadinejad has been outspoken in his dismissal of the new
sanctions, adopted by the UN Security Council and several
Western governments, previously calling them a "used hanky
which should be thrown in the dustbin".
But the head of Iran's atomic energy, Ali Akbar Salehi,
acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that the
measures "may slow down" its nuclear drive.
"One can't say sanctions are ineffective," Iran's ISNA
news agency quoted Salehi as saying.
Ahmadinejad said certain conditions must be met before the
resumption of stalled nuclear talks with six world powers.
Iran's demands relate to Israel's nuclear capability and
the inclusion of yet-to-be-named countries in the talks,
he said. Israel is widely believed to have the Middle
East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal.
He accused the so-called 5+1 powers of seeking to "weaken"
Iran's position, forcing the country to defer the talks to
punish them for their "very ugly and bad behaviour".
The 5+1 group includes the permanent members of the UN
Security Council-Britain, China, France, Russia and the
United States-plus Germany.
Ahmadinejad said the sanctions were also a bid to divert
attention from the deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship in
May in which nine pro-Palestinian activists-eight Turks
and a dual Turkish-US national-were killed.
Russia, US stage Cold War airport spy
swap
AFP, Vienna
Russia and the United States Friday staged their biggest
spy swap since the Cold War at Vienna airport, in an
exchange believed to involve 10 agents deported by US
authorities and four imprisoned in Russia.
Special Russian and US flights which brought the spies to
the Austrian capital took off within 15 minutes of each
other after staging the dramatic swap. The plane carrying
the Russian spies was due to land in Moscow by 1400 GMT.
"The Russian citizens previously arrested in the United
States have taken off on a Russian plane from Vienna for
the motherland," a source in the Russian intelligence
services said in a statement.
A US jet carrying the 10 members of a Russian spy ring
caught in the United States arrived from New York and
parked next to a Russian Emergency Situations Ministry jet
believed to have brought four jailed Russians.
The main doors to the two jets were hidden from media
gathered at Vienna airport hoping for a sight of the
glamorous Anna Chapman and a top Russian armaments expert
who were among the group. Vienna, near the old Iron
Curtain frontier, has not seen such drama since the Cold
War, when it was a traditional venue for espionage rivalry
between the two superpowers.
Russia confirmed that a deal had been agreed with the
United States aiming to end the spy scandal.
The Russian foreign ministry said the bargain involved the
"return to Russia of 10 Russian citizens accused in the
United States, along with the simultaneous transfer to the
United States of four individuals previously condemned in
Russia."
Mattis named overall US commander of
Iraq and Afghan wars
AFP, Washington
General James Mattis was named Thursday as the new head of
US Central Command, or CENTCOM, which has overall control
of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mattis, whose appointment must be confirmed by the Senate,
replaces General David Petraeus, who took over direct
command of the faltering Afghan conflict after his
predecessor was fired for giving a damaging magazine
interview.
"The post General Mattis is taking is a critical one at a
critical time," US Defense Secretary Robert Gates named
told reporters Thursday in announcing his recommendation
to President Barack Obama.
Mattis, said Gates, is one of the US military's
"outstanding combat leaders and strategic thinkers" and he
praised the four-star Marine general for his insights into
modern-day warfare, notably "how the armed forces must be
shaped and postured for the future."
Petraeus formally took over command of the Afghan war last
week after Obama sacked General Stanley McChrystal over an
interview to Rolling Stone magazine in which he and his
staff made disparaging comments about the vice president
and other senior administration figures.
But Mattis has had his own issues of free expression that
have gotten him into hot water.
In an on-camera 2005 interview, the general said:
"Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a
hell of a hoot.
"You go into Afghanistan; you've got guys who slap around
women for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You
know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway, so
it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."
Gates said however that appropriate action was taken at
the time and that he thought the "subsequent five years
have demonstrated that the lesson was learned."
Cuban dissident hopes more political
prisoners are freed
AFP, Madrid
A leading Cuban dissident said Friday he was surprised by
Havana's decision to free more than 50 political prisoners
but hopeful it could lead to further releases, according
to a radio interview.
Guillermo Farinas ended a 135-day hunger strike Thursday
after the Cuban government said it had reached an
agreement with the Catholic Church to release 52 political
detainees.
"I am the most surprised. It is necessary to give the
government a margin of credibility for freeing these 52
prisoners," Farinas told Spanish national radio early
Friday.
The psychologist and online journalist had been in
intensive care since suffering a hypoglycemic shock two
weeks after beginning his protest at the end of February,
a day after another dissident, Orlando Zapata, died
following an 85-day hunger strike.
Farinas's deteriorating condition had been reported in the
official Communist Party newspaper Granma, in an unusual
move that observers considered an attempt to defuse
international criticism should he die.
Farinas said he had stopped his hunger strike-the 23rd the
48-year-old had conducted-"to untie the hands of those who
are negotiating with the Cuban government".
"We do not want to exert any type of pressure because our
interest is that our brothers are freed," he said.
"It is important that we learn to forgive those who
repress us today, because I am fighting, and the majority
of my brothers also, so that no blood is spilled," he
said.
Police step up Sarkozy illegal
funding probe
AFP, Paris
Police on Friday searched the home and office of a
financial adviser to France's richest woman as part of a
probe into alleged illegal donations to President Nicolas
Sarkozy's campaign, officials said.
The search of Patrice de Maistre's residence and firm came
a day after police questioned the ex-accountant to Liliane
Bettencourt, heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics empire,
about her allegations of cash gifts to Sarkozy.
Prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into
claims by the accountant of a 150,000-euro
(190,000-dollar) donation from Bettencourt given to Eric
Woerth, Sarkozy's campaign fundraiser in 2007 who is now
labour minister.
The scandal is the latest blow to Sarkozy, whose approval
ratings are at an all-time low and who is battling to save
Woerth over conflict of interest allegations linked to the
87-year-old billionaire.
The architect of pension reform, Woerth is to present a
bill to cabinet next week that will raise the legal
retirement age and push through a centerpiece of Sarkozy's
agenda as he heads for a re-election fight in 2012.
Woerth has strenuously denied taking any illegal donations
from Bettencourt and Sarkozy has dismissed the claims as a
smear campaign, but the scandal has sparked calls for the
high-profile minister to resign.
The accountant, Claire Thibout, told police during three
hours of questioning on Thursday that the financial
adviser had asked her "before the presidential election to
go pick up 150,000 euros at the bank" according to a
transcript obtained by the Mediapart website.
"When I asked him what the money was for, he said that he
had a dinner planned with Mr Woerth to give it to him,"
she said.
But Thibout denied a report in Mediapart that Sarkozy was
a regular visitor at Bettencourt's villa in the chic Paris
suburb of Neuilly when he was mayor of the town and that
he often received cash envelopes.
Guinea presidential run-off election
postponed
AFP, Conakry
The second round of Guinea's presidential election,
scheduled for July 18, has been postponed to a date yet to
be determined, an electoral commission official told AFP
on Friday.
The announcement came as Guinea's supreme court considered
several complaints lodged by political parties over the
running of the first round of the presidential election on
June 27.
"It all depends on the supreme court, but it will no
longer be July 18," said Pathe Dieng, director of
operations at the National Independent Electoral
Commission (CENI).
"We are waiting to see, to approach the supreme court to
fix a new date," he added, referring to the run-off
between former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo and a
veteran opponent of many Guinean regimes, Alpha Conde.
Thousands of supporters of Guinean former prime minister
Sidya Toure rallied Monday alleging electoral fraud after
their candidate placed third, missing the run-off.
Many others among the initial 24 candidates have also
alleged voting irregularities-and the electoral commission
has itself acknowledged "many cases of fraud".
Among the candidates' complaints were allegations of
ballot-stuffing, false polling stations and ballot boxes
that disappeared and later re-appeared.
Some opposition figures, including Toure, accused the
election commission itself of having been involved in the
fraud. Under commission rules, objectors had eight days to
contest the results.
On June 27, more than three million Guineans, 77 percent
of registered voters, took part in the West African
nation's first democratic election since independence from
France in 1958.
The election in this mineral-rich west African country
attracted close attention abroad, with foreign leaders
offering words of encouragement over the relatively
peaceful first-round vote.
Riots break out in Oakland after
police shooting verdict
AFP, San Francisco
Police clashed with protesters who looted businesses and
smashed windows in Oakland, California after a white
policeman was convicted on a lesser charge of killing an
unarmed black man.
