tuesday, july 27, 2010 sraban 12, 1417, shaban 14, 1431 Hijri

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Leading News

A fellow’s death news sparks violence
50 injured as RMG workers clash with police in Savar

UNB, Savar

At least 50 people, including five cops, were injured during a clash between unruly garments workers and police following the death of an ailing garment employee at Hemayetpur in Savar on Monday.
Local sources said Humayun Kabir, an employee of Vertex Garments of Hameytpur, went to work at the factory at about 8:00 am although he was reportedly suffering from typhoid with jaundice. After working for sometime, he fell unconscious.
Fellow workers took Kabir out of the factory for treatment.
He died at about 10:00 am. As the news of Kabir's death spread among the factory workers, they blamed
the owners of the factory for his death. The agitated workers ransacked the factory.
On receiving the news violence, a large contingent of police went to the factory and tried to bring the situation under control. As the workers hurled brick bats towards the police, the law enforcers charged batons to disperse the unruly workers. Police also fired about 94 rubber bullets and lobbed several teargas shells. During chase and counter chase, about 45 garment workers and five policemen, including Officer-in-Charge of Savar police station were injured.
The situation calmed down at noon as the management closed the factory.

 Hasina pledges food autarky by 2013
UNB, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government is aiming to make Bangladesh fully self-sufficient in terms of the production, distribution and consumption of food by 2013.
The Prime Minister further said Bangladesh will not only attain food autarky, by scaling up production it will also be able to export food to many countries.
"Bangladesh will be self-sufficient in food once again," said Hasina, addressing a function arranged on the occasion of distribution of 'Bangaban-dhu National Agriculture Award 2010' in the city's Osmani Auditorium on Monday morning. She also called on the country's scientists to come up with new varieties of crops which are adaptable to the changed global climate.
Sheikh Hasina said flash floods, delayed and heavy rains, long-standing drought, excessive temperature, and other natural hazards are taking place due to climate change.
"Now you, the scientists have to invent such crops which will protect our agriculture and farmers," the Prime Minister said.
On food security, Hasina said her government is strongly committed to ensuring food security for every citizen and that's why agriculture has been given the top most priority.
She was highly critical of the BNP-Jamaat alliance as food production decreased during its regime alarmingly.
"In fact, the four-party alliance does not want to make the nation self-sufficient," she said.
The Prime Minister underscored the need for flourishing of agriculture industries and food processing industries in the country for removing employment problems and increasing the income of the mass people.
Hasina said already the country's scientists in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institution (IRRI) have invented salinity-resilient rice.
"I think if we can apply this variety in the coastal areas, our food production will increase to a large extent," the Prime Minister said.

 Int’l Crimes Tribunal issues warrant against four Jamaat leaders

UNb, Dhaka

The International Crimes Tribunal on Monday issued warrants of arrest against four detained Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in a case of crimes against humanity during the liberation war in 1971.
A three-member tribunal headed by High Court judge M Nizamul Huq passed the order after a hearing on the petition filed by the Chief Prosecutor of the tribunal. The two other members of the tribunal are Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and retired district judge AKM Zaheer Ahmed. The tribunal issued the warrants of arrest against Jamaat ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujaheed and senior assistant secretaries general Muhammad Qamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Mollah. All the four are already in jail custody in other criminal cases.
The accused are facing charges under section 3(2) of the International Crimes Tribunal Act 1973 for genocide, murder, rape, torture, loot and arson during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971.
Passing the order, the tribunal directed the police to submit on August 2 the execution report of the arrest warrants.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner through the Registrar of the tribunal received within four hours the operative part of the day's order about the arrest warrants against the four Jamaat leaders, tribunal registrar Shahinur Islam told UNB.
As the tribunal began the proceedings, Chief Prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu submitted that the four accused should be arrested or detained for the interest of fair and effective investigation into the allegations against them.
He, however, did not mention the political identity of the four top Jamaat leaders. During the hearing, the tribunal interrupted the Chief Prosecutor time and again asking him to speak on the specific offences perpetrated by the accused.
In response, Tipu told the tribunal that the investigation agency already found prima facie evidence of the involvement of the accused in offences like genocide, killing, rape, looting and arson in connivance with the Pakistani occupation forces during the liberation war.
The four accused joined hands with the Pakistani army as members of auxiliary forces like Al Badr and Al Shams, he said. The hearing lasted for 24 minutes from 10:30 am.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam along with his law officers was present to witness the proceedings of the tribunal, first of its kind in the judicial history in Bangladesh.
Three platoons of police and plainclothes detective police were deployed in and around the tribunal to maintain security.

    Law Minister provides assurance of fairness in war crimes trial

UNB, Dhaka

Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed Monday reiterated that the trial of war crimes will be held in a neutral and fair manner maintaining international standards and eschewing any political motives.
"We are taking time to ensure fairness, international standards as well as acceptability to all," he told a seminar.
The seminar titled "Trial of War Criminals- Bangladesh Perspective" was held at the Supreme Court Bar Association Auditorium and organized by Bangladesh Awami Ainjibi Parishad. Presided over by Home Minister Sahara Khatun, also president of Awami Ainjibi Parishad, the seminar was addressed, among others, by State Minister for Law Qamrul Islam, Dr Kamal Hossain, Barrister Rokonuddin Ahmed, former law minister Abdul Matin Khashru MP, Dr MA Hasan, Syed Rezaur Rahman and Adv Abdul Baset Majumder. Law Minister Barrister Shafique said the trial is being held to heal the wounds the nation has been bearing since 39 years ago and free the nation from a shameful legacy.
He once again said that no international pressure came against the trial of war crimes but they only wanted assurances of a fair trial complying with international standards. "We have assured them over the matter as the accused will get all legal support including appointment of lawyers and scope for cross examination."
He criticized the opposition parties' leaders remarks over the trial, saying they are trying to colour it politically.
State Minister for Law Adv Qamrul Islam hoped that the trial of the identified war criminals will be completed within this year.
He said a new dimension has been added to the process following the issuance of warrants of arrest by the international tribunal for war crimes on its first day on Monday.
He cautioned some lawyers who are opposing the trial of bad consequences.
Noted lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain said although late, all have been united and the trial must be completed.

    War crimes issue should not be politicized
USA, UK for fairness, neutrality in trial

UNB, Dhaka

The United States and the United Kingdom stressed fairness and neutrality in the war crimes trial in conformity with the international standards as the international war crimes tribunal in Dhaka on Monday issued warrants of arrest against four members of the top brass of Jamaat-e-Islami on charges of war crimes in 1971.
When asked to comment, a spokesperson for the US Embassy said any individual arrested and charged with a crime should be treated fairly and accorded the full range of legal protections that meet international expectations for transparency, fairness and due process. "Such issues should not be politicized," the spokesperson told UNB.
The United Kingdom said it is important that the war crimes trials are seen to be fair and neutral, and that the process conforms to international standards.

     Jamaat acting chief calls for mass upsurge against govt
UNB, Dhaka

Acting Ameer of Jamaat Moqbul Ahmed on Monday vowed to secure release of the party's four top leaders through legal process and trigger a mass movement to pull down the government.
He alleged that the move for trial of Jamaat leaders by so-called international war crime tribunal is intended to implement the heinous agenda of a neighbouring country, clearly indicating to India.
The acting chief of Jamaat was exchanging views with trade union leaders at Al Falah auditorium. City Jamaat arranged the meet as part of its bid to mobilize public opinion against the government.
He termed 'conspiracy' the cases against the party chief Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami and three other front ranking leaders. He said the nation will expose the conspiracy. He said people have already cautioned the government of launching movement against its misdeeds. "They will find no exit to flee in the face of people's wrath," Moqbul Ahmed warned the government leaders.
He accused the government of stream rolling the political opponents to return to one-party oppressive, autocratic rule. Opposition parties are not allowed peaceful demonstration.
Mokbul Ahmed recalled that Jamaat and the ruling Awami League had together launched movement against the Ershad regime. They had never raised allegation of war crimes against the Jamaat. They are now afraid of rising Jamaat-Shibir.
Meanwhile, acting secretary general ATM Azharul Islam in a press statement today condemned the arrest warrant issued by international war crime tribunal against the party chief Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami and three other top leaders.

     Student-police clash over VAT at private universities
UNB, Dhaka

Hundreds of students from private universities Monday barricaded the Mohakhali-Airport road and clashed with police to protest the imposition of VAT on educational expenses of students studying at private universities.
The protesting students said they organized to form a peaceful human chain to protest the imposition of 4.5 percent VAT on their educational expenses.
They alleged the police obstructed their peaceful human chain demonstration.
Witnesses said police charged batons on the students who in retaliation clashed with police and damaged some passing vehicles on the route.
The nearly 2-hour road blockade on the VIP road caused huge traffic jams for hours after 2pm, causing misery to commuters and disrupting traffic.

Back Page

President tells DCs
Prioritize developing socio-economic condition over protocol to VIPs

UNB, Dhaka

President Zillur Rahman on Monday urged the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to prioritize developing the country's socioeconomic condition than rather than giving protocol to VIPs and holding seminars and symposiums.
"You've to take up and implement development activities targeting each village…you'll have to set responsibilities through conducting study at respective villages, unions, upazilas and districts," he said at the DCs conference at Bangabhaban.
Addressing the function, the President also urged the DCs to implement the government's programmes along with expediting the ongoing trends of achievement in agriculture, fisheries, poultry and livestock sectors as well as the tree plantation and extension of education.
"You'll have to find out the means to make the coordinating meetings a success and you'll have to see that the fruits of development programmes reach the ordinary people," he said.
Zillur Rahman also called upon the DCs to stand with courage and honesty against any sort of injustice.
He said that opportunities of exchanging their opinions at such a conference with government's policymakers will further enrich them. "I hope the decisions taken in the conference will help contribute to improving the people's standard of life."
About the law and order situation, the President mentioned that improving the law and order situation and ensuring peaceful environment are essential for the people to make their contributions in the development activities. "Your role is pivotal here to ensure such environment," he said. Zillur Rahman said that the DCs as the coordinators of district development activities would have to perform their responsibilities for the welfare of the people.
"Your role is important in making inter-divisional coordination, protecting law and order, conducting development activities, helping to extend quality education and also developing human resources."

  HC issues rule over use of toxic tannery wastes in poultry, fish feeds

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court on Monday issued a rule upon the government to explain in three weeks why direction should not be given to take effective measures to put an end to production of poultry and fish feed using toxic tannery wastes.
The factories set up in the capital's Hazaribagh area are responsible for the use of tannery wastes as ingredients in producing poultry and fish feed, which poses serious public health risk for consumers as the hazardous wastes has the possibility of directly entering the food chain. Experts say consumption of toxic tannery wastes through fish and poultry might cause liver and kidney diseases, and even cancer.
Issuing the rule upon a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition, a division bench headed by Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury passed interim orders on the government and other respondents to constitute a high-powered committee within 15 days to monitor the production process of poultry and fish feeds.
The HC also asked the respondents to formulate a guideline to stop the use of toxic tannery wastes as ingredients for producing the poultry and fish feeds.
It directed the managing director of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI), chairman of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) and Inspector General of Police to submit report to the court within 15 days on the measures of halting the process.
In addition, the HC also asked the government to collect fish, poultry and egg samples from 10 markets of the capital and get a report in this regard with the cooperation of BSTI and BCSIR within three weeks.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed the PIL writ petition following a newspaper report.

    Court accepts CID charge-sheet in Pilkhana carnage case
UNB, Dhaka

A Dhaka court on Monday accepted charge-sheet filed against 824 by CID investigation officer Abdul Kahhar Akand in Pilkhana carnage case.
Magistrate SKM Tofail Hassan also ordered to issue warrant of arrest against 21 accused in the case those who are at large.
Prayers were also made for acquittal of 1,504 others, accused in original charge sheet. Now, with the acceptance of the charge-sheet, no legal bar remains for them to be freed from prison.
Charges were pressed on July 12 against 824, including DAD Towhid Alam, DAD Abdul Jalil, BNP leader and former MP Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, local Awami League leader Torab Ali and his son Leather Liton.
As many as 73 people, including 57 Army officers deputed to the border guards, were brutally killed at the BDR headquarters at Pilkhana in city during BDR mutiny on February 25-26 last year.

    PGCI, BPDB sign deal
BD to get 500mw power from India by end of 2012

UNB, Dhaka

An agreement between Bangladesh and India was signed on Monday night to allow import of 500 megawatt electricity from Bahrampur, India for Bangladesh. Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCI) executive director
(Commercial) Arun Kumar and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) secretary M Azizul Islam inked the agreement titled "Signing of Bulk Power Transmission Agreement" on behalf of their respective sides at a ceremony held at Hotel Sonargaon.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed between the PGCI and BPDB on January 11, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina' s New Delhi visit.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith attended the function as chief guest while power and energy adviser to the prime minister Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi, power division secretary Abul Kalam Azad, energy division secretary M Mejbahuddin, and Indian Deputy High Commissioner Sanjay Battacharyya took part in the agreement signing ceremony.
Through the 35-year agreement, Bangladesh will be able to import 500 megawatt electricity from Bahrampur in India from the end of 2012.
Finance minister Muhith after signing the agreement said: "It's a very happy occasion. We're beginning this regional energy trade which is now limited but who knows very soon it might be different."
He also said by 2012, Bangladesh will be able to import power from India and in future Bangladesh will export power to India.
Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi said: "It's a step forward between Bangladesh and India but a giant step towards regional cooperation and integration.

    SQ Chy cautions PM against constitution amendment
UNB, Dhaka

BNP front ranking leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury on Monday said there is no need for members of the BNP in the Special Committee formed to oversee amendments to the Constitution, if it is amended for the interests of the country and for maintaining continuation of democracy and the Constitution. He made the remarks while addressing a press briefing at his residence in the city at noon.
The outspoken BNP leader alerted the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over bearing the responsibility of amending the Constitution and reminded her that in the past, a single person had to take the responsibility for amending the constitution.
In this regard he mentioned the responsibility for the Fourth Amendment (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) and the Fifth Amendment (Ziaur Rahman).
Those who were the advisers not found out he said adding that now those are speaking tall about amending the constitution would also not be found out for taking the responsibility.
The BNP leader claimed that the matter of amendment of the constitution and trial of war criminals were not in the Awami League' s election manifesto of 2008 general election.

    Overhead cables to be pulled down from next week
UNB, Dhaka

The government has directed the overhead distribution lines in front of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to be pulled down within a week.
The decision was taken in an inter-ministerial meeting on July 21 at the conference room of the Power Division under the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, with Power Division secretary Abul Kalam Azad in the chair.
The meeting also directed the overhead distribution lines from Uttara to Shahbagh to be pulled down by August 31 while such lines in the Uttara-Gulshan-Motijheel (via Maghbazar) and Shahbagh-Motijheel routes must be pulled down by September 30.
The visible cables should be removed from the main roads by October 31, according to the meeting minutes that was signed on July 25 by the Power Division secretary.
The meeting asked the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Corporation (BTRC) and Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) to publish a notification in this regard soon.
It decided to form a committee headed by a joint secretary (administration) of the Power Division. The other members of the committee will be from the DCC, DESCO, BTRC, Fiber@Home, Summit Corporation, Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) and Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (COAB).
The committee will go out to see the development of the directives on August 10 and August 20 before holding the next meeting on August 26.

    Mermaid Eco Resort destroyed by AL politician
UNB, Dhaka

A local Awami League politician along with the OC of Ramu thana and a battalion of police attacked and destroyed Mermaid Eco Resort on Monday, beating up its employees. The politician's goons had been asking for toll from the resort for a long time but the owner of the resort refused to give them anything. The resort was built on privately-owned land. The room that the owner and his wife, Shohag and Brishti, lived in were also attacked with hand-made weapons, according to an e-mail received from the resort's staff. The owner of Mermaid Eco Resort bought the land seven years ago and it was formally opened last year. The cottages and restaurants were all built on private land but as with most resorts, the lake and the beach, which were part of the resort, were government-owned land. The e-mail says the owner had asked for documented clearance of the government-owned land but failed to receive it in the last two years, and as such has been paying money in different amounts under threat from local politicians.
The e-mail accuses TNO Mohd Saidul Haq, AL local politician Osman Gani, Magistrate Rafiqul Islam and the NDC for the act of vandalism. Acting according to the wishes of the TNO, the government officials apparently harass the businessmen there in various ways all the time. The businessmen are forced to give discounts to them and their relatives. Recently the TNO's mother-in-law had stayed at Mermaid, and had been charged the full amount. The TNO was said to be livid at Mermaid's owner for this, and they got into a heated exchange of words.

Editorial

Holy Shab-e-Barat

The holy Shab-e-Barat, the great night of forgiveness and fortune, will be observed tonight (Tuesday) with due religious fervour across the country. The Muslims will offer prayers at mosques and homes throughout the night and recite from the holy Quran and seek blessings of Allah for long life, peace, progress and happiness for themselves, their families, relatives and friends as well as the nation and the Muslim Ummah. Religious-minded people consider Shab-e-Barat as one of the three most sacred nights.
The month of Sha'ban is the eighth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Laylat al Baraat is the night following the 14th day of the month of Shabaan in the Islamic Hijra Calendar. Shab-e-Barat means the night of forgiveness or Day of Atonement. People pray to Almighty Allah both in preparation for Ramadan and for the forgiveness of the sins committed by them. Shab- e-Barat bears a special importance in the national life as it is the night of fortune that brings a unique opportunity to get pardon and mercy of Almighty Allah..
This night has a great significance as pointed out by the Prophet himself. This is the night wherein Allah the almighty determines the fate of all human beings fixing their 'rizq' (livelihood) for the coming year and makes decisions of life, death, health, wealth (collectively referred to as 'Rizq' in Arabic,) knowledge, relationships, and other matters that drive the Universe. It is the time when Muslims can turn to their creator and ask for forgiveness. This occasion is celebrated with great reverence, pomp and gaiety all over South Asia including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Central Asia including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kirghistan and elsewhere in the world.
Shab-e-Barat is a holy night to pray for Allah Ta'ala forgiveness, health, happiness and all our needs for this world and the Hereafter, to keep oneself busy with Ibaadat (worship) during the entire night , and to visit the Qabarastaan (graveyard), make Du'a and seek forgiveness on behalf of the deceased relatives and others.
Islam is a religion of peace and the ideals of Islam are meant for making the earth a peaceful abode for human beings, besides ensuring worldly welfare and peace in the world hereafter. So, on this occasion all should pray to Allah for continued progress of the country and unity of the Muslim Ummah May Allah Ta'ala grant all the Muslims pardon and give them the ability to practice good deeds and follow the Sunnah of our beloved prophet.

 Deputy Commissioners’ Conference

The conference of the country's Deputy Commissioners held in the capital on Sunday was an important event. At the conference Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the Deputy Commissioners to strengthen monitoring against militant activities and attempts to create anarchy in the country and also to monitor the demand and supply position to stabilize prices. On the other hand, the DCs have sought more power to keep prices in the market stable.
Addressing the three-day conference the Prime Minister instructed the DCs to work along with the public representatives of district and upazila levels in a coordinated way to infuse dynamism in the administration. She also instructed the DCs to monitor the demand, supply and stock situation so that syndicates of unscrupulous traders could not hike prices of essentials by manipulating markets during the month of Ramadan. Expressing surprise that prices of daily necessities are going up despite sufficient stocks, she said: "Some dishonest traders are earning extra profit by increasing prices.'
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioners on Sunday raised several points of grievances while holding a close-door meeting with the Prime Minister at her office. They informed the Prime Minister of prevailing lack of coordination between the Upazila Nirbahi Officers and the Upazila chairmen that hampers local development works. On soaring prices of essentials, the DCs requested the Prime Minister to give them "adequate" power to effectively monitor the market for keeping the prices within the buying capacity of the commoners ahead of the holy Ramadan.
The Prime Minister's concerns over militancy and price hike have been expressed on several occasions in the past also. She has repeatedly vowed to combat the activities of the militants in the country. On Sunday she has only repeated her pledge and reminded the DCs of their responsibility to accomplish the task.
As regards the price hike of rice and other essentials the Prime Minister has been talking of the issue repeatedly. Recently On Thursday, the Prime Minister at a meeting of AL's parliamentary party asked her party MPs to monitor the market in a bid to foil unscrupulous traders' attempt to manipulate it during the Ramadan. Besides, in the recent days the Prime Minister asked the secretaries to check price spiral during the Ramadan.
The government initiative have come at the most appropriate time, because the holy month of Ramadan is nearing fast and because the prices of different essential items have already started soaring alarmingly. It is a common practice on the part of the traders of the country to increase prices of different essential commodities on various pleas during the Ramadan and thus earn extra profits. But this time the market manipulation has begun well ahead of the holy month. In fact, without any valid reason the prices of rice, lentils, sugar, powdered milk, edible oil, onion, garlic and spices have marked an increase in recent days. Due to exorbitant prices fishes are almost beyond the reach of the common people.
Against this backdrop, the Prime Minister has timely asked the MPs the secretaries and the DCs to monitor the markets and do everything possible to stabilize prices specially during the month of Ramadan. All concerned should try their best to combat militancy and market manipulation. Meanwhile, the requests made by the DCs for adequate power to deal with the price hike issue should be given due consideration by the government.

Analysis

The Indian design

The Indian Foreign Minister, S M Krishna did not play ball. He actually
could not; he had little with him.