Several hundred people initially gathered peacefully
Thursday in downtown Oakland, a city east of San
Francisco, to protest the involuntary manslaughter ruling
against Johannes Mehserle, the lesser charge that fueled
concerns of unrest over the racially polarizing case.
Prosecutors had sought more severe murder charges against
Mehserle, 28, for shooting 22-year-old Oscar Grant in the
back as he lay face-down at a transit station on New
Year's Day in 2009 -- a killing bystanders caught on tape.
After night fell, brief riots broke out between police and
a small group of protesters, who were quickly subdued by
police. Following a short lull, some protesters broke into
a Foot Locker sportswear store and took items under
applause from participants.
Looters were seen distributing shoes and t-shirts to the
crowd before police stopped several dozen people.
A jewelry store was ransacked and several other businesses
were damaged, while trash cans were set on fire and
protesters threw rocks at a police car.
By 11:00 pm (0600 GMT), the crowd had not yet fully
dispersed and police reinforcements arrived from San
Francisco and other nearby cities, according to the
Oakland Tribune, as the Grant family's lawyer, Oakland
Mayor Ron Dellums and California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger urged calm.
Mehserle, who was a police officer with the Bay Area Rapid
Transit (BART) association, has said he had meant to draw
and fire his Taser electroshock gun, not his gun.
Grant's death had prompted unrest immediately following
the incident, with some 100 people arrested in the wake of
one of the riots.
Mehserle's is due for sentencing on August 6.
Business/Economy
India
expects bumper harvest to ease food prices
AFP, New Delhi
India expects bumper foodgrain production this year that
should help contain inflation after last year's worst
drought in decades drove up prices, Agriculture Minister
Sharad Pawar said Friday.
Foodgrain production slid by seven percent in the crop
year to June 2010 to 218.19 million tonnes from a record
234.47 million tonnes the previous year due to the severe
drought, the worst in 37 years.
But this year's monsoon, which sweeps across the
subcontinent from June to September and accounts for about
80 percent of the rainfall India receives, has already
covered the entire country ahead of schedule.
"With the way sowing operations are going and reports of a
good monsoon from the states, we're likely to have a
bumper crop production this year," Pawar told reporters in
New Delhi.
India is the world's second-biggest producer and consumer
of rice after China. Summer crops such as rice, sugar
cane, cotton and oilseeds are sown in July and harvested
from October. Pawar added that the expected good harvest
should help check food inflation, now at 12.63 percent, as
well as overall inflation which was running at 10.16
percent in May.
Pawar noted food inflation has already started coming down
substantially from earlier peaks of nearly 17 percent,
easing the plight of consumers.
The monsoon rains are a lifeline for India's hundreds of
millions of farmers, who have no access to irrigation
systems.
Worst
of economic crisis is over: ECB chief economist
AFP, Frankfurt
The European Central Bank's chief economist said Friday
that the worst of the eurozone's economic crisis was over
but warned other major economies their policies were
unsustainable.
Juergen Stark told reporters on the sidelines of a bank
conference that "it seems that the worst is over" given
that ECB loan operations came off smoothly at the
beginning of July and economic indicators show solid
growth in much of the 16-nation bloc.
"The most recent economic data is confirming that the
recovery will continue," Stark said.
"We have entered a new phase in the sovereign debt crisis
here in the euro area but which is a global phenomenon,"
he added.
Stark stressed that "both European governments and the ECB
had the situation under control since early May, we always
had the situation under control" as financial markets
began to fear some banks could become insolvent.
That was owing to heavy levels of bank lending to some
eurozone governments and real-estate sectors. The crisis
was described as a wake-up call to eurozone governments
that Stark said were now serious about fiscal reforms and
more structural changes as well.
"In leading economies in the world I don't see this
commitment to fiscal consolidation, I see the contrary,"
the ECB economist said. The United States for example has
urged major European countries like Germany to provide
more economic stimulus, but such policies will "in the end
will turn out not to be sustainable," Stark warned.
Earlier in the day, ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet
warned that "many countries in the industrialised world
have reached the limits of fiscal expansion."
Stark also criticised the International Monetary Fund's
latest assessment of eurozone growth prospects, saying:
"We see a bias here, that the IMF has not caught up to the
reality in Europe. "The IMF in my view is underestimating
the strength of the recovery in the euro area" and other
regions of the world," Stark said.
IMF urges slow change for China’s forex reserves
AFP, Hong Kong
Any changes in the makeup of China's foreign exchange
reserves would have to be very slow, International
Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard said
Friday.
Blanchard's remark to a Hong Kong business lunch came one
day after China's finance ministry announced that its
investment in Japanese government bonds in May was nearly
triple the annual amount it has invested previously.
Chinese investors had bought a net 735.2 billion yen (8.3
billion dollars) in Japanese government bonds in May, more
than the 541 billion yen purchased in the four months
previously, the ministry said.
The huge increase sparked questions about whether China
was moving to shrink its exposure to US government debt in
favour of relatively stable Japanese government bonds.
China has sought to diversify its vast investments away
from the US dollar and Europe since the onset of the
global financial crisis.
Blanchard said the IMF welcomed China's recent move to let
its yuan currency trade more freely, although he added
that any rise was unlikely to be rapid.
The move followed international calls for Beijing let the
currency's value rise over concerns that it unfairly made
Chinese exports cheaper.
EU slams excessive car repair costs
AFP, Brussels
Car prices have dropped in Europe but it keeps getting
more expensive for drivers to fix their vehicles,
highlighting the need to crack down on exhorbitant repair
costs, the EU said Friday.
The European Commission, the EU's competition watchdog,
said the prices for repair and maintenance services as
well as spare parts rose "well above inflation" in 2009,
by 1.5 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.
"I am very happy that consumers in Europe are continuing
to benefit from strong competition in the markets for car
sales," European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia.
"At the same time, I am dismayed to see that the price for
repairs and spare parts continued to rise during the
economic recession," he said.
The European Commission estimates that repair bills
account for 40 percent of the total cost of owning a car.
New commission rules took effect on June 1 to curb an
"abuse of warranties" by manufactaturers which demand that
cars be serviced only in authorised garages.
While repair costs went up last year, car prices dropped
in 24 of the 27 EU members states, the commission said.
Overall, car prices fell by 0.6 percent in the European
Union. They rose by 7.7 percent in Britain and 2.7 percent
in Sweden, the commission said, noting that the two
countries had "benefited from an extraordinary fall" in
prices in 2008 of 9.7 percent a 5.0 percent respectively.
Prices were stabled in the Netherlands.
The biggest drops in car prices were recorded in the
newest EU member states, with a fall of 13.4 percent in
Slovenia, 11.1 percent in Lithuania and 11 percent in
Slovakia. "The fact that most new member states were
harder hit by the recession than the EU as a whole in 2009
may have contributed to these price decreases," the
commission said.
Among the EU's big economies, car prices fell by 4.7
percent in Spain, 1.1 percent in Italy, 1.0 percent in
Germany and 0.6 percent in France.
Taiwan forecasts GDP, jobs rise from China trade
pact
QFP, Taipei
Taiwan said Friday a major trade pact it has forged with
China is expected to boost its economy by 0.4 percentage
points and create 60,000 new jobs in two years.
The two sides last month signed the Economic Cooperation
Framework Agreement (ECFA) to remove tariffs for 539
Taiwanese products ranging from petrochemical to auto
parts and textiles within three years.
The "early harvest" list will raise Taiwan's economic
growth by an estimated 0.4 percentage points or an
equivalent of 55 billion Taiwan dollars (1.71 billion US),
an aide quoted economic minister Shih Yen-shiang as
saying.
It is also expected to save about 29.5 billion Taiwan
dollars in tariffs for local manufacturers and generate
60,000 new jobs, he said. The signing of the agreement, by
far the most sweeping ever between the two sides, marks
the culmination of a Beijing-friendly policy introduced by
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou after he assumed power in
2008.
But opponents say the accord will strengthen Beijing's
power over the island, marking a first step towards
reunification.
China is Taiwan's largest trading partner, its largest
investment destination, and now also home to a growing
number of Taiwanese people. Taiwan and China have been
governed separately since a civil war in 1949, but Beijing
considers the island part of its territory and has vowed
to get it back, by force if necessary.
Oil nears 76 dollars on upbeat outlook for global
economy
AFP, Singapore
Oil traded near 76 dollars in Asia on Friday, lifted by
buoyant sentiment after the International Monetary Fund
bumped up its global growth projections.
Stronger demand in the United States, shown by a drop in
crude inventories, also helped push prices higher,
analysts said.