Shahzad Chaudhry

Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi is almost desolate these days. His expectations of the India-Pakistan dialogue were perhaps a bit too high, even by his standards. The American Secretary of State came calling, spent her day doing her usual things along with the almost certain media interaction, and one could notice that even she did not bring enough cheer into Shah Mehmood's life. The Afghan sojourn was equally dismal, on many counts, as far as Pakistan's interests were concerned (these I intend to take up in a later column), where the FM seemed like a sleeping man walking. Hey FM, it is not that bad. Most Pakistani journalists have crucified you undeservedly. You played some things off-the-cuff; when things happen, not everything goes right. But more courage to you for staying in there and saying what you did. It may have been better handled. For me, though, he was talking to a dead man. And dead men usually do not carry imaginative options.
The Indian Foreign Minister, S M Krishna did not play ball. He actually could not; he had little with him. Had our mandarins studied the situation better, and this they should have for that is what they are paid for, they should have noted the predominant hold that the internal security establishment has in Delhi. Chidambaram, in finance was not easy to handle politically by his rivals; as home minister, he has cart-blanche, since India's peril lies in the three ongoing internal security challenges: 1) aftermath of Mumbai and its related security strands including the need to rev up the pressure on Pakistan, squeezing the most diplomatic advantage out of the given situation. 2) The Maoist insurgency covering almost one-third of the Indian landmass and dealing with its consequences, especially when the political divide in India, practically, has pushed state response into a paralysis. 3) And finally, the second uprising in Kashmir, which has the Indian state seeking responses in a new mould with the aim to redefine the nature of conflict in Kashmir as an interesting twist. Krishna brought the flavour of both these dynamics when he purportedly came calling to break the impasse between India and Pakistan on the peace process.
The puzzle is not complete without the mention of Shiv Shankar Menon, India's National Security Advisor, who sits within the prime minister's office block, and who, as the former foreign secretary, was the architect of the Sharm el-Sheikh accord between the Indian and the Pakistani prime ministers, for which both he and the Indian PM had to take a lot of flak. But he is a smart man; one, he has had the popularly hawkish duo of Pranab Mukherjee, Krishna's predecessor, and Narayanan, Menon's predecessor, replaced with himself and the incumbent and fairly pliable Krishna, and secondly, he has retained his hold on South Block by retaining his links through his well placed team - Nirupama Rao being one. He is the prime man to define India's security policy, has RAW reporting to him on behalf of the PM, and therefore has a handle on how Pakistan gets handled by the various arms of the government, including India's foreign ministry. No points for guessing who Nirupama was taking instructions from even as Krishna sat through the parleys in Islamabad. Menon has another blot to wash - the Sharm el-Sheikh episode, which, for some strange reason, all of India felt was a sell-out. Actually, it was not, but they simply do not care to listen. Menon and Chidambaram were in full control of the Indian design with Pakistan in the recent talks and what generally is being played out as a response.
Menon was also in charge, as the foreign secretary then to Pranab Mukherjee when Mumbai happened, and was therefore instrumental in the 'no talks with Pakistan' strategy. Intended to coerce Pakistan to 'deliver' on Mumbai, the strategy failed to deliver. He now sits in the upgraded version of the same when the plan is to goad Pakistan with the persistence of the mantra, 'Pakistan must deliver on Mumbai'. It is likely to remain the course for some time till this too is seen to fail. India will then need another change of tack to either revert to a more equitable mechanism of dialogue, covering the larger pate of issues, or further harden her stance with the single focal agenda of making Pakistan deliver at any cost. This is when things are likely to get tricky. Any form of military option will be suicidal for the region. More likely, since Afghanistan will still be in an almost similar state as exists today, it will most likely dampen India's likely proclivity to push Pakistan into a military diversion.
It is time for India and Pakistan to graduate to conflict resolution from simply conflict management. Till both recognise the centrality of Kashmir to all other related issues including terrorism - as it impacts India - interaction between the two will only remain hinged at the periphery and will constantly lose its direction and focus. A failure in the talks is more dangerous between the two than an absence of talks, and therefore will need constant nurturing to throw up some positives. Kashmir on the backburner is a popular call in both countries, as if time might resolve the issue. This is entirely unlikely. The current spate of the uprising in Kashmir can easily precipitate a fallback to the post-1989 state of Kashmir, encouraging militancy to return. If the cause is taken out, the effect shall cease. As I have stated before in these columns, it need not be a zero-sum game. What it will need though is to revert to a set of options and seek a win-win for both countries as well as the Kashmiris. In all other cases, the militants, using terror as expression, will continue to prevail, posing difficulties of perception and effect in the bilateral relationship between India and Pakistan.
Krishna's response to the Kashmir question in the now famous press conference was instructive, and indicated a deliberate change in strategy in India - more likely another Chidambaram-Menon product. He responded to a Pakistani journalist's concern on Kashmir's rising incidence of military high-handedness by stonewalling the relevance of the issue with Pakistan, instead choosing to emphasise the role of the elected government in Kashmir and resort to the usual processes of governance. Within India too, the effort is to avoid reference to any Pakistani hand in the uprising, instead focusing on wasted political capital gained through the last elections and serious failures in Omar Abdullah's style of leadership. In no way do the Indians wish to identify a Pakistani connection with Kashmir. This seems a deliberate strategy to internalise Kashmir and its troubles as strictly an Indian concern away from its disputed status. More such obfuscation on Kashmir should be expected.
These are signs of a wholesale change in the treatment of bilateral issues with Pakistan. Pakistan will do well to keep a keen eye and a better listening watch.


Shahzad Chaudhry is a retired air vice marshal and a former ambassador of Pakistan.

  Resistance personified

She was called “Afghanistan’s most famous women” by the BBC a few years ago. Last April, she was ranked among the 100 most influential people of the world by Time Magazine.

Farooq Sulehria

Afghan leader Malalai Joya is resistance personified. She is the most vocal critic of both US occupation of Afghanistan and the ruling warlords. At the same time, she speaks dismissively of the Taliban: "Their violence is no resistance". However, Malalai Joya hardly grabs headlines in the Pakistani media that often glorifies the mindless violence of the Taliban. But she is a household name in Afghanistan and a known figure internationally. She was called "Afghanistan's most famous women" by the BBC a few years ago. Last April, she was ranked among the 100 most influential people of the world by Time Magazine.
But Time asked Dutch-Somalian author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is known for her Islamophobic views, to make the announcement. Now settled in the US, Hirsi Ali distorted Joya's image in her malicious announcement by saying: "I hope in time [Joya] comes to see the US and NATO forces in her country as her allies. She must use her notoriety, her demonstrated wit and her resilience to get the troops on her side instead of out of her country".
A furious Joya reacted strongly. In her counter-statement, she said: "Time has painted a false picture of me and does not mention anything at all about my struggle against the occupation of Afghanistan by the US and NATO, which is disgusting. In fact, everyone knows that I stand side-by-side with the glorious antiwar movements around the world and have proved time and again that I will never compromise with the US and NATO who have occupied my country, empowered the most bloody enemies of my people and are killing my innocent compatriots in Afghanistan".
Joya earned a mark back in 2003 at the Loya Jirga (Greater Assembly) convened to ratify Afghanistan's new constitution. Unlike the US-sponsored, clean-shaven fundamentalists, Joya was not nominated by Karzai. She was elected by the people of the Farah province to represent them at the Loya Jirga. The Jirga was chaired by Sibghatullah Mojaddedi who, at the very outset, told the women delegates: "Even God has not given you equal rights because under His decision two women are equal to one man".
Joya had bravely organised underground girls' schools in Herat when the Taliban's terror drove millions into exile. Mojaddedi's patriarchal admonition could not intimidate Joya. She stunned the Loya Jirga and the press members present to cover the occasion by delivering a three-minute, hard-hitting speech, exposing the crimes of the warlords running the Loya Jirga. A befuddled grey-bearded Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, on hearing Joya, screamed in anger and called her 'infidel' and 'communist'. Others also shouted at her. But before she was silenced by an angry mob of warlords, with her single, but timely, act she had electrified Afghanistan.
When she criticised the warlords at the Loya Jirga, even 'Viceroy' Zalmay Khalilzad -- the then US envoy to Afghanistan -- was upset. "Joya", Khalilzad chided, "had overstepped the framework of politeness".
She wrote a letter to Khalilzad, saying: "If these criminals raped your mother or daughter or even your grandmother, or killed seven of your sons, let alone destroyed all the moral and material treasure of your country, what words would you use against such criminals and puppets that will be inside the framework of politeness and respect?"
In the meantime, three fateful minutes at the Loya Jirga changed the course of Joya's life. In her native province of Farah, locals wanted her to represent them in elections. It does not merely take guns and dollars to contest an election in Afghanistan. Joya had none. Still, she contested and was elected to parliament in 2005. Danish filmmaker Eva Mulvad immortalised Joya's courageous election campaign and subsequent victory in her documentary "Enemies of Happiness". Aged 25, Malalai Joya was the youngest Afghan MP. More importantly, she proved herself to be the bravest MP. On the floor of parliament, she emerged as the strongest critic of US occupation and the Taliban- and mujahidin-dominated Karzai regime.
Hence, at almost every parliamentary session she attended, she had her hair pulled, was attacked physically and called names by her 'Islamist' colleagues. She was even threatened with rape on the floor of the house. In one case, the warlords bussed in thousands of men to Kabul to march and demand "Death to Joya". Niaz Mohammad Amiri, a member of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's Wahabist party, would never miss an opportunity during parliamentary sessions to call her a prostitute. Flyers were distributed calling her prostitute, communist and anti-Islamic.
"Among the worst was a leaflet that showed a photograph of me without my headscarf, falsely saying that the picture was taken at the Loya Jirga. Underneath was the awful slogan: she took off her scarf at the Loya Jirga, she'll take off her pants in parliament", Joya noted in her book Raising My Voice that has recently come out. Once she was abroad on Valentine's Day. It was propagated that she was abroad to celebrate Valentine's Day. In her two years in parliament, she never once had the chance to complete her speech without her microphone switched off. But even her half-delivered speeches were hard to tolerate.
Hence, she was suspended from parliament. Her suspension has been widely criticised. From Noam Chomsky to Naomi Klein, a host of noted people have signed the petition for her reinstatement. She now leads an underground life. To hide her identity, she wears the burqa which she otherwise hates. In view of her previous experience, she has decided not to contest elections scheduled for September this year.


The writer is a freelance contributor. Email: mfsulehria@hotmail.com

Viewpoints

History of the Kaaba

The love and affection that Muslims all over the world have for the Kaaba and Masjid-e-Nabawi cannot be put into words.

Dr A Q Khan

I usually restrict my columns to economic, social, educational and historical events. Today I would like to comment on an excellent book on the history of the Kaaba. The love and affection that Muslims all over the world have for the Kaaba and Masjid-e-Nabawi cannot be put into words. The well-to-do have easy access to information, but for the poor, newspapers are its only source. I am using my column for their benefit.
The book in question is Tarikh-e-Baitullah. It has been written by Al-Shaikh Mohammad Saleh bin Ahmad bin Zainul Abidin al Shaikh and it has been translated by Mr Mohammad Kamran Qureshi.
The book explains, among other things, the background of the construction of the Kaaba. Before the advent of Islam, Christians and Jews prayed facing Masjid-e-Aqsa (the Al Aqsa Mosque in the holy city of Jerusalem, or Al Quds). This practice continued among Muslims in the early days of Islam. One day, when our Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was leading the prayers, he received Allah's command to turn his face towards Makkah. The relevant Quranic verse is: "O Mohammad, We see the turning of your face (for guidance) to the Heavens; now shall We turn you to a Qibla that shall please you. Turn, then, your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque (the Kaaba). Wherever you are, turn faces (during prayer) in that direction. The People of the Book know well that it is the truth from their Lord. Nor is Allah unmindful of what they do." (2:144.) In this way, Allah declared Baitullah as the Kaaba and described its sanctity in the following verse: "Fight them (non-Muslims) not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there." (2:191.)
There are various stories about the construction of the Kaaba. Some say that Allah determined the place of the Kaaba 2,000 years before the creation of Earth. When Adam (AS) was banished to Earth he begged Allah for help and Allah sent down Baitul Mamur, which was one of the rubies of Heaven. It was sent down where Baitullah is now situated. There is a Hadith that says: "O Adam, I have sent for you a House, so perform Tawaf (circumambulation) as you circumambulate My Throne (Heaven)."
Some historians believe that all traces of the foundations Hazrat Adam (AS) had laid have disappeared. There being many different stories. Hazrat Seesh (AS), bin Adam (AS), Ibrahim (AS) and his son, Ismail (AS) are credited with the construction of the Kaaba. The Quran says: "Remember, We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety. And take you the Station of Ibrahim as a place of prayer. And We covenanted with Ibrahim and Ismail that they should sanctify Our House for those who perform circumambulation around it, or use it as a retreat, or bow or prostrate themselves (before it) in prayer. And remember, Ibrahim said, 'My Lord, make this a City of Peace and feed its people with fruits-such of them as believe in Allah and the Last Day.' He said, 'Yes, and such as reject faith-for which will We grant them their pleasure, but will soon drive them to the torment of Fire-an evil destination indeed.' And remember, Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundations of the House (with this prayer), 'Our Lord! Accept this service from us, for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.' " (2:125, 126, 127.)
In Surah Ibrahim there is mention of Hazrat Ismail (AS) settling in the vicinity of the Kaaba. We also know of Allah's command to Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) to leave Hazrat Hajira (RA) and Hazrat Ismail (AS) near the Kaaba with some water and dates; of Hazrat Hajira's running between Mounts Safa and Marwa, the descent of an angel, his hitting the ground with his wing, and water (from the spring of Zamzam) bursting forth. Building on the Kaaba continued after its initial construction by Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and Hazrat Ismail (AS). The Maqam of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) is the stone to which Hazrat Ismail (AS) brought his father, and by standing on it, Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) instructed Hazrat Ismail (AS) to raise the foundation of the Kaaba.
Abu Jehem mentions that Hajr-e-Aswad (the Black Stone) was brought by the Archangel Jibreel (AS) and Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) had it placed in its present position. Imam Tirmizi and Imam Nasai say that when Hazrat Ayesha (RA) desired to pray in the Kaaba, the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) had taken her by the hand to Hateem and instructed her to pray there, as it was a part of the Kaaba but had been excluded by her tribe.
Historians have agreed that the Kaaba was demolished and rebuilt many times, and this book contains many details on the subject. Additions and renovations are still continuing today. The Ibne Saud family has enlarged the surrounding area, paved it with white marble and cooled the floor with chilled water. May Allah Almighty bless them all.
The cover (ghilaf) of the Kaaba was first put around it by Taba, King of Yemen. In this connection, the Holy Prophet has said: "Don't insult King Taba, because he was the first to provide cover over the Kaaba."
About the custodians of the keys to the Kaaba, it is said that on the day of the conquest of Makkah the keeper of the keys, Usman bin Talha, refused to hand them over to Hazrat Ali (KW), who then forcibly took them from him. Hazrat Abbas (RA) requested the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to entrust the keys to him. It was at that time that Allah sent down the following verse: "Allah does command you to render back your Trusts to those to whom they belong…" (4:58.) The Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) instructed Hazrat Ali (KW) to hand back the keys to Usman bin Talha. Upon finding out the reason for this, Usman bin Talha immediately embraced Islam. It is reported that the Archangel Jibreel (AS) appeared and said that the keys would forever remain with the family of Usman bin Talha. Since then the keys have been kept by the Shebah family, as Usman bin Talha, before his death, had given them to his paternal cousin. The book also contains details about the Banu Shebah tribe and the present custodians of the keys. Presently Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Abdul Qadir al-Shebi is the custodian of the keys.
This book was launched in Karachi a few months ago and Dr Saleh Zainul Abidin Al-Shebi and Shaikh Abdur Rahman Saleh Zainul Abidin Al-Shebi especially came to grace the occasion. May Almighty Allah shower his blessings on all those involved in making possible the publication of this book. Ameen.