In afternoon Asian trade, New York's main contract, light
sweet crude for delivery in August, was up 43 cents at
75.87 dollars a barrel, and Brent North Sea crude gained
38 cents to 75.09 dollars. The IMF on Thursday upgraded
its global growth forecast for this year despite renewed
financial turbulence stemming from Europe's debt crisis.
It projected the world economy would expand by 4.6
percent, up from its 4.2 percent forecast in April,
reflecting "stronger activity" during the first half of
2010 and expectations of fiscal action, especially in
Europe.
The fund maintained its 2011 growth forecast at 4.3
percent. Stronger world growth means greater demand for
oil as economic activities expand.
The market was also boosted by a report from the US
Department of Energy showing that American crude oil
reserves had plunged almost five million barrels in the
week ending July 2, beating forecasts.
And there was fresh US data showing a decline in the
number of Americans registering for jobless benefits. "The
economic outlook is not as bad as many now seem to
assume," said Capital Economics analyst John Higgins,
referring to the US economy.
The pace of the rebound in the world's biggest economy
"has shifted into a lower gear" but growth is likely to
top 3.5 percent at an annualised rate in the second half
of 2010, and be around 2.5 percent in 2011, he said in a
market commentary. "This would be a far cry from a renewed
slide into recession."
Obama bemoans ‘sledgehammer’ recession
AFP, Kansas City, Missouri
US President Barack Obama Thursday bemoaned a
"sledgehammer" last decade of economic irresponsibility,
but insisted his policies were succeeding in powering a
genuine recovery.
Obama launched a two-day western political swing by
touring a plant which makes electric vehicles, a symbol of
his plan to spend billions of stimulus dollars to develop
a new job-rich green energy revolution.
"This recession was the culmination of a decade of
irresponsibility-a decade that fell like a sledgehammer on
middle class families," Obama said, blaming the worst
slump in decades partly on the last Republican
administration.
Obama, who has seen his personal approval ratings slide as
fears grow that the recovery may be slowing, said he had
taken necessary decisions to rescue the recovery, even
though they were unpopular. "What is absolutely clear is
that we are moving in the right direction-the surest way
out of this storm is to go forwards not to go backwards.
"There are some people who argue that we ought to abandon
our efforts - and some people who have made the political
calculation ... that it's better to obstruct than lend a
hand," Obama said in a swipe at his Republican critics.
"But my answer is ... come right here to Kansas City." The
president toured Smith Electric Vehicles, a firm that won
32 million dollars in funding from his stimulus package to
build electric trucks and has so far created 50 jobs and
has ambitious expansion plans.
Obama argues that the United States must revolutionize its
economy and produce new green jobs to wean the United
States off foreign oil, create jobs win a battle with
competitors abroad and to ease environmental damage.
His visit to Missouri and Nevada was designed to drive
home his message of economic recovery, and fill campaign
coffers ahead of November's elections.
Greek lawmakers confirm pension reform despite
protests
AFP, Athens
Greek lawmakers on Thursday shrugged off a general strike
and street protests to confirm approval of an unpopular
pension reform, the latest in a wave of measures to stave
off a major debt crisis.
A day after the reform was adopted in principle, the
Socialist government's 157-seat majority in parliament
also secured passage of the statutes of the law which
raises the retirement age from 60 to 65 and generally cuts
pensions. "The bill has now been approved in principle and
on the basis of its statutes," acting parliament speaker
Grigoris Niotis said.
Some 12,000 people, according to police estimates, had
earlier marched through Athens in the sixth general strike
since February, carrying banners attacking the
International Monetary Fund and the European Union.
Both the EU and the IMF are overseeing the government's
tough programme of cuts in return for a disputed loan
bailout for the debt-hit country.
India relatively unaffected by global economic
crisis: US
PTI, Washington
Due to India's limited dependence on external demand and
strong fiscal and monetary stimulus measures, the global
economic and financial crisis had a relatively muted
effect on the country, the Obama Administration told the
US Congress on Thursday.
"The global economic and financial crisis had a relatively
muted effect on India, due to the country's limited
dependence on external demand, and strong fiscal and
monetary stimulus measures," the Treasury Department said
in its semi-annual report to the US Congress.
Delayed by nearly three months, the 35-page report to the
Congress on international economic and exchange rate
policies, however, notes that the rate of growth of the
Indian economy slowed down during the period of the global
economic crisis, though it has bounced back.
"Economic growth slowed to 6.8 per cent in 2009, compared
to an average rate of 9.4 per cent in 2005 to 2007. Real
GDP expanded by 16.8 per cent on a seasonally adjusted
annualised basis in the third quarter of 2009, before
contracting in the fourth quarter by 2.8 per cent as the
worst monsoon in nearly 25 years resulted in a steep
decline in agricultural output," it said.
"The fourth quarter was only a pause in the recovery. The
economy grew by 13.5 per cent on an annualised basis in
the first quarter of 2010. The IMF expects the Indian
economy to grow by 9.4 per cent in 2010," the report said.
Noting that the 2009 monsoon boosted inflation, it said
rising food prices pushed average monthly CPI inflation to
13.3 per cent year-over-year in the second half of 2009,
compared to an average of 9.6 per cent in the first half
of the year.
In April, 2010, CPI inflation in India stood at 14.4 per
cent.
As a result of India's robust recovery in the second half
of 2009 and rising inflationary pressures, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian government are
normalising monetary and fiscal policy conditions, it
said.
In January, 2010, the RBI raised its cash reserve ratio by
75 basis points (to 5.75 per cent) to reduce excess
liquidity in the banking system.
In March, it raised both the repo (lending) and reverse-repo
(liquidity absorption) rates by 25 basis points.
Subsequently, in April, it raised all three policy rates
by an additional 25 basis points, the report said.
In its latest annual Budget, the Treasury informed the
Congress that the Indian government is aiming at a modest
fiscal consolidation to reduce the central government
fiscal deficit to 5.5 per cent of GDP from 6.9 per cent of
the GDP in FY2009-10.
The planned deficit reduction would be achieved through
increased revenue mobilisation, rather than cutbacks in
government spending. India is expected to continue to
pursue fiscal consolidation, due to its large general
government deficit (about 11 per cent of the GDP in
FY2008-09) and high public debt to GDP ratio (about 80 per
cent, substantially higher than most emerging market
economies), it said.
Observing that India's official exchange rate arrangement
is a managed float and the rupee moved significantly in
both directions during 2009, the report said the rupee was
unchanged against the dollar in the third quarter of 2009,
but appreciated by 2.8 per cent in the fourth quarter in
line with improvements in risk appetite and capital
inflows.
Malaysia to simplify visa process for Indian
visitors
PTI, Kuala Lumpur
Indians will now find it easier to get Malaysian visas
with Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday saying that he
has instructed immigration authorities to simplify the
process for visitors from the South Asian nation.
"We have engaged a private company to make it easier for
Indian nationals to visit Malaysia," Najib said in his
keynote address to a business seminar titled "Towards
strategic partnership tapping growth opportunities".
"There were a record 111 flights between the two countries
in a week," the premier told the seminar organised by the
Malaysia India Business Council and the Malaysian
Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce an Industry.
Malaysian Airlines, the country's national carrier,
operates 30 weekly flights between the two countries,
Malaysia's budget airlines Air Asia has 63 weekly flights
flying between Malaysia and India. The other flights are
operated by three Indian airlines including Jet Airways.
Malaysia had introduced visa on arrival facility for
nationals of a few countries including India but revoked
it later complaining that many Indian nationals had failed
to return to India on the expiry of their tourist visa and
had allegedly mingled among the crowds here and become
illegal nationals.
Recently, the authorities here said Indian nationals who
were residents of other countries could transit through
Malaysia availing the visa on arrival facility.
Pakistan, China trade reaches $8b
Xinhua, Islamabad
Bilateral annual trade of Pakistan and China, which has
been 7 billion dollars, is touching 8 billion dollars mark
now and is likely to increase to 15 billion dollars by
2011-12, said the Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman on
Thursday.
Foreign Office spok-esman Abdul Basit said at a weekly
press briefing that President Asif Ali Zardari is having
intensive engagements in China and the two countries have
moved closer during the last two years.
"Over 11,000 Chinese are working on more than 100 projects
of different kinds in Pakistan," he said.
Asked about the concern being expressed by India on
proposed Pakistan-China rail link and Diamer-Bhasha Dam in
the country's northern areas, the spokesman said India has
no locus standi on these matters. Indian objections, if
any, were uncalled for, he added.
Canada sees strong jobs growth in June
AFP, Ottawa
Canada's economy added 93,000 jobs in June, pushing the
unemployment rate down 0.2 percent to 7.9 percent,
Statistics Canada announced Friday.
The job creation figure significantly exceeded analysts'
expectation that 15,000 new jobs would be created in the
month, and is likely to pressure Canada's central bank to
continue raising interest rates from their current
historic low.
Employment has been on an upward trend since July 2009,
increasing by 403,000 or 2.4 percent over the past year,
Statistics Canada said.
"These gains offset nearly all the employment losses
observed during the labor market downturn which began in
the fall of 2008," the government agency noted. The June
national unemployment rate, however, remained well above
the October 2008 level of 6.8 percent as many more people
entered the labor force over the past two years in search
of jobs.
Canada saw employment increases last month in retail and
wholesale trade, business, building, health care and
social assistance, automotive repair and personal care
services. Virtually all of June's employment gains were in
the provinces of Ontario, which added 60,000 new jobs, and
in Quebec, which saw an additional 30,000 jobs.
The private sector continued to hire in the month and the
number of self-employed also increased, but there was
little change in public sector employment.
The average hourly wage for employees was up 1.7 percent
compared to the same month last year.
Central, Eastern Europe countries to lead economic
recovery of Europe
Xinhua, Vienna
Economic recovery in Middle and Eastern Europe is tardy
but following the trend of healthy development and this
region is expected to even become the leader in Europe's
economic recovery, according to the latest summer forecast
issued by The Vienna Institute for International Economic
Studies (WIIW) on Thursday,
In a press conference of releasing the summer forecast,
expert of the WIIW Mario Holzner noted that, in Central
and Eastern European countries, particularly in those
countries with an industry share of at least one quarter
of gross domestic product, the recovery trend is more
significant. In this region, economies of Turkey, Russia
and Ukraine had relatively higher growth rate,
respectively reached 6.3, 4.0 and 3. 8 percent, indicating
that these countries have entered into the recovery stage.
However, for Latvia it was expected to be minus 3.5
percent, while Lithuania and Croatia have the same growth
of minus 1.5 percent, being in the recession.
The WIIW believed that Turkey's significant economic
growth was mainly due to its increased domestic demand.
Turkey is the country that witnessing the quickest
increase in domestic demand, which has deserved attention
of foreign investors.
In addition, Ukraine ensured their advantage of low wage
cost through devaluation, while in Slovenia jobs were
sacrificed in order to maintain a stable exchange rate. In
2009, Slovenia's unemployment rate increased by 2.5
percent, rising to 12 percent.
According to the projection, the deterioration of Center
and Eastern Europe's employment market will reach the
heights this year. The three Baltic States and Slovakia
will have most serious unemployment.
In addition, the average unemployment rate in the 10 new
EU countries will rise from 8.5 percent of 2009 to 10.8
percent of 2010. But in 2011 the unemployment will slow
down to 10 percent and in 2012 may further decline to 8.6
percent. In the area of domestic demand, the situation in
Center and Eastern European countries will be improved at
some extents. In 2009, only Poland and Turkey in this
region had positive growth of private consumption, while
in the Baltic States it declined by almost 30 percent in
various quarters. Other factors such as credit squeeze and
inflation also badly hit the economies of these countries.
The rise of budget deficits in some Center and Eastern
European countries was due to the decrease of their tax
revenue, which weakened the paying capability of their
relevant governments, to some extents suppressed the
stimulation to economic recovery and reduced the region's
capital flows, said expert of the WIIW Vasily Astrov.
Astrov even believed that it might take 10 years in
average for the EU countries to break away from the
economic crisis and this will result in slowing down the
process of EU enlargement.
Nevertheless, the WIIW forecasted that the 10 new EU
countries will have an average economic growth of 1.2
percent this year, 0.3 percent higher than that of 15 old
EU countries. The next year, average economic growth of
the new EU countries was expected to reach 2.7 percent,
1.1 percent higher than that of the old EU countries.
China seizes melamine-tainted milk powder
AFP, Beijing
Chinese authorities have seized 76 tonnes of milk powder
tainted with melamine, the same chemical responsible for
the deaths of six babies two years ago, state media said
Friday.
The powder was seized in northwestern China's Gansu
province after tests showed it contained up to 500 times
the allowed level of the toxic industrial chemical, Xinhua
news agency reported.
The Beijing News said tainted powder has also been
detected in Jilin province in China's northeast and that
two officials from the dairy company at the centre of the
latest discovery in Gansu had been detained.
The reports highlight China's continuing problems in
curbing the use of melamine, which is used to make
plastics but has been widely and illegally added to dairy
products to give the appearance of higher protein content.
In 2008, melamine was found in the products of 22 Chinese
dairy companies in a massive scandal blamed for the deaths
of at least six infants and for sickening 300,000 others
in China.
It also led to huge worldwide recalls of Chinese dairy
products.
China's government has repeatedly said that all tainted
products were seized and destroyed after the scandal and
that there was no further public health threat, but
reports of tainted items have continued to trickle out.
China auto sales up nearly 50 pc in first half
AFP, Beijing
China's auto sales soared nearly 50 percent on year in the
first half, although monthly figures showed a continued
trend of softer demand in the world's biggest market, a
report said Friday.
Total vehicle sales hit 9.02 million units during the six
month period, up 48 percent from a year ago, Dow Jones
Newswires reported, citing industry group China
Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Passenger car sales also surged 48 percent on year to 6.72
million units, the report said. In June alone, total
vehicle sales rose 23.5 percent from a year earlier to
1.41 million units, but sales grew at a slower pace than
in May.
Month-on-month sale have softened for three months in a
row after hitting a record high of 1.74 million units in
March after authorities reduced subsidies for purchases of
small cars. A total of 1.04 million passenger vehicles
were sold in June, up 19.4 percent from a year ago but
slightly weaker than the previous month, it added.
China's auto sales hit 13.64 million units in 2009,
overtaking the United States to make the country the
world's top auto market as Beijing offered incentives such
as lower taxes to boost the sector during the financial
crisis.
Asia markets edge higher on US, Europe lead
AFP, Hong Kong
Asia-Pacific markets edged higher today helped by positive
news from Europe and the United States but with
nervousness about weekend elections in Japan keeping Tokyo
subdued.
Tokyo closed up 0.52 percent, or 49.58 points, at
9,585.32, with the Topix index of all first-section shares
up 0.02 percent at 861.21.
Despite gains on Wall Street, traders were reluctant to
push the Nikkei much higher after it jumped 2.76 percent
on Thursday. Many investors stayed on the sidelines ahead
of a weekend Upper House election that could bring fresh
uncertainty after the honeymoon period enjoyed by new
Prime Minister Naoto Kan. "The Nikkei made a sharp jump to
the 9,500 level yesterday but testing higher will be
difficult as foreign investors' appetites are still not
very strong," Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa
Securities Capital Markets, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Tokyo was also dampened by energy firm Inpex's
announcement of a new share issue to raise funds, although
stronger euro and dollar exchange rates boosted exporters.
Inpex plunged 12.81 percent, while Canon gained 1.01
percent and Sony 0.90 percent. Sydney gained 0.9 percent,
boosted by mining and energy stocks. The benchmark
S&P/ASX200 gained 39.4 points to 4,396.3, while the
broader All Ordinaries rose 40.4 points to 4,414.5. "After
early weakness where markets had been in negative
territory, all sectors finished in the black with the
energy, industrial, materials and financial sectors all
convincingly higher," said IG Markets analyst Ben Potter.
Hong Kong was up 1.56 percent in the afternoon with the
trade volume improved after recent lows, supported by Wall
Street's gains and with Chinese energy majors gaining from
higher oil prices.
Shanghai closed up 2.31 percent as a large influx of money
not used to subscribe to Agricultural Bank of China's
massive initial public offering returned to the market,
dealers said.
The Shanghai Composite Index was up 55.77 points at
2,470.92 on turnover of 81.8 billion yuan (12.1 billion
dollars).
Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 0.52 percent in the
afternoon.
US stocks extended gains Thursday after a dip in new
claims for US unemployment benefits and an upward revision
of global growth by the International Monetary Fund.
European stocks also showed solid gains as investors took
heart from indications of a healthier eurozone banking
sector.
National
Regional cooperation needed to
control flood havoc, desertification
UNB, Dhaka
Comprehensive integrated watershed management involving
South Asian countries can address the longstanding water
related problems including flood havoc, desertification
and flash flood, according to water experts.
They say, as the origin of all principal rivers of
Bangladesh is outside the country, those rivers depend on
upstream water to continue its flow and the country will
not be able to address water related problems without
integrated initiative with neighboring countries.