  The end of ‘Borrow Brittania’ and arrival of Cameron’s Britain

Britain will begin withdrawing from Afghanistan, which Cameron and Clegg consider a failed war and waste of British lives.
 
Eric S. Margolis

The more we see of Britain's new leadership team of Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the more they impress.
Britain's two youthful leaders have launched a second Battle of Britain, the biggest political revolution since 1832 that aims to revive Britain's battered economy and restore its debauched finances. They plan to slash government spending by 25 per cent over five years, shrink Britain's bloated government, which consumes half national income, and fire large numbers of bureaucrats. Today, half of British workers are employed by the government.
No more "nanny" state. The era of savage austerity has dawned.
Under Blair and Brown, Britain's debt exploded from $540 billion to $1.3 trillion, 90 per cent of GDP. 'Borrow Britannia' became the national anthem.
Britain's vast expansion of government and its foreign wars were financed by borrowing, as the economy became addicted to debt. The Conservatives vow to halve Britain's towering debt.
Last week, Cameron went to Washington to meet President Barack Obama and reaffirm the hallowed US-UK "Special Relationship." Cameron made clear Britain remains a loyal American ally but it will no longer slavishly follow Washington's lead, as did former PM Tony Blair.
Compare this British conservative revolution to Barack Obama's borrow more/spend more policies that will keep the US mired in recession and debt.
Instead of austerity the US desperately needs to restore its finances, Americans will get more war in Afghanistan.
The "Washington Post's" stunning investigation, "Top Secret America," revealed last week that the US security/intelligence establishment doubled under President George Bush and is now largely out of control.
Britain's former Labour government became highly intrusive over its 13-year rule, occasionally verging on a police state. One of Cameron's first acts was to order tens of thousands of street cameras spying on Britons removed. The Tory-Liberal Dem alliance are to make the House of Lords an elected body.
Britain will begin withdrawing from Afghanistan, which Cameron and Clegg consider a failed war and waste of British lives.
In Washington, Cameron also had to dodge angry Republican accusations that Libyan, Ali Megrahi, convicted of bombing Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland in 1988, had been freed in a sleazy deal between British Petroleum and Libya.
In fact, strong suspicions remain the Libyan was framed. Britain's outraged US critics never mentioned the Iranian civilian airliner shot down by the US cruiser "Vincennes" over the Gulf in 1988, killing 290. Its captain was given a medal.
The cost-conscious Cameron flew home from Washington on a commercial British Airways flight. This column has been urging for decades that all politicians fly commercial, just like taxpayers. Bravo Cameron!
Back in London, Baroness Manningham-Buller, former director of Britain's internal security agency, MI5, made a damning indictment of the Blair and Bush governments in the 2003 Iraq War.
She told the official Chilcot inquiry that Britain's involvement there and Afghanistan had 'radicalised' young people who saw "our involvement in Iraq, on top of our involvement in Afghanistan, as an attack on Islam."
Britain's former security chief also confirmed that Iraq had posed little threat to Britain or the rest of the world. There was no link between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein, she asserted, a falsehood spread by the Bush administration that was believed by 80 per cent of Americans in 2003.
MI5 'did not believe' Iraq was working on nuclear weapons.
The Baroness flatly stated the Bush administration had manipulated and falsified intelligence to justify its invasion of Iraq. She stated invading Iraq was "unnecessary" and diverted attention from the real threat, Al Qaeda threat. There was no "substantial" reason for war.
Invading Iraq, Baroness Manningham-Buller told the commission, led to an "almost overwhelming" increase in homegrown terrorism. MI5 had to double its budget. 'We gave Osama bin Laden his Iraqi jihad,' she concluded.
Members of the Bush administration still try to justify invading Iraq by claiming other Western intelligence agencies also believed Iraq had nuclear weapons. The US routinely shares intelligence with its allies. False US reports about Iraq, many concocted by Israeli intelligence, were fed to other NATO members. The Bush administration then cited them as proof Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Manningham-Buller's testimony, and previous high-level commission witnesses, further exposed Bush and Blair's lies, deceptions, and egregious violations of international law over Iraq. Hopefully, truth about Afghanistan will be next.

Eric Margolis is a veteran US journalist who reported from the Middle East and Asia for nearly two decades.

 Torture, repression and life under occupation

These psychological effects of torture and confinement left a deeper mark on Mahmoud than the physical abuse, though he still suffers troubles in his knees, back, and left foot.

Kara Newhouse

For 122 days I heard the voices of tortured people, the shouting of tortured people, the crying of tortured people. The first days in that time, I could not sleep.
I could not do anything, because I could not stop hearing the voices of tortured people. But after maybe 100 days, I got used to that situation, so I could sleep very well, and I started thinking there is nothing that can bother me. I started laughing a lot with my mate in my horrible cell and my family when they came to visit me.'
I heard these words from Mahmoud, who has been locked up by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority eight times over the last nine years. He is a former student government leader and politically-minded artist, and I met him only days after I completed an article on the rehabilitation of Palestinian torture victims.
While drafting the article, I contemplated the meaning of the phrase, "re-establishing a normal life," unsure whether many features of Palestinian qualify as normal.
For Mahmoud, life inside a 1.5x4 metre cell has at times felt more normal than anything else he knew. Speaking of his release from the four-month period in a PA jail described above, he told me, "I had nightmares. When they arrested me again I could sleep very well, because outside the jail I was scared that they would arrest me again. So the feeling of fear from the arrest disappeared because I'm already in the jail, so I get back my normal life again."
These psychological effects of torture and confinement left a deeper mark on Mahmoud than the physical abuse, though he still suffers troubles in his knees, back, and left foot. "The worst thing for me," he said, "was I felt I lost a part of my humanity, because it's not a normal situation; it's a very horrible situation, but I was used to it, and I thought I can live or have normal or happy times in that period."
Twenty per cent of Palestinians and forty per cent of the male population in the occupied territories have been illegally detained by Israel since 1967. Moreover, the Hamas-Fatah divide has prompted waves of arbitrary detention within both the West Bank and Gaza. If life in prison isn't normal, it's at least far from unusual, and the fear of arrest Mahmoud experienced is widespread. Inside prison or out, Palestinians pursue their lives under Israeli military occupation and factional repression, which is not a "normal situation" by any justice-based standards.
Distinguishing between normal and abnormal is thus something akin to tiptoeing across a spindly mountain ridge. It's all the more tempting to deploy the distinction to the contrasts between life in Palestine and seemingly-safe life abroad. Most times when Palestinians tell me they want to go to the US, I smile and nod, swallowing my beliefs that our shiny shopping malls and commercial banks are a false portrayal of security and comfort.
My absence from the US is a privilege and my own form of escape, so who am I to dash others' dreams about a land without checkpoints and guard towers? Yet when I heard Mahmoud's hopes of travel, my heart fell not because of any specific destination he named, but from my grim perception of the loftiness of his dream.
Mahmoud pins his hopes of being able to travel on the fact that he has built a new life by volunteering at an NGO with an international presence. While interning at a different international NGO this spring, I participated in a dialogue project with three young Palestinians and two other Americans. The project coordinator announced in March that the Palestinian participants had been invited to represent our group at a conference in Miami. Cheers erupted from everyone in the room, except one. Saed had spent a year in Israeli prison during the second intifada. "I won't be allowed," he said. The project director, who hails from the US, encouraged him to be positive and trust the NGO's American status to make it happen.
To apply for a US visa, Palestinians must visit the embassy in Jerusalem, a city for which the Israeli authorities require entry permits. When the date of the visa appointment rolled around they had only issued two entry permits: our other group members went to Jerusalem without Saed.
In the end US officials only issued a visa to one of them, but Saed's enthusiasm for our project dropped noticeably after the permit denial. I asked him how he felt and how it affected his participation. Usually relaxed and willing to share, he stayed standing while he answered that he hadn't really thought he could go to America, but that the coordinators had convinced him for a brief second that it was possible. If an American NGO couldn't make it happen, he asked, who could?
It was this weighty feeling of trapped-ness that I returned to me as Mahmoud told me his goal to attend graduate school outside the West Bank. Perhaps the reputation of the NGO he volunteers with will be more useful to him than the one with which Saed and I worked. The situation, though, calls into question the normalcy of any of our lives. That those of us who ride in the EZ-pass lane across national borders think our "freedom" can be used to obtain only the partial freedom of others-escape, not transformation-indicates that there are many truths about our own countries that shouldn't be treated as normal.