About 92 percent of the catchments area of the Ganges,
Brahmaputra and Meghna (GBM) rivers are located outside
Bangladesh while the GBM river basin is around 64 percent
in India, 18 percent in China, 9 percent in Nepal, and 3
percent in Bhutan.
It is estimated that the catchments area of the Ganges,
Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers is 12 times the size of
Bangladesh.
Water expert Sardar M Shah Newaz told UNB that river
floods result from melting of snow in the Himalayas and
heavy monsoon rainfall over the catchments of Ganges and
Brahmaputra floodplains lying outside Bangladesh.
He said: "Flash flood occurs in Bangladesh every year due
to runoff during heavy rainfall in the neighboring upland
areas, mostly outside Bangladesh. We cannot manage our
flash floods for want of comprehensive and planned
watershed management."
Sardar Shah Newaz, also Director, Flood Management
Division of Institute of Water Modelling (IWM),
underscored the necessity of water reservoirs in
maintaining water system in South Asia region.
He said as Bangladesh is a downstream country, there is no
capability to build water reservoirs here. Bangladesh can
build water reservoirs in upstream areas of GBM basin in
cooperation with neighboring countries. "India, Nepal and
Bhutan have great potentiality to construct water
reservoirs in upstream areas due to huge space. If those
countries will take joint initiative to build water
reservoirs with mutual understanding, all countries will
be benefited."
Shah Newaz said that more power can be generated by
setting up hydropower station in upstream areas to address
the electricity crisis in South Asia region.
Recalling some big floods that occurred in Bangladesh over
the couple of decades, he said it is common phenomena that
the country's Meghna river basin is flooded every year and
the flood situation can be controlled by ensuring
integrated watershed management in the region.
"If we will ensure comprehensive integrated watershed
management in a planned way, the ecosystem may improve
though it will be changed."
Chairman of National Disaster Management Advisory Council
Dr MA Quassem said water availability is around 90 billion
cubic metre (BCM) during the dry season against the demand
of about 147 BCM - a shortfall of nearly 40 percent,
resulting drought like situation in large parts of the
country. "Water shortage in the dry season affects all
water using sectors. Due to inadequate surface water,
ground water is extensively used for irrigation and the
over-extraction is causing deterioration of its quality."
Char women in changing
their socio-economic conditions
BSS, Rangpur
Distressed women of the remotest and hardly reachable char
village Kawniar Char on the Brahmaputra bed in Roumari
upazila of Kurigram have gone a step ahead by setting an
example in changing their socio-economic conditions.
They have also achieved tremendous successes in sanitation
and hygiene, birth registrations, eradicating social
curses like child marriage, dowry, polygamy, divorce and
settling local issues through arbitrations and reduced
decades-long social superstitions.
They have also achieved successes in ensuring safe
motherhood, family planning, safe drinking water,
education of their children, eradicating human
trafficking, repression on women and children and gender
discriminations. It could not be even thought even a
decade ago about a dowry- free marriage when all marriages
were child marriages with dowries and the distressed char
women did not have any knowledge about their legal rights
and awareness against the social curses. With a desired
mission of building a developed digital Bangladesh, the
char women have brought huge changes and it became
possible with their relentless efforts though they had no
food and social security and even houses due to river
erosion in the past. They achieved the successes under the
assistances of the ongoing Char Livelihood Programme (CLP)
of the government and full time efforts of a number of
officials and employees of Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service
(RDRS) working there under the CLP. The field level CLP
officials and workers of RDRS have put their effective
endevours in achieving the successes through conducting
awareness building and motivational works among the poor
backward people of the disaster-prone char village. The
CLP officials and workers have been organising village,
moholla and union level workshops, public hearing
meetings, discussion, staging of Gononatoks and rallies in
the char areas to make the backward people aware.
Local Member of Parliament Zakir Hossain, community
leaders, union chairmen and members, teachers, imams,
matchmakers, guardians, adolescents, students, farmers,
workers, day-labourer have also been taking active parts
in the programmes.
Local observers highly appreciated the achievements in
saving dozens of adolescents from child marriages,
arranging dowry-free marriages at proper ages, sanitation
facilities for all and motivating char people in getting
rid of all sorts of social superstitions there.
They also expressed happiness for substantial upgradation
of the infrastructural and bazaar development works with
marketing facilities and better health care services to
the distressed women of the char village and their
children including adolescents.
Imams can play vital role in
preventing militancy
BSS, Rajshahi
State Minister for Home Advocate Shamsul Haque Tuku has
said the imams and other Islamic scholars could play
pivotal role in preventing militancy to make the nation
free from its stigma.
In this regard, he mentioned that the present government
of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is determined to uproot
militancy and the determination could be executed with
collective efforts of all quarters especially the imams
and other religious leaders.
He was addressing an Imam conference styled "Role of Imams
to prevent militancy and terrorism" jointly organized by
the district administration and the Islamic Foundation
Bangladesh (IFB) at Zila Parishad auditorium here on
Thursday as the chief guest. He said there is no
alternative to complete the trial process of the war-
criminals to execute the spirit of the great war of
liberation and added that the government is committed to
do the work at any cost.
Local lawmaker Fazley Hossain Badsha and Commissioner of
Rajshahi division Nurul Islam addressed the occasion as
special guests with Deputy Commissioner Dilwar Bakth in
the chair. Addressing as the main discussant Director
General of IFB Shamim Muhammad Afzal said the Islam has no
relation with any sort of militancy, violence and any
other anarchic activities rather than it is a religion of
global peace and tranquility.
Minister Tuku underscored the need for proper motivation
and counseling among the new generation imams so that they
could supplement the government effort to culminate the
militancy and terrorism along with completing the trial
process of the war-criminals.
"You have to come forward to foil the conspiracies being
hatched by a certain quarter to halt the government
efforts," he reminded the imams. Blaming the previous
BNP-Jamaat alliance government for patronizing the JMB and
its destructive activities the minister said their
anti-state and the anti- Islamic activity has still been
continuing and urged upon the religious leaders to resist
the conspirators.
Convener of the Trained National Imam Samity Dr Maolana
Barkullah Been Durul Huda presented a concept paper on the
topic while IFB Directors Dr Shahadat Hossain and Dr AK
Abdul Aziz made their welcome and thanksgiving speeches
respectively.
Human chain formed for preventing
eve-teasing
BSS, Rangpur
Female students of different educational institutions on
Friday formed a human chain in front of on the Press Club
premises in the city here for preventing eve-teasing and
demanding exemplary punishments to the eve- teasers.
A large number of students of Rangpur High School, Salma
Girls' High School, Shalbon Girls' High School, Samaj
Kallyan Biddya Bithi, Rangpur Technical Scholl and
College, RCCI School and College and socio-cultural
activists of the city took part.
Oggro Agamir Bangladesh (OAB) assisted in forming the
human chain and its General Secretary of Obaidul Islam,
activists Shyamol Mohanta, Gazi Sajjad Hossain and a large
number of female students addressed the occasion. The
speakers demanded stopping of all sorts of eve-teasing and
repressions on women and children for securing the school
and collage going female students and establishing equal
rights of the womenfolk by ensuring their security
everywhere. They also underscored the need for building
mass social awareness and launching a social movement
against the eve-teasers for ensuring safer growth of our
daughters to become worthy citizens of the soil in
congenial atmospheres.
Early marriage foiled in C'nawabganj
BSS, Chapainawabganj
An early marriage attempt at Angariapara in
Chapainawabganj municipality was foiled on Friday.
The marriage was arranged between Arifa Begum, 12,
daughter of Ashraful Islam Bishu and Nayan, 14, son of
Rabiul Islam Robu of Angaria Para in Chapainawabganj
municipality. Being informed two NGO's Shishuprokash and
Proyas took initiatives to stop the marriage and informed
the police of Chapainawabganj sadar thana of the matter.
Police rushed to the spot at around 9-30 am and stopped
the marriage. Police also held Arifa's uncle Abdul Matin
and Nayan's grandfather Abdul Aziz from there. Later, with
under taken from the two persons that they would not get
the two children married, police freed them.
Meeting of new district unit command of BMS held in
Rangpur
BSS, Rangpur
The first meeting of the newly elected executive committee
of Rangpur district unit command of Bangladesh Muktijoddha
Sangshad (BMS) was held here at its office in the city on
Thursday.
Newly elected Rangpur district unit Commander of BMS and
valiant Freedom Fighter (FF) Mosaddek Hossain Bablu
chaired the meeting that was attended by the other members
of the newly elected executive committee. Deputy unit
Commander FF Motiar Rahman, Assistant Commanders FF
Habibur Rahman, FF Atiar Rahman, FF Ansar Ali, FF Mahbubur
Rahman, FF Abdus Salam, FF Shahjahan Lebu, FF Abu Yusuf,
FF Liyakat Ali, FF Obaidullah and FF Jahangir Alam,
addressed.
The meeting discussed various organisations issues of
Rangpur district unit command of BMS and decided to
resolve all outstanding problems being faced by the FF in
the district and to put maximum emphasis to ensure their
welfare and due rights.
Attachment programme on
rural development and poverty reduction ends at BARD
UNB, Comilla
A five-day attachment programme on rural development and
poverty reduction concluded at the Bangladesh Academy for
Rural Development (BARD) in Comilla on Thursday.
A total of 110 officers of different BCS cadres
participated in the programme as a part of the 46th
Foundation Training Course of Bangladesh Public
Administration Training Centre (BPATC).
Through this attachment programme participants were
acquainted with rural development and poverty reduction
programme of the Government as well as BARD.
They also collected data and received first-hand knowledge
from the adjacent rural areas of BARD.
Mohammad Mir Kashem, Additional Director General, BARD,
chaired the concluding session and distributed
certificates among the officials.
4 persons including a
baby die in Rajshahi
BSS, Rajshahi
Four persons including a baby were killed in separate
incidents during the last 24 hours ending this afternoon.
Quoting witnesses police said, two persons including a
minor baby were killed on the spot and at least four
others were injured in a road accident at Baneshwar Bazar
under Puthiya upazila at around 5.30 pm.
The deceased were identified as Dolly, 25, and her
nine-month old niece Oparna of Khutipara under the same
upazila.
Four seriously injured persons- Jolly, 22, Moriam, 50,
Sohel, 23, and Shahidul, 18, were undergoing treatment at
Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. Another divorcee
identified as Rita, 23, committed suicide after hanging
herself with ceiling fan at her residence at Mohanpur
under Matihar police station in the city on Thursday
night.
However, the reason behind her committing suicide could
not be known immediately.
Monira Khatun, 18, wife of Jewel, of Bargachhi under Paba
upazila reportedly committed suicide after taking poison.
She was immediately rushed to Rajshahi Medical College
Hospital where the attending doctors declared her dead
after a few minutes of admission.
Separate cases of unnatural deaths were recorded with the
respective police station.
Sports
History or misery beckons for Spanish
and Dutch
AFP, Johannesburg
Every World Cup final is like a walk on the precipice of
history. An abyss of despondency awaits the team that slips,
joy unconfined for the one that retains its footing, and never
has the gulf between the two outcomes been as great as it will
be at the conclusion of Spain's date with Holland on Sunday.
Virile football nations the pair of them, yet, almost
inexplicably, both still awaiting their first conquest of the
most ardently-desired prize in sport.
One of them will come of age on Sunday. The World Cup will
have a new winner. But only one country's demons can be laid
to rest at Johannesburg's Soccer City. Recent pedigree
suggests Spain should be able to bring down the curtain on
Africa's first World Cup by drawing a definitive line under
decades of under achievement on the international stage. The
triumph of La Roja that most pundits are predicting would make
them only the second country to have the right to call
themselves European and World champions at the same time,
emulating the great West German side of the 1970s.
The principal elements of a squad that waltzed away with the
Euro 2008 trophy in Vienna two years ago remain in place and,
in the view of Germany's coach Joachim Loew, the cocktail is
more potent than ever. Loew said after his side's 1-0
semi-final defeat at the hands of the Spanish.
The manner of that victory was instructive for anyone seeking
to understand why this generation of Spanish stars is held in
such esteem.
For over an hour, a German team whose youthful exuberance and
clinical counter-attacking had dismantled England and
Argentina in their two previous matches, was reduced to
chasing Spanish shadows, lulled into passivity by the
relentless rhythm of their opponents' imperious passing game.
Yet, in the end, it was Carles Puyol's bull-like charge into
the penalty area and an unstoppable header that bludgeoned the
Germans to the floor.
Spain's football may come encased in thick velvet but there is
a structure of steel at its core.
For Vicente Del Bosque, the former Real Madrid coach who took
over from Luis Aragones after Euro 2008, the job has largely
been about keeping a well- oiled machine ticking over.
In contrast, his Dutch counterpart, Bert van Marwijk, has
built a team of potential world beaters from components that
suffer in comparison to the parts at the disposal of his
predecessors.
In 1974, when Holland suffered the first of two successive
World Cup final defeats that continue to haunt the nation's
football psyche, Johan Cruyff was the finest player on the
planet.
Blatter
hails fair play ‘success’
AFP, Johannesburg
FIFA chief Sepp Blatter believes the 2010 World Cup has been a
fair-play success wih the number of yellow and red cards
handed out dramatically down on the 2006 tournament.
After 62 of the 64 games (only Saturday's third-place game and
Sunday's final remain to be played), there have been 229
bookings and 16 sendings off compared to the 307 yellow cards
and 28 red which were brandished in Germany four years ago. "I
must remark on the fair-play of the players. I congratulate
the teams and the coaches as the statistics show that there
have been fewer injuries.
This shows that players respect their opponents when they go
in for a tackle," said Blatter.
England v
Bangladesh 1st ODI scoreboard
AFP, Nottingham
Final scoreboard in the first one-day international
between England and Bangladesh at Trent Bridge here on
Thursday:
Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal lbw b Broad 28
Imrul Kayes c Morgan b Anderson 14
Junaid Siddique lbw b Yardy 51
Raqibul Hasan run out
(Strauss/Kieswetter) 76
Shakib Al Hasan c Anderson
b Broad 20
Mushfiqur Rahim c Wright
b Bresnan 22
Mahmudullah lbw b Anderson 4
Faisal Hossain not out 8
Mashrafe Mortaza c Bell b Anderson 5
Abdur Razzak b Bresnan 3
Extras (b1, b7, w11) 19
Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 250
Did not bat: Shafiul Islam
Fall of wickets: 1-40 (Tamim), 2-70 (Kayes), 3-136 (Siddique),
4-186 (Shakib), 5-222 (Mushfiqur), 6-234 (Mahmudullah),
7-236 (Raqibul), 8-243 (Mortaza), 9-250 (Razzak)
Bowling: Anderson 10-0-74-3 (3w); Bresnan 10-0-40-2 (5w);
Broad 10-1-43-2 (3w) Tredwell 3-0-18-0; Wright 3-0-20-0;
Collingwood 9-1-32-0; Yardy 5-0-15-1;
England
A. Strauss run out (Mahmudullah) 50
C. Kieswetter c Faisal b Shakib 32
I. Bell not out 84
P. Collingwood c Siddique b Shakib 33
E. Morgan c Shafiul b Razzak 23
M. Yardy not out 10
Extras (b5, lb4, w10) 19
Total (4 wkts, 45.1 overs) 251
Did not bat: L Wright, T Bresnan, J Tredwell, S Broad, J
Anderson
Fall of wickets: 1-75 (Strauss), 2-93 (Kieswetter), 3-173
(Collingwood), 4-213 (Morgan)
Bowling: Mortaza 6-0-30-0; Shafiul 5-0-46-0 (1w); Razzak
10-0-64-1 (8w);
Shakib 10-0-35-2; Mahhmudullah 8-0-41-0 (1w); Faisal
6.1-0-26-0
Toss: Bangladesh
Result: England won by six wickets
Man-of-the-match: Ian Bell (ENG)
Series: England lead three-match series 1-0
Remaining Fixtures
Jul 10: 2nd ODI, Bristol
Jul 12: 3rd ODI, Edgbaston
Umpires: Asad Rauf (PAK) and Nigel Llong (ENG)
TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)
Loew to continue on a high
with new contract
AFP, Berlin
German coach Joachim Loew will be handed a new contract as
a reward for guiding Germany to the World Cup semi-finals
it was reported by the normally reliable Bild on Friday.
The 50-year-old - who since replacing Jurgen Klinsmann as
coach after the 2006 World Cup has taken Germany to the
Euro 2008 final where like Wednesday's semi-final they
were beaten by Spain " has been out of contract since June
30.
However, according to Bild despite initial talks having
broken down earlier this year over financial disagreements
and also over Loew's desire to have more control over the
Under-21 side, German Football Federation (DFB) president
Theo Zwanziger will rubberstamp the new agreement on July
30 at an executive committee meeting.
The new contract will see Loew - who has the best overall
record for a German manager of 38 wins in 55 matches -
take charge till Euro 2012.