Kara Newhouse is a youth educator and journalist based in the West Bank. Visit her blog at rogueanthropologist.wordpress.com

International

Rocket attack in Afghanistan kills 40-45 civilians: official
AFP, Kabul

A rocket attack on an Afghan village killed up to 45 civilians, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai told AFP on Monday, as leaked documents laid bare the civilian toll of the US-led war.
Women and children were among the dead. An investigation is underway to determine who was responsible for the strike.
"A rocket was launched. It hit a civilian house where many people sought refuge (and) 40 to 45 people were killed," Waheed Omar said, referring to a reported attack in the Sangin district of Helmand province on Friday.
Asked if the attack was carried out by NATO forces, Omar said: "We will have to wait for the final report."
Karzai ordered the National Security Council to investigate the incident, Sediq Sediqqi, head of media relations at the presidency, said earlier.
The dead included women and children, he said. Reports surfaced on Saturday that a helicopter gunship fired on villagers who had been told by insurgents to leave their homes as a firefight with troops from NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was imminent.
According to witness accounts, men, women and children fled to Regey village and were fired on from helicopter gunships as they took cover.
Abdul Ghafar, 45, told AFP that he lost "two daughters and one son and two sisters" in the attack.
He and six other families fled to Regey, about 500 metres (yards) from their village of Ishaqzai, after being warned about the imminent battle, he said. Men and women took shelter in separate compounds, he said, ahead of an expected firefight between Taliban and NATO troops around 4:30 pm (1200 GMT). "Helicopters started firing on the compound killing almost everyone inside," he said, speaking at the Mirwais hospital in Kandahar city.
"We rushed to the house and there were eight children wounded and around 40 to 50 others killed," he said.
He took three girls and four boys to the Kandahar hospital, he said, adding: "Three of the wounded are my nephews and one is my son. One of the wounded children is four years old and has lost both parents."
The BBC said it sent an Afghan reporter to Regey to interview residents, who described the attack and said they buried 39 people.
Civilian casualties are an incendiary topic in Afghanistan, though surveys have shown that most are caused by Taliban attacks. ISAF spokesman Colonel Wayne Shanks said the location of the reported deaths was "several kilometres away from where we had engaged enemy fighters".
ISAF forces had fought a battle with insurgents, he said, but an investigation team despatched after the casualty reports emerged "had accounted for all the rounds that were shot at the enemy", Shanks said. "We found no evidence of civilian casualties," he said.

   Suicide bomber kills seven at Pakistani minister's house
AFP, Pabbi, Pakistan

A suicide bomber killed seven Pakistanis on Monday in an assault targeting senior officials mourning the assassination of a cabinet minister's son by suspected Taliban.
Police said the bomber was stopped at a checkpoint from entering the home of Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister in Pakistan's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and that none of his guests were hurt in the attack.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell on the Islamist militants who have wrought carnage across Pakistan, killing more than 3,570 people over the last three years.
Police blamed the Taliban for killing Hussain's 28-year-old son Mian Rashid on Saturday and Monday's bomber struck the small town of Pabbi shortly after Interior Minister Rehman Malik visited to pay his respects. Hussain is considered the most vocal northwestern minister against the Taliban and, as a spokesman for the provincial government, is highly visible.
The blast damaged a police vehicle and several shops, splattering blood on the ground and smearing human flesh across the walls. "Seven people, including three policemen, have been killed and 21 injured," senior police official Imran Kishwar told AFP by telephone from the scene. Doctor Suhrab Khan at the main hospital in Pabbi confirmed that seven bodies were brought in after the attack-three policemen and four civilians. Critically wounded patients were rushed to the provincial capital Peshawar and nine others were being treated locally, the doctor said.
Bombs and attacks blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have killed more than 3,570 people across nuclear-armed Pakistan since government troops besieged a radical mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.
Much of the violence has been concentrated in the northwest and border areas with Afghanistan, where nearly 150,000 US and NATO troops are battling to turn around a nine-year war against Taliban insurgents.
"The suicide bomber was trying to enter the visitor's compound at Mian Iftikhar's house. The policeman who tried to stop him was also killed," senior police official Liaqat Ali told AFP. "The target was Mian Iftikhar and other officials sitting there."

  S.Korea, US stage anti-submarine drill in warning to N.Korea

AFP, Aboard The Uss George Washington

US and South Korean warships staged anti-submarine drills Monday as part of a major naval exercise intended to send a warning to North Korea despite its threats of nuclear retaliation.
The two allies, who accuse the North of sending a submarine to torpedo a South Korean warship, have assembled about 20 ships including the 97,000-ton carrier USS George Washington, 200 aircraft and 8,000 personnel.
Four F-22 Raptor stealth fighters are flying missions in and around Korea for the first time to show Washington's strong commitment to deter and defeat any provocative acts, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Remington, commander of the US 7th Air Force, told reporters. Seoul and Washington say the four-day exercise which began Sunday-their biggest for years-is intended to stress that future attacks will meet a decisive response.
In addition to the current exercise, the first in a series this year, the United States has announced new sanctions to punish the North for the sinking and push it to scrap its nuclear weapons programme. The communist North denies responsibility for the attack on the South's corvette in March which cost 46 lives. It describes the drill named "Invincible Spirit" as a rehearsal for war.
Monday's manoeuvres "focus on better detecting intrusions by an enemy's submarines and attacking them," a spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters. The South's military came in for strong criticism for failing to detect the alleged submarine attack near the disputed Yellow Sea border.

  Philippines to start Muslim peace talks after Ramadan
AFP, Manila

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said Monday that peace talks with Muslim separatist rebels would likely resume at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in September.
Aquino said putting an end to the Muslim insurgency, which has killed more than 150,000 people in the impoverished southern region of Mindanao since 1978, was a priority.
"We are confident of resuming negotiations after Ramadan," Aquino said, referring to peace talks with the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.
"Our view has not changed when it comes to the situation in Mindanao. We will only achieve lasting peace if all stakeholders engage in an honest dialogue," he said in his first "State of the Nation" address to parliament.
Eid al-Fitr, which marks the official end of Ramadan, falls in late September in the largely Catholic Philippines.
Aquino's predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, failed to sign a peace treaty with the MILF despite nearly 10 years in power. Negotiations with her government collapsed after the MILF launched deadly attacks across Mindanao in 2008. The attacks were to avenge a court ruling outlawing a proposed deal that would have given the MILF control over a vast land area.More than 700,000 people were displaced at the height of the fighting, triggering a humanitarian crisis. About 400 civilians and fighters from both sides were also killed.

  British finance minister in India to boost trade ties
AFP, Mumbai

Britain's finance minister George Osborne will visit Mumbai this week as part of a top-level delegation that hopes to sign a raft of trade deals with India and put economic ties on a new footing.
The British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai said that the chancellor of the exchequer would be in India's financial capital on Tuesday and Wednesday, notably for a keynote speech on building a "new economic partnership".
"Our two countries have the potential to forge a new economic partnership and further develop, to our mutual benefit, the trade and investment links in financial services and the wider economy," Osborne said in a statement.
Osborne is one of a number of senior ministers and captains of industry from some of Britain's biggest firms accompanying Prime Minister David Cameron to India this week in the hope of securing lucrative trade and partnership deals.
Bilateral trade between Britain and India was worth 11.5 billion pounds (13.7 billion euros, 17.7 billion dollars) last year. Cameron, who took power in May, has said he wants to realign British foreign policy with a greater emphasis on business to boost the country's economy as it emerges from recession facing deep budget cuts and to combat record state debt. Osborne wrote in last weekend's Sunday Telegraph newspaper that it would be the "strongest British delegation to visit India in modern times" and includes bosses from mobile phone giant Vodafone and defence firm BAE Systems.

  Indian trade body wants access to Western defence technology

AFP, New Delhi

India should open up its defence sector only if it gains more access to military technologies currently denied it by several Western governments, a powerful national trade lobby said on Monday.
Global armament firms such as Britain's BAE Systems, Europe's EADS and Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky of the United States have invested in India after New Delhi opened up its defence sector in 2001 to foreign groups.
Foreign capital in joint ventures was limited at 26 percent, but an Indian parliamentary panel advised the government in 2008 to hike this cap to 49 percent to spur production. "The 26-percent equity has been effective in bringing in big companies," said Amit Mitra, secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
"But if the government raises the cap to 49 percent then that should be done under a set of conditions," he added, saying that FICCI would offer its suggestions to the government later on Monday.
The trade body explained that if the cap was raised then limits on the transfer of Western technology to India should also be removed. It said countries such as Germany, China, South Korea and Canada had recently hardened their export rules.

  Thaksin marks 61st birthday with Thai peace 'tweets'
AFP, Bangkok

Thailand's fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra marked his 61st birthday Monday with messages via Twitter saying he was ready to help his politically divided country to return to peace.
His "tweets" came the day after a bomb blast in Bangkok killed one and wounded 10 others-the first deadly violence since deadly opposition protests were crushed by an army crackdown two months ago. Thaksin, who is backed by many of the "Red Shirt" protesters and is accused by the government of bankrolling the protests and inciting unrest in the capital, thanked his supporters for their birthday greetings. "I wish that holy spirits will protect you through these difficult times," he said. "I turn 61-years-old today. I am an old man who would love to see good things happen in our country and I'm ready to help all sides who want this country to return to peace." He asked people who support him to "please be patient... I don't like and I don't agree with finding solutions through violence."

 US condemns massive leak of Afghan war files
AFP, Washington

A whistleblower leaked tens of thousands of secret military files on the Afghan war Monday, documenting the deaths of innocent civilians and how Pakistan's spy agency secretly supports the Taliban.
The leaks prompted a furious reaction from the White House, saying they put the lives of soldiers at risk, but the man behind the revelations said the controversy vindicated the decision to break cover.
In all, some 92,000 documents dating back to 2004 were released by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks to the New York Times, Britain's Guardian newspaper and Germany's Der Spiegel news weekly.
They carry allegations that Iran is providing money and arms to Taliban insurgents, and details how widespread corruption is hampering a war now in its ninth year. The New York Times said the archive illustrated "in mosaic detail why, after the United States has spent almost 300 billion dollars on the war, the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001" while the Guardian said the files painted "a devastating portrait of the failing war."
The Guardian said the files acknowledge at least 195 civilian deaths, adding "this is likely to be an underestimate because many disputed incidents are omitted from the daily snapshots reported by troops on the ground".
The bulk of the deaths are shootings by jumpy soldiers manning checkpoints. But they include details of how a deaf and dumb man who ran "out of fear and confusion" when a CIA squad entered his home village was then shot dead after he could not hear shouted orders to stop.
The most controversial allegations center around claims that Pakistan, a key US ally, allows its spies to meet directly with the Taliban. According to the Times, Pakistan agents and Taliban representatives meet regularly "in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders."
In one document, Pakistan's former Inter-Services Intelligence spy chief Hamid Gul is described at a January 2009 meeting with insurgents following the killing of an Al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan named Zamarai, also known as Osama al-Kini.
"The meeting attendees were saddened by the news of Zamarai's death and discussed plans to complete Zamarai's last mission by facilitating the movement of a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device from Pakistan to Afghanistan through the Khan Pass," it said. The Times noted that it was unclear whether the attack ever took place, and said that despite the official end of Gul's tenure at the ISI in 1989, "General Gul is mentioned so many times in the reports, if they are to be believed, that it seems unlikely that Pakistan's current military and intelligence officials could not know of at least some of his wide-ranging activities." The White House issued a condemnation shortly before the leaks were posted online, saying the information could endanger US lives. It said concerns had already been raised about links between Pakistan intelligence and Afghan insurgents.

   Yemen Shiite rebels seize army post, capture soldiers
AFP, Sanaa

Shiite rebels took control of a strategic army post in north Yemen on Monday and captured some 70 soldiers, in the latest clash to endanger an increasingly fragile truce, army and tribal sources said.
"Huthi (rebels) took control of a military position in Al-Zaala and captured all remaining soldiers," a tribal source told AFP. "Violent clashes erupted since the early morning hours." A local military official said the rebels captured some 70 soldiers.
The attack came after residents contacted on Sunday by telephone said six soldiers were killed in fighting between the Zaidi Shiite rebels, also known as Huthis, and a government-backed tribe in tense northern Yemen. Al-Zaala controls the road between Sanaa and Saada, the rebels' stronghold.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Sunday that he did not want another war with the Huthis. "Peace, security and stability are the choice of the state... I say no to another war," he said at a military ceremony. "Stop jeopardising the security and stability of the province of Saada," Saleh said, referring to on-off confrontations in the restive region between government forces and the Huthis since the rebellion began in 2004. "Huthis who are defying rules and laws should implement" the ceasefire agreement which ended the last round of fighting in February, the president said. At least 70 people were reportedly killed in clashes earlier this month with both sides accusing each other of violating the truce.
Monday's fighting, in which automatic weapons and cannons were used, erupted after a truce negotiated on Saturday foundered over differences "about control of a position held by men of the Bin Aziz tribe," a mediator said. He said tribal chief Sheikh Saghir Aziz had rejected rebel demands to pull out his men from Al-Zaala but without handing over the position to the army.