Loew is still to hold talks with his backroom staff and
general manager Oliver Bierhoff to see if they are
satisfied with the offer on their return to Germany
following the third place match against Uruguay in Port
Elizabeth on Saturday.
Loew's confirmation in the post will come as a huge blow
to DFB technical director Matthias Sammer, who was being
touted as a possible alternative to Loew and also
vehemently opp-osed the German coach having more
responsibility for the Under-21 side.
Sammer, who guided the Under-21 side to European glory
last year with a side including Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer
and Sami Kedira, does not enjoy good relations with
Bierhoff and has stayed away from South Africa during the
finals.
Mueller eyes prize, but would prefer World Cup
AFP, Erasmia
Germany midfielder Thomas Mueller is the favourite to be
voted the best young player at South Africa 2010 - but has
admitted winning the World Cup would have been a better
prize. The 20-year-old has been short-listed by a FIFA
committee for the award - won by team-mate Lukas Podolski
four years ago - along with Mexico's Giovani Dos Santos
and Ghana's Andre Ayew.
After Germany were beaten 1-0 by Spain in Wednesday's
semi-final, Mueller says his side must now win Saturday's
third place play-off against Uruguay in Port Elizabeth to
finish their World Cup on a high. "I am delighted to be on
that list, but winning the World Cup would have been a
nicer reward," said the Bayern Munich midfielder. "I think
we need a win to leave South Africa on a high."
Pakistan prevail in marathon set to level Cup tie
AFP, Wellington
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi kept Pakistan level with New Zeal-and
in their Asia/ Oceania Group II Davis Cup semi-final on
Friday when he won a dramatic second singles that went to
15-13 in the fifth set.
It took the veteran Qureshi four hours and 36 minutes to
beat New Zealand novice Michael Venus 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 6-2,
2-6, 15-13 with the final set occupying nearly half their
time on court.
New Zealand won the opening singles when Rubin Statham
beat Pakistan number two Aqeel Khan 6-4, 6-0, 6-0 and
appeared destined to go two up until Venus was broken when
serving for the match at 5-2 in the fifth set against
Qureshi.
Qureshi and Khan are scheduled to play Venus and Marcus
Daniell in the doubles on Saturday although teams are
allowed to change their combinations prior to the match
which New Zealand believe could be to their advantage.
"We have options for the doubles they don't," New Zealand
team captain Marcel Vos said. "Qureshi is their strength
in doubles but he will be tired." The Davis Cup tie is
being played on indoor courts in the North Island town of
Hawera after being shifted from Pakistan due to ongoing
security concerns.
Uruguay belong with elite, says proud coach
AFP, cape Town
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez praised his players on
Tuesday, saying their narrow World Cup semi-final defeat
to the Nethe-rlands proved they could can mix it with
football's powerhouses.
The tiny South American nation, sandwiched between Brazil
and Argentina, held their own against the Dutch and almost
pulled off a major shock with a last minute goal getting
the score back to 3-2.
But they were unable to snatch an equaliser and now face a
third-placed play-off on Saturday against either Germany
or Spain while the Dutch head for Sunday's final.
It was Uruguay's first semi-final in 40 years and Tabarez
said it was huge achievement regardless of losing. "When
it comes to looking back, we can say that we were among
the four semi-finalists and the other three are
powerhouses of Europe," he said. "Today we are looking at
the team that is in the final and I believe we put this
team in difficulty. "I know football in Uruguay and where
it stands on a worldwide level and so I can say I am proud
and happy with the performance of my team.
"They managed to play at an equal level with Holland but
didn't manage to score the winning goal in the final
moments. I couldn't ask for more from these players and
nor could Uruguay."
Holland got the best possible start with a 18th minute
strike form veteran captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst
handing them the lead in a first-half dominated by the
Dutch.
Springboks, All
Blacks steel for ‘ultimate Test’
AFP, Auckland
With the top-ranked rugby side chasing revenge against the
world champions the stage is set for the "ultimate Test"
when the All Blacks and Springboks open the Tri-Nations
series on Saturday.
The All Blacks are still fuming after losing all three
Tests against their arch rivals last year when they
relinquished the Tri-Nations crown they had held for the
four previous years.
The Test also carries intriguing Eden Park subplots with
the All Blacks unbeaten in their past 20 Tests at the
stadium, where South Africa have not won since 1937 and
which will be the venue for next year's World Cup final.
"The All Blacks Test has always been the ultimate Test,"
Springboks captain John Smit said as he contemplated all
that was at stake. "It's that Test match you look forward
to and the butterflies are flapping around."
The All Blacks can ill afford a fourth consecutive loss to
South Africa as they pit the run-at-all-costs style of
play they have pinned their faith in against the muscle
power and kicking combination that has served the
Springboks well.
Van Marwijk and Del Bosque revel in back seat
success
AFP, Johannesburg
At first look, World Cup final coaches Bert van Marwijk
and Vicente Del Bosque could not seem more different and
yet a closer inspection reveals a lot of similarities.
Van Marwijk is slick, arrogant and at times outspoken
while Del Bosque is dour, quiet and almost introverted.
And yet when it comes to matters on the pitch they have
one very common trait, they take a back seat and let the
players be the stars. While the extrovert Diego Maradona
sits at home pondering his future as Argentina boss, he
would do well to take a leaf out of the books of the two
coaches contesting the World Cup final.
Maradona was like a circus act in South Africa, dominating
the headlines and being the star of the Argentine show.
Van Marwijk and Del Bosque have let their players be the
stars and it is those players who have shone the most.
While Maradona was a controversial and brilliant player
who lifted the World Cup, both Van Marwijk and Del Bosque
were merely very good players. They both played for their
country and both played the majority of their careers in
their own country's top flight. Del Bosque was a rugged
defender with Real Madrid, van Marwijk was a decent
midfielder who earnt a single cap for Holland. And
although the Spaniard's career both as player and coach
outshines Van Marwijk's, they both came from humble
beginnings. Del Bosque started out in Real Madrid's
reserves, both as a player and as a coach, while he also
coached the club's youth team.
But as a one-club man he eventually in each case rose
through the ranks to reach the first team. As a player he
won five league titles and four Spanish cups while earning
18 caps and a place in Spain's unsuccessful 1980 European
Champion-ships squad. All in all he spent almost 40 years
at Real, from 1964 until he left in 2003 following a
startling four years as first-team coach. Del Bosque's
reign saw him take charge at the height of the Galacticos
era when he blended talents such as Ronaldo, Zinedine
Zidane, Roberto Carlos and Luis Figo into a competitive
and winning unit that claimed two Champions League and two
La Liga crowns.
He did so well because he didn't clash with the bloated
egos of his players but despite his success, his reserved
personality didn't sit well with the Real hierarchy that
craved a big name and bigger personality.
South African parade begins long farewell to World
Cup
AFP, Johannesburg
South Africa begins its long farewell to the World Cup
with a celebration parade Friday through the streets of
Soweto, two days ahead of the final clash between the
Netherlands and Spain.
The three-kilometre (two-mile) procession of brightly
coloured floats is another expression of the "new" South
Africa that the country has projected during the four-week
tournament.
Beginning at a modern shopping mall and ending in a plaza
flanked by a posh hotel, the parade's floats tell the
history of the township that was a hotbed of resistance to
the white-minority apartheid regime.
The procession "will celebrate the past, present and
future of Soweto and at the same time will encompass South
Africa's historical legacy," said organiser Mandla
Hlatshwayo.
The showpiece Soccer City stadium, venue for Sunday's
final, lies between Soweto and downtown Johannesburg,
highlighting the city's steady transformation 16 years
after the first all-race elections.
Major hotel chains reported that they were fully booked
throughout Gauteng, the province that includes
Johannesburg and the nearby capital Pretoria.
FIFA says tickets to the match are sold out, while the
global television audience is expected to reach 500
million viewers.
Colombian pop star Shakira will headline the closing
ceremony ahead of the match, where 15 heads of state are
expected to attend-most controversially Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe, who is the target of a European
and US travel ban. South Africa's biggest Hollywood star
Charlize Theron has reportedly arrived back home for the
final, along with Morgan Freeman, who played Nelson
Mandela in last year's film "Invictus". Airport officials
warned the VIPs that they would maintain stricter policies
for private jets ahead of the final, after a logjam in
landing spots caused delays for six commercial aircraft,
making some fans miss Spain's semi-final victory over
Germany. Transport auth-orities were also warning fans to
make plans to arrive early for the game, preferably on
public transport, with commuter trains offering free rides
to ticket holders. FIFA says overall attendance at all
World Cup matches has topped three million, only the third
tournament to do so, partly because of the enormous
stadiums that South Africa built for the games.
"Africa can be proud, South Africa even more so and
African football can also be proud," FIFA president Sepp
Blatter told a news conference. "We are almost at the end,
but I am a satisfied president."
World Cup fame looms for Dutch or Spain
AFP,Johannesburg
The World Cup winners club will enrol a new member on
Sunday whatever the outcome of the Soccer City final
between European heavyweights Netherlands and Spain.
Netherlands lost consecutive finals to hosts West Germany
and Argentina three decades ago while Spain are appearing
in the international football showpiece climax for the
first time. Brazil (five titles), Italy (four), Germany
(three), Argentina and Uruguay (two each), England and
France have lifted a trophy that symbolises national team
supremacy.
While few pundits predicted a month ago that these
countries would make the decider, Spain are rated second
in the world behind Brazil and Netherlands fourth behind
Portugal and the rankings are a good general guide.
Spain start favourites on the back of an impressive
semi-final triumph over Germany but few dismiss a Dutch
team that came from behind to eliminate record five-time
champions Brazil at the last-eight stage.
Perhaps the biggest surprise ahead of a match that will
attract a sell-out 90,000 crowd and a worldwide television
audience is that the countries have never clashed before
in the tournament. But the adversaries know each other
well as the Spanish side is built around the stars of
Barcelona and Real Madrid while European club champions
Inter Milan of Italy are among the suppliers of talent to
the Dutch.
Think of Spain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, defender
Sergio Ramos, midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres
Iniesta and striker David Villa immediately spring to
mind.
Consolation prize for beaten Germany and Uruguay
AFP, Port Elizabeth
Two-time winners Uruguay and three-time champions Germany
clash here on Saturday in a match that neither side wanted
to be contesting - the playoff to decide third place.
Both coaches, Oscar Tabarez of Uruguay and Germany's
Joachim Loew will have a job on their hands to rouse their
players for one last effort after losing their semi-finals
to the Netherlands and Spain respectively.
The Uruguayans have an advantage in that they will have
had an extra day to absorb their disappointment and
63-year-old Tabarez is known to be a shrewd motivator of
men.
He has already been firm in his resolve following the 3-2
defeat by the Dutch that they would put aside the loss and
aim to finish third going one better than their
performance in 1970.
"To use a term that is common in the team-we have to bury
this match and get over our sorrow," said Tabarez, in his
second spell in charge having guided Uruguay to the last
16 in 1990. He will definitely have Ajax hitman Luis
Suarez back after he served his one match suspension for
being sent off for punching the ball off the line in the
quarter-final against Ghana.
And it looks likely he will be reunited with his
inspirational strike partner Diego Forlan, who had been in
danger of missing the match through injury after playing
through the pain barrier in the semi-final.
The 31-year-old Atletico Madrid star - scorer of four
goals in the finals - carried the unspecified injury
throughout the loss to the Dutch but Tabarez is confident
he can play some sort of role in the match and Forlan
appeared to concur with the coach. "I think it will be an
attractive game - Germany play very good football," said
Forlan.
"But we also have our style of play. I hope it will be a
good game - but our goal is to go out there and win this
third place for Uruguay."
Efficient and ominous Spain fail to dazzle
AFP, Johannesburg
For a team known for their silky passing game and the
pretty patterns they weave on a football pitch, Spain's
progress to Sunday's World Cup final has been surprisingly
businesslike and unspectacular.
Having conceded just two goals in their six games they can
be proud of their defensive efforts but their return of
seven goals is a little disappointing.
They have won their last three matches 1-0 and appear to
be adding weight to the theory that it is the best defence
rather than the most dazzling attack that always wins the
World Cup. For a team which arrived at the competition as
European champions and having romped through qualifying
with a 100 percent record, much was expected of the team
that has now firmly put to bed it's unkind but long-
standing prefix of perennial under-achievers.
And while they have dominated the ball against all their
opponents, as was expected of them, they have not quite
clicked and certainly not been spectacular. In qualifying
Vicente Del Bosque's team plundered 28 goals in their 10
matches and twice knocked in five, conceding a miserly
five goals.
Over the last 18 months they had given footballing lessons
in friendlies to the likes of England, Argentina and
France while their last pre-World Cup friendly ended in a
6-0 demolition of Poland. And yet when they arrived in
South Africa they were brought down to earth with an
immediate bump as Gelson Fernandes scored the only goal of
the game in Durban to give Switzerland a shock victory.
At the time several of the big European teams were
struggling and there was a real worry that Spain could go
the way of France and Italy, who failed to even get out of
the group stages.
Fortunately for Spain next up was minnows Honduras and a
David Villa brace ensured their destiny was in their own
hands.
But their final group game looked a tricky one as they
faced a Chile side that knew a draw would ensure they
topped the group and would hence probably avoid Brazil in
the second round. Spain had to win or they risked
elimination and they were given a huge helping hand when
Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo's mistake gave Villa an
empty goal to loop an inch-perfect shot into from a
difficult angle and more than 40 yards on 24 minutes.
England’s Webb to referee World Cup final - FIFA
AFP,Johannesburg
England's Howard Webb will referee Sunday's World Cup
final between the Netherlands and Spain at Johannesburg's
Soccer City, FIFA said on Thursday.
The 39-year-old from Rotherham, in nothern England, has
been a FIFA- listed referee since 2005 and the former
policeman regularly keeps law and order amongst the top
stars of England's Premier League.
Webb is widely-regarded as one of Europe's top referees
and took charge of May's Champions League final between
Inter Milan and Bayern Munich in Madrid.
At the World Cup, he refereed Spain's 1-0 defeat to
Switzerland in a group match and then oversaw Slovakia's
stunning 3-2 victory over Italy which confirmed the first
round exit of the defending champions.
He was also the focus of film-makers when a Belgian
documentary team recorded his movements at Euro 2008 for a
film called "The Referees".
Webb, the son of a referee, began officiating matches at
the age of 18 and made his English Premier League debut in
2003 with match between Fulham and Wolverhampton
Wanderers. In 2005 he presided over the FA Community
Shield game between Arsenal and Chelsea, whilst in
November that year he took charge of his first national
team encounter, a friendly between Northern Ireland and
Portugal in Belfast.
In 2007 he was placed in charge of the League Cup final
between Arsenal and Chelsea, refereed his first Champions
League tie and took part in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in
Canada, presiding over five matches including the semi-
final between Austria and the Czech Republic. At Euro
2008, Webb covered two first-round matches and three
matches at the Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa.
Webb is the fourth English referee in the Final, the first
being George Reader in 1950 followed by William Ling four
years later and John Taylor in 1974.
Mexico's Benito Archundia will take charge of Saturday's
third-place play- off between Germany and Uruguay in Port
Elizabeth.
Bell blossoms under Flower guidance
AFP, Nottingham
Ian Bell said he was delighted to have put advice from
England coach Andy Flower into action during a
match-winning return to the one-day side here at Trent
Bridge.
Bell made an unbeaten 84 as England, chasing a modest
target of 251, beat Bangladesh by six wickets in their
series opener here on Thursday in what was the
28-year-old's first one-day international since facing
India in Bangalore in November 2008.
Often criticised for failing to impose himself, Bell
restated his one-day case with a limited overs best 158
for the second string England Lions in their tied
triangular series match against India A on Tuesday.
Thursday saw a much less spectacular innings but perfectly
suitable nontheless, after England lost wickets in quick
succession to be 93 for two against a Bangladesh side
boasting several spinners.
"Andy Flower spoke to me about a few things when he left
me out of the side last year, mainly about playing
spinners in the middle overs and it's started to pay off,"
Bell explained.
However, the Warwickshire batsman was only playing because
regular No 3 Kevin Pietersen, who featured throughout the
recent 3-2 one-day series win over Australia, was out with
a thigh injury, although the selectors insisted they would
have rested him from the trio of games with Bangladesh in
any vcent. "I know where I am in this squad and I have to
keep knocking on the door and working hard," Bell said
after his 16th fifty in 80 ODIs. "But it was nice to have
the opportunity to go out and score some runs.
"I guess we have a line-up that has been fantastic over
the last 12-16 months and I've got to keep working hard to
be around this squad. "I'm one of the reserves but it's
nice to have had that time with the Lions and to be in
good form. "Today (Thursday) it was just a matter of
playing the situation."
England captain Andrew Strauss, belying his own reputation
as a sedate batsman with 50 off 37 balls on Thursday,
hailed Bell's batting flexibility.
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