  Iraq suicide bomber kills four at Al-Arabiya TV offices
AFP, Baghdad

A suspected Al-Qaeda suicide bomber blew up a car by the Baghdad offices of Al-Arabiya television killing four people on Monday, a month after the Saudi-funded channel was warned of insurgent threats.
The bomber struck at around 9:30 am (0630 GMT) in front of the station's bureau in the city centre, leaving a massive crater and sending a plume of smoke into the air that could be seen from several kilometres (miles) away.
Majid Hamid, a journalist for the pan-Arab satellite channel, said four people had been killed in the attack -- three security guards and a female office assistant. That toll was confirmed by an official at Al-Yarmuk hospital in west Baghdad. An interior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, put the casualty toll at three dead and 16 wounded. Former deputy prime minister Salam al-Zawbayi and two of his guards were among the wounded.
"There was a huge explosion that shook the building -- all the rooms were damaged," Al-Arabiya journalist Tareq Maher told the channel in a live broadcast.
The street in front of the channel's offices was covered in shards of glass and debris, and nearby buildings showed signs of damage as did several cars. "I arrived at work and when I entered our office, I heard a huge explosion," said Abu Mohammed, 34, who works for a company whose offices are close to the scene of the blast.
"I thought the building would collapse on my head -- the windows shattered and I ran outside. There was dust and smoke everywhere and, a few minutes later, I heard the sound of ambulances." Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta accused Al-Qaeda of being behind the attack.
"These are the methods of Al-Qaeda," he told AFP. "The goal of this operation was to attract media attention." Atta said that the explosives-laden vehicle had passed through a checkpoint, and charged that there may have been "cooperation" between the car's driver and the guards. Major General Jihad al-Jaabari, the head of the Iraqi army's explosives handling unit, said the bomber was an Iraqi and added that the vehicle was carrying more than 100 kilogrammes (220 pounds) of ammonium nitrate.
"He was waved through, but if they had searched him, it would have been easy to find the explosive material," Jaabari said. Monday's bombing was the latest sign of the threat facing journalists working in Iraq, and came just a month after Al-Arabiya closed its Baghdad offices citing government warnings of a threat of insurgent attack.
A total of 249 media workers have been killed since the US-led invasion of 2003, according to the Iraq-based Journalism Fre-edom Observatory.

  Rights groups call for more KRouge prosecutions
AFP, Phnom Penh

Human rights campaigners Monday urged Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal to prosecute more former cadres of the Khmer Rouge following its landmark first conviction.
Amnesty International hailed a 30-year prison sentence handed to a former Khmer Rouge prison chief but said it was "only the first step towards justice" for the almost two million people who died at the hands of the brutal regime.
The rights group also expressed concern that only a few other suspects had been identified for possible prosecution by the court. "Identifying only five or 10 people as allegedly responsible for the massive atrocities does not do enough to satisfy the justice that Cambodians deserve and are entitled to under international law," said Amnesty's deputy Asia director Donna Guest.
Former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face justice in an international tribunal over atrocities committed during the regime's 1975-1979 rule.
He was convicted Monday for crimes against humanity and war crimes, and will serve up to 19 more years in prison after the court took into account the time he has already spent in detention.
The joint trial of four more senior Khmer Rouge leaders charged with genocide is expected to start in 2011. The court is also investigating whether to open more cases against five other former Khmer Rouge cadres after a dispute between the international and Cambodian co-prosecutors over whether to pursue more suspects.
New York-based Human Rights Watch expressed concern that "politically motivated interference by the Cambodian government could derail additional crucial indictments and trials." It said Cambodia's government appeared to be behind decisions to block additional indictments.

  Al-Qaeda beheaded French hostage: Mali official
AFP, Gao

Executed French hostage Michel Germaneau was beheaded by Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a local official in northern Mali said overnight Sunday.
"Yes, it's true, after the failure of the Franco-Mauritanian raid on Thursday, AQIM executed the French hostage," said the official from the northeastern Kidal region, where Germaneau was reportedly held, asking not to be named.
"The Frenchman was decapitated before the eyes" of the head of the radical AQIM group that was holding him, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, who last year executed a British hostage, Edwin Dyer, after six months of detention.
AQIM has announced that it executed Germaneau, a 78-year-old aid worker, on Saturday, in revenge for a joint raid last Thursday by Mauritanian and French troops, in which six fundamentalists were killed. Germaneau was seized in Niger on April 19.
"He (Germaneau) was still alive during the raid, but hidden in a mountainous zone in the Kidal region, near the border with Algeria. The place is an impregnable fortress, where the Islamists have laid mines and built shelters to protect themselves from any air attack," the official told AFP.
A local leader from northern Mali, who is involved in all negotiations for the release of hostages in the region and who also asked not to be named, said: "It's certain. To avenge the death of several of their elements, they killed the French hostage. We have just learned this by the usual channels."

  War crimes court delays Naomi Campbell testimony to Aug 5

AFP, The Hague

A war crimes court Monday delayed by a week to August 5 supermodel Naomi Campbell's testimony about a "blood diamond" she alle-gedly received from former Liberian president Charles Taylor in 1997.
Campbell was initially due to have taken the stand in the Hague on Thursday after the Special Court for Sierra Leone subpoenaed her to appear at the prosecution's request, but her lawyers had asked for a delay, the court said.
"The judges of SCSL trial chamber II have this morning approved Ms Naomi Campbell's request to postpone her scheduled testimony in the trial of Charles Taylor to Thursday August 5, 2010, at 09:00 (0700 GMT)," a court statement said.
Judge Julia Sebutinde granted the request "with the hope that it will not be postponed yet again", said a transcription of the hearing. The delay was sought to enable Campbell's lawyer to be in court when she testifies. Taylor has been on trial since 2008 for his alleged role in the civil war in Sierra Leone, accused of arming rebels in return for illegally mined diamonds.
Campbell will testify about claims by her former agent Carole White and actress Mia Farrow that she was given a diamond by Taylor after a celebrity dinner hosted by then South African president Nelson Mandela in September 1997. The model had refused to talk to prosecutors about the alleged gift, prompting them to get a court subpoena for her testimony.
The judges issued a separate order allowing prosecutors to call Farrow and White to give testimony about the alleged late-night incident at Mandela's home.
The women, both present at the dinner, were willing to testify, according to prosecution documents before the court. White claimed to be present when the diamond was delivered, while Farrow "was told by Ms Campbell the next morning about the gift".
The prosecution alleges the rough diamond was among those Taylor had obtained from Sierra Leone rebels and took to South Africa "to sell ... or exchange them from weapons". It says Campbell's evidence is direct evidence of Taylor's possession of rough diamonds, a claim he has denied. Taylor, 62, is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the 1991-2001 civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone, where he is alleged to have armed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels.
The RUF is blamed for the mutilation of thousands of civilians who had their hands and arms severed in one of the most brutal wars in modern history, which claimed some 120,000 lives. Taylor has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers, enslavement and pillaging.

Business/Economy

Japan export growth slows but beats forecasts
AFP, Tokyo

Japanese exports continued to rise in June on shipments to Asia but the pace of growth was the slowest this year amid signs that recovery may be losing steam as global demand falls, data showed Monday.
"We previously saw a robust, V-shaped recovery in exports after the financial crisis. Now the speed of the recovery is tapering off," said Atsushi Kamio, economist at the Daiwa Research Institute.
However, the slowdown was less sharp than economists had expected.
Exports rose 27.7 percent to 5.87 trillion yen (67 billion dollars), their seventh consecutive monthly rise, beating market expectations of a 23.1 percent increase but still below May's rise of 32.1 percent, the finance ministry said. Imports jumped 26.1 percent to 5.18 trillion yen, led by crude oil, liquefied natural gas and non-ferrous metals.
Strong demand for automobiles, high-tech products and factory parts have helped offset a weaker domestic picture, enabling Japan's biggest companies to return to profit and bring about a tentative economic recovery. But anxiety remains about the impact that the withdrawal of global stimulus measures and European debt will have on Japanese exports, with equipment and components makers also facing a knock-on effect from falling demand for Chinese goods. Analysts warn that risks to export demand remain as world leaders embrace tighter fiscal policies to help rebalance a global economy knocked off its axis by the financial crisis. The recent appreciation of the yen versus the euro and the dollar may also pose a risk, government officials have warned recently, as it threatens to erode the overseas profits of exporters such as Sony and Honda. A slightly softer yen encouraged Japanese investors Monday, sending the Tokyo market 0.77 percent higher, but it remained relatively high at more than 87 to the dollar.
However, Kamio added that Japan's recovery was expected to continue despite external challenges, albeit more slowly.
Robust Asian demand for Japanese cars and steel also contributed to the seventh straight monthly increase in exports, the finance ministry said. Japanese exports to Asia rose 31.7 percent, with those to China up 22.0 percent at 1.1 trillion yen, led by demand for automobiles and engines.
Imports from China also jumped 27.5 percent to 1.1 trillion, led by electronics and audio products.

 Asia stocks rise after Europe 'stress tests'
AFP, Hong Kong

Asian stocks pushed higher on Monday, shrugging off worries about Europe's banking stress tests and buoyed by Wall Street, with most markets displaying cautious optimism.
Tokyo ended up 0.77 percent, with exporters helped by a weaker yen and optimism about upcoming earnings results after a report by the Nikkei business daily that Sony had probably swung to the black in the first quarter. The Topix index of major firms was up 0.55 percent.
While many analysts questioned the credibility of Europe's banking "stress tests", which came out on Friday, investors generally took the results in their stride, as did European markets when they opened later.
"Much of the negative news on Europe's financial and economic conditions was priced in since May so the market's focus is starting to shift away from the issue and on to earnings," Yoshinori Nagano, senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Sentiment around the Asia-Pacific region was helped by last week's solid gains on Wall Street, where the Dow reached its highest level in a month. Hong Kong closed up 0.12 percent, adding 24.58 points to 20,839.91, lifted by optimism about upcoming earnings results from heavyweights such as HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.
Sydney was up 0.62 percent, closing at 4,486.1 after touching a four-week high of 4,503.1. "I think the uncertainty about things like the European financial system and US corporate earnings is continuing to recede," said Macquarie Private Wealth Division director Martin Lakos. Seoul ended up 0.63 percent, buoyed by data showing that South Korea's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 1.5 percent in the April-June quarter from three months earlier.
South Korea's central bank said growth in the nation, a recent economic high-flyer, had returned to pre-crisis levels, although global uncertainties remained a concern.
Shanghai closed up 0.65 percent at 2,588.68 after a nervous start, as confidence grows that Beijing will refrain from further economic tightening measures. Metals stocks also provided momentum after a report that the central government planned to limit production of non-ferrous metals.
Encouraging company earnings propelled Wall Street higher, with the Dow Jones index jumping 3.2 percent over last week.
However US economic statistics this week could temper optimism about the world's largest economy, including an advance estimate of second-quarter economic growth due on Friday.
Much attention had been focused on what European stock markets made of last week's stress tests, with initial reaction appearing positive. The results found that of 91 European Union banks only seven-five in Spain and one each in Germany and Greece-were under-capitalised and unprepared to absorb a new financial crisis.

  Faruk Khan for strengthening market monitoring during Ramadan

BSS, Dhaka

Commerce Minister Mohammad Faruk Khan Monday asked deputy commissioners to strengthen the monitoring of market system during Ramadan so that unscrupulous traders could not create artificial crisis by hoarding essentials.
He gave the directives while addressing the Deputy Commissioners' Conference in the cabinet room at Bangladesh Secretariat here this evening. All the divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners attended the meeting.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Md Abdul Latif Biswas also spoke as the special guest at the sixth session of the second day conference with Cabinet Secretary Md Abdul Aziz in the chair.
Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has been revived, the commerce minister said, for making the market system stable. For keeping the prices of essentials within the people's purchasing capacity in the coming month of Ramadan, Faruk Khan said, a sizeable quantity of soybean, plum oil, sugar, lentils and pulses have been stored through the TCB.
He said the commerce ministry regularly monitors the international and local market prices of essentials and supply and stock situation across the country.
Besides, he said, district and upazila taskforce committees would take adequate measures to control market prices of essentials.
Faruk Khan said consumer rights councils (parishad) would be formed in every district in light with the Consumer Rights Protection Act and someone would be given responsibility in this regard soon.
The commerce minister sought the DCs' cooperation to take effective steps to combat crime.
Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Md Sharful Alam and Acting Secretary of Commerce Ministry Md Golam Hossain were present at the conference.

  'IMF mission in Romania to review budget action'
AFP, Rest

An International Monetary Fund team started talks with Romanian authorities on Monday to review drastic action to cut back public overspending.
Romania has planned corrections to control public finances which are among the most severe anywhere in Europe.
"We'll go over what's happening in the fiscal sector, the financial sector..." the head of the mission Jeffrey Franks told reporters before a meeting with central bank officials.
Finance minister Sebastian Vladescu said he was confident a new instalment of help from the IMF and European Union would be disbursed soon.
The mission comes four weeks after a draconian austerity plan including a 25-percent slash in public-sector wages became effective.
The government had also planned cutting pensions by 15 percent, but a court ruled the measure "anti-constitutional", forcing authorities to raise the VAT tax on goods and services instead.
Franks said there were "both advantages and disadvantages" in any mix of policies chosen by the government. "The question is: will these measures be able to regenerate confidence in the Romanian economy," he added.
This cost-cutting plan should help authorities bring down the public deficit to 6.8 percent of GDP from 7.2 percent in 2009.

  Stress tests prove banking system 'robust', says Juncker
AFP, Ljubljana

Results of stress tests on European banks proved the banking system was solid, Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the group of eurozone finance ministers, said here on Monday.
"The stress test has obviously shown that the European bank landscape is sufficiently robust," Juncker told a joint news conference with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor during an official visit to eurozone member Slovenia.
He rejected reports that the tests had not been carried out properly, saying: "as a whole, the tests were credible, done in a very professional way and people were dealing with it in an independent and rule-based way."
"I would like all the banks which have been taken under exam to publish details of the stress test concerning them, this would add to the credibility of the whole operation," he added.
The Committee of European banking supervisors published last week the results of stress tests for resistance to future financial crisis that included 91 European banks. Seven European banks failed the EU's tests. Slovenia's largest bank Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), the only one included in the exam, just passed the tests, showing it needed to strengthen its capital base.
"We have to decide whether to increase the bank's capital with money from domestic or foreign investors," Pahor noted.
Meanwhile, Juncker commented that eurozone countries "are on the good exit way" from the crisis.

  Greek budget cuts probed again by EU: IMF auditors
AFP, Athens

Auditors from the European Union and International Monetary Fund began a new probe on Monday into Greek budget cuts to judge whether a new nine-billion-euro loan should be granted in September.
Greece was rescued from imminent default three months ago with huge loans from the EU and IMF, and its banking sector is heavily reliant on special measures by the European Central Bank.
The Greek crisis caused huge strains within the eurozone and European Union which, together with the IMF, now regularly audit the progress the Socialist government is making in imposing radical spending cuts, tax rises and structural reforms to correct public finances.
The experts were to spend the day at the finance ministry for talks with Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, and the president of the council of experts at the ministry George Zanias, a spokesman told AFP.
They were also to meet the governor of the central bank and the leaders of trades unions and employers.

  India micro lender aims to raise $50 m in IPO
AFP, Mumbai

India's top lender to the poor, SKS Microfinance, said Monday it hopes to raise up to 350 million dollars in an IPO as it becomes the country's first microfinancier to float.
SKS, which lends small sums to India's neediest who are unable to get credit from mainstream banks, is selling a 22 percent stake in the initial public offering (IPO). SKS, the country's biggest microfinance institution, says it was aiming to raise the capital to offer loans in coming years.
"We expect the expansion of our geographic footprint and network of branches and members to continue," SKS, based in the southern city of Hyderabad, said in its prospectus.
The IPO, which is being managed by Indian financial group Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citigroup and Credit Suisse, will be launched on Wednesday and closes next Monday. SKS, which says its mission is to eradicate poverty, fixed the price band for its IPO at 850-985 rupees (18-21 dollars).
SKS, which will join a select group of microfinancers globally to have shares listed, could raise up to 350 million dollars if demand from investors comes in at the higher end of the price range.

  Oil hovers around $79 in Asian trade
AFP, Singapore

Oil prices extended gains in Asian trade Monday as investors awaited the European market's reaction to last week's bank stress test results and as a US storm threat eased, analysts said. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, edged up nine cents to 79.07 dollars a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for September rose 19 cents to 77.64 dollars.
"The oil market is likely to extend its gains, although they could be quite muted, while waiting for the European market to open. Support will come from the strong US equities markets on Friday," Serene Lim, a Singapore-based oil analyst with Australia's ANZ bank, told AFP.
The market's gains on Friday were helped by raising US equities as encouraging company earnings propelled Wall Street stocks to their best levels in a month but were pared back after the stress test results were released.

National

Govt. builds four resettlement sites in Padma Bridge vicinity

BSS, Dhaka

The government initiated building four sites in the neighborhood of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project (PMBP) for a proper resettlement of the people to be affected by the project.
Two of the sites will be constructed in Lohajong upazila of Munshiganj and one each in Janjira upazila of Shariatpur and Shibchar upazila of Madaripur district.
The government today signed agreements with the developers of the sites at a simple ceremony in pursuit of the precondition set by the donor agencies to complete the resettlement before delivering fund for the project.Project Director of the PMBP Rafiqul Islam signed the agreements with the representatives of the developers who were awarded the job considering their financial ability to complete the task within six months. Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain, secretary (in charge) of the Road Division Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, and senior officials were present on the occasion at Setu Bhaban. Officials said under the project a total of 2,024 housing plots at a cost of around Taka 83.34 crore will be constructed on 60 hectors of land where all physical facilities will be available.The physical facilities include dwelling house, school, mosque, health center, market, overhead water tank, internal road, power sub station and external electricity work, said Monzurul Islam, Superintendent Engineer (resettlement) of the PMBP. He said the construction of the physical facilities will be completed within six months before the groundbreaking of the mega project slated for December this year.
Addressing the occasion, Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain said the affected people will have a better living condition in the new resettlement sites than they are now enjoying. The government particularly the Prime Minister has attached priority to the resettlement issue, he said.
The minister said Padma Bridge will be the longest bridge in the world in terms of its structural point of view. The US$ 2.4 billion double-decker bridge with train line will be built on the deepest foundation and able to cope with any tremor with the intensity of nine on the Richter scale, he said.The final scheme design of the 6.15 kilometers long bridge will be approved by an expert panel of Mounsell AICEM, consulting firm of the project, at a meeting at its head office in Hong Kong on July 28- 29. A high powered team comprising local experts and government officials will attend the meeting.
He said the proposals of the pre-qualified contractors, selected for construction of the main bridge, already been submitted to the World Bank, main contributor of the project, for approval. Tender has been floated for selecting pre-qualified bidders for two other main components of the project- river training and access road construction, he said.
The communications minister hoped that construction of the Padma Bridge will be launched as per schedule by December next and completed by December 2013 before end of the tenure of the present government.

  WB to provide $170m for improving water, sanitation services in Ctg

UNB, Dhaka

The government on Monday signed a financing agreement with the World Bank worth US$ 170 million for the Chittagong Water Supply Improvement and Sanitation Project (CWSISP).
The project will be implemented during the period June 2010-December 2015 by Chittagong WASA under the overall supervision of the Local Government Division (LGD). Of the total project cost of US$ 186.59 million, US$ 170 million will be provided as credit by the International Development Association (IDA), concessionary arm of the World Bank while the remaining US$ 16.59 million will be provided by the Bangladesh government.
Arastoo Khan, Additional Secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Tahseen Sayed, acting Country Director of the World Bank, signed the financing agreement on behalf of the government and the World Bank respectively. "Currently, Chittagong WASA covers 35 percent of the estimated demand for water in Chittagong," said Tahseen Sayed.
She added: "The World Bank will support the government's efforts to increase the citizen's access to safe water and sanitation services in the port city with a special outreach to the slum areas. Piped water supply services to slum areas will be expanded and approximately 250,000 poor slum dwellers are expected to receive water and sanitation services." The objective of the project is to increase sustainable access to safe water and improved sanitation as well as support the establishment of a long-term water supply, sanitation and drainage infrastructure development and operation management programme in Chittagong.

  Poorer to witness a monga-free lean period this year
BSS, Rangpur

The poverty-prone greater Rangpur region is going to witness a monga-free lean period this year as the government has taken massive steps to eradicate the menace permanently during the months of Aswin and Kartik.
Monga was factually absent last year because of massive social safety network and poverty eradication activities and positive changes in the peoples' socio-economic conditions in newly formed Rangpur division, officials and experts said on Monday. A huge number of poor, distressed and have-nots group people and farm- labourers will be assisted to earn livelihoods through massive coordinated programmes to create increased jobs and income-generating facilities from August next and afterwards.
Distributions of rice, flour and money under VGF, VGD and allowances for Freedom Fighters, widows, divorcees, aged people, handicapped, sub- stipends and maternity, risk reduction and char livelihood projects have been playing due roles in this regard. The government will also launch employment generation programme from September next in the area and each of the beneficiaries will get Taka 120 per day as wage on a 40-day scheme in the first phase in addition to National Service Programme in Kurigram.
A number of government departments, NGOs, donor agencies, development partners are also playing important roles through various programmes to contain monga and the area is expected to be fully monga- free from this year end. The easy-term loans, training for unemployed youths, girls and women on various trades, homestead farming, pisciculture, rearing poultry birds, animals and farming short duration paddies and expanding cottage industries are also continuing very effectively.

   BMDA’s trees enhance natural beauty
BSS, Gaibandha

The roadside trees planted by Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) have taken a greenish look and enhanced the natural beauty in the district in recent days.
Office sources said BMDA started its official work in the district in 2004. After two years the authority launched its plantation programme in all the seven upazilas in the district to maintain the ecological balance, to meet the demand of nutrition and to enhance the beauty of the nature side by side with conducting irrigation activities to the farmers to help them boost production of boro paddy to ensure country's food security. A total of 2, 80,000 saplings of fruit bearing, timber and medicinal trees were planted at the roadsides of the district in last few years, said M. Noor Islam, executive engineer of BMDA. Besides, over 3000 saplings of drumsticks were also planted at the roadsides in the district in last two fiscal to meet the growing demand of vegetables, sources said.
The planted trees have grown well and taken a new look in recent days enhancing the natural beauty of the district. In many of the places, some of the fruit bearing trees have started to give their output and the locals and their children including the pedestrians are enjoying the ripe fruits curiously to meet their nutritional need, said an official.

   3 people, including a housewife, commit suicide in Satkhira, Netrakona

UNB, Dhaka

Three people, including a housewife, allegedly committed suicide by taking poison in Satkhira and Netrakona districts on Saturday and Sunday.
In Satkhira, police said Madhab Chandra Mondal, 25, son of Gopal Chandra Mondal of Kadakati village in Ashashuni upazila allegedly committed suicide by taking poison following a quarrel with his father on Saturday night.
In another incident, Ratna Khatun, 24, wife of Abul Kalam of Budhata village committed suicide in the same way when her extra marital affairs with a youth came to light on Sunday.
In Netrakona, day-laborer Rafiqul Islam, 25, son of Rohisuddin Boyati of Durgapur village at Kendua upazila committed suicide by taking pesticide on Saturday.
Police said Rafiqul took pesticide over a trifling matter with his wife Jahanara on Saturday evening. He was admitted to Kendua upazila health complex where the attending doctors declared him dead.
Jahanara also took pesticide at her house seeing her husband's critical condition. She was admitted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.

   Sangsad Bangladesh TV channel by December
UNB, Dhaka

Much expected Sangsad Bangladesh, a new TV channel on parliamentary activities, is expected to go on air by December next.
This was informed by Information Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury while making a power point presentation on the project "Launching Developmental Channel in Bangladesh Television" to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office on Monday afternoon. According to the presentation, process is at the final stage to establish and run the television channel by the ministry, decision for which was adopted in Jatiya Sangsad. Sangsad Bangladesh channel will air programmes on territorial basis.
An amount of Tk 27.25 crore has been earmarked to make the channel operational. It will telecast live proceedings of the Sangsad.
When there will be no parliamentary session, news reports of parliamentary standing committees will be aired. Besides, documentary programmes on climate change, women empowerment, right to information, agriculture, food and disaster management and various other development issues will be aired. Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad and senior officials were present at the presentation programme.

Sports

City’s Balotelli bid a done deal Report
AFP,Rome

Star teenage Italian forward Mario Balotelli has signed a contract with Manchester City and will make his permanent move to the English Premier League side this week, Italian media reported on Monday.
Balotelli, 19, has long been linked with a move to City, who are managed by his former Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini. According to reports, Balotelli held a farewell party in Milan over the weekend and all that remains is for Inter and City to sign the formalities.
Gazzetta dello Sport claims he will sign a five-year deal worth four million euros a season while the initial fee will be 30 million euros, possibly rising to 35 million euros based on appearances and goals. The newspaper says he will join his new team-mates on Wednesday as both clubs are on pre-season tours in the United States.
The striker could then even turn out for City against Inter on Saturday in Baltimore.
The Italian of Ghanaian origin has been a controversial figure during his fledgling career but is considered by many to be Italy's brightest young talent.
However, he has suffered from racial abuse from the terraces and has frequently fallen foul of Jose Mourinho's strict disciplinary code during the Portuguese's two-year stint in Milan. Balotelli also enraged his own club's fans towards the end of last season when he hurled his shirt to the ground after Inter's 3-1 Champions League semi-final, first leg victory over Barcelona at the San Siro.
The teenager had been jeered for a less than committed substitute performance and he was later allegedly attacked by team-mates angered by his actions. He was also left on the sidelines for six games before that after failing to apologise publically to his coach over an internal incident.

  Sri Lanka 312-2 as Sangakkara torments India with tons
AFP, Colombo

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara was unbeaten on 130 and Mahela Jayawardene was on 13. Opener Tharanga Paranavitana made 100 in consecutive matches as Sri Lanka dominated the opening day of the second Test on Monday.
The left-handed duo, who made hundreds in their victorious first Test in Galle, put on 174 for the second wicket to help the hosts pile up 312-2 by stumps at the Sinhalese Sports Club.
Paranavitana, a 28-year-old playing his 12th Test, revelled in the familiar environs of his home club to follow his maiden century at Galle with a fluent 100. Skipper Sangakkara returned unbeaten on 130, his 23rd Test hundred, after he won the toss and elected to take first strike in typically good batting conditions at the SSC. Both players reached their centuries in the same over, the 71st of the innings, as Paranavitana took three runs off a Pragyan Ojha misfield and Sangakkara lofted Virender Sehwag for a boundary.
Paranavitana was dimissed in the next over, bowled by seamer Ishant Sharma off the inside edge, but former captain Mahela Jayawardene kept Sangakkara company at stumps on 13. The easy-paced wicket left India's bowlers facing an uphill struggle in hot and humid weather after captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost his seventh straight toss.
Young seamer Abhimanyu Mithun went for 0-75 in 17 overs and leading spinner Harbhajan Singh gave away 61 runs in 22 wicketless overs. India, trailing 1-0 in the three-match series, suffered twin blows when opener Gautam Gambhir and middle-order batsman Yuvraj were ruled out of the key match.
Gambhir failed to recover from a knee injury, while Yuvraj developed high fever overnight.
The duo were replaced by left-hand batsman Suresh Raina, making his Test debut after playing 98 one-day internationals, and opener Murali Vijay. Sri Lanka changed the entire frontline bowling attack that won them the first Test by 10 wickets.
With Muttiah Muralitharan now retired and fast bowler Lasith Malinga injured, the hosts replaced them with spinner Ajantha Fernando and Dilhara Fernando. Also out were left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and seamer Chanaka Welegedara. Their places went to debutant off-spinner Suraj Randiv and fast bowler Dammika Prasad.

   English footballer jailed for 25 years for murder
AFP, London

Gavin Grant, a former Millwall and Bradford striker, will serve at least 25 years in prison for his role in the gun murder of an old friend.
Grant was given the sentence at the Old Bailey after being convicted of murdering Leon Labastide, 21, outside his parents' home in 2004.
The 26-year-old had previously been cleared of the murder of Jahmall Moore as a series of shootings scarred a north London estate. But Grant was charged with Labastide's murder when new witnesses came forward.
Gareth Downie, 25, and Damian Williams, 32, were also jailed for life and given minimum terms of 25 years - Downie for murdering Labastide and Williams for conspiracy to murder.
Grant spent the second half of last season with League Two club Bradford, where he made what look likely to be the final 11 appearances of his career.
Judge Peter Beaumont, said Labastide's murder had been in revenge for a series of "tit-for-tat" shootings.
Labastide's mother, Diane Havill, said in a statement: "Leon was a keen footballer who shared his passion for the game with all who knew him. He loved life.
"His senseless killing by so-called friends who grew up with him has left it hard for me to understand the futility of snatching Leon's future whilst, in the same breath, destroying their own." As Grant was being sentenced at the Old Bailey, a woman shouted from the public gallery: "It's all fixed" and "You are coming out".
Stephen Batten QC, prosecuting, said that many of the people involved in the case had been linked to shootings and drug-dealing on the Stonebridge Park Estate in Harlesden, north-west London. He told the jury: "Attitudes and standards are different. It is more the law of the jungle than the law of civilised England.
"You will hear about and see people whose behaviour will probably disgust you and make you wonder if there is any hope for the human race."
The jury heard that trouble started with a burglary in which three women were terrorised and it was suspected that 20,000 pounds in drug money was taken.
A 16-year-old girl, who had been in the house, gave evidence under an assumed name in the trial. It was rumoured that Labastide was behind the burglary and Williams arranged for Grant and Downie to shoot him.

  Blanc banishes France’s World Cup flops
AFP, Paris

New coach Laurent Blanc launched a new era in French football on Friday when he handed out a one-match suspension for all 23 players who brought World Cup shame and humiliation.
Blanc, who has replaced Raymond Domenech, surveyed the wreckage of the team's South Africa misadventure, where players went on strike before crashing out in the first round, and banished the entire squad for the August 11 friendly against Norway. Former Manchester United defender and Lyon coach Blanc refused to elaborate on his bold move but told his first press conference as coach earlier this month: "I can't act as if nothing happened in South Africa.
"I followed events with great sadness. I was disappointed by the sporting performance but I was above all outraged by certain behaviour. I'll take stock of these elements in my analyses and thoughts."
French football chiefs also unveiled a new president on Friday and his first act after assuming command was to issue a summons to Domenech to explain France's disastrous World Cup.
Fernand Duchaussoy was elected as successor to Jean-Pierre Escalettes, who resigned after the shambolic South Africa campaign where the team failed to win a match and finished bottom of their group.
After being unveiled as caretaker president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Duchaussoy announced: "I will be summoning Raymond Domenech in the coming days." Domenech's last act as national manager was to refuse to shake the hand of Carlos Alberto Parreira after the Brazilian's South Africa dished out a beating to the fallen former world champions.
Duchaussoy commented: "Inacc-eptable unethical situations were committed, for example not shaking the hand of a rival coach, and not to warn the president (Escalettes) who was on site, of the events that took place at half-time of the France v Mexico match."

  So long LeBron, hello Eyenga for Cavaliers
AFP, Cleveland, Ohio

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed their first player since the departure of superstar LeBron James, completing a deal Friday with Chri-stian Eyenga, a forward from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Cavaliers selected the 21-year-old African 30th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. Eyenga played in Spain last season to improve his skills, averaging 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds over 29 games for Joventut Badalona.
Eyenga played five games last week in NBA summer league contests for those seeking roster spots, averaging 11.4 points and 4.2 rebounds plus a blocked shot a game and hitting 43.5 percent from the field as his team went 3-2. "Like all rookies, I want to work hard," Eyenga said through a translator.
"Every time I've started something new, it has been tough, but I'm going to try to work to get some minutes. I want to learn my role and get on the floor as soon as possible."
The Cavaliers had been thwarted twice before in free agent deals after losing James, the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player who departed for Miami as a free agent earlier this month.

  World Cup winner Robinson comes out of retirement
AFP, London

Jason Robinson, a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team, is to come out of retirement to play for National League side Fylde next season. Robinson ended his illustrious playing career during the 2007-08 season, but the 35-year-old winger has decided to return to action with an unglamorous team who finished ninth in the National North Two last season.
It will also mean a reunion with former England manager Brian Ashton, who returned to Fylde as a coaching consultant last month. Ashton said: "It is a remarkably fortunate coincidence for me to be returning to help out my old club Fylde as Jason arrives to play.
"I have had the privilege of working with Jason and know that his stature, ability and qualities as a player and a person will benefit all who come into contact with him, both on and off the field."
Robinson played rugby league for club sides Hunslet and Wigan and internationally for both England and Great Britain before switching codes to union. He had spells with Bath and Sale and appeared in more than 50 rugby union internationals for his country, including that memorable World Cup triumph in Australia, as well as playing for the British and Irish Lions.

   Real prepare Monday adios for Raul
AFP, Madrid

Real Madrid have confirmed that captain and record-breaking striker Raul will leaved the club on Monday after 16 years in the first team and with German side Schalke his destination.
Raul, who has played for Real since 1994, won six La Liga championships and three Champions League titles during his time with the Spanish giants. He has scored 323 times in 740 appearances for the club.
Fellow veteran Guti, a product of Real's youth system who made his pro debut in 1995, said earlier Sunday that he was leaving with Besiktas in Turkey his likely new home. Both men have been told by new coach Jose Mourinho that they do not form part of his plans for the new season. A statement on the Real official website on Sunday announced that 33-year- old Raul would be afforded a farewell celebration at the Bernabeu. "The farewell party will start at 1pm. Club president Florentino Perez will be present, and it will be followed by a press conference by Raul and general director Jorge Valdano," said a club statement.
Guti said Sunday that he was closing a "glorious stage" in his career as he parted ways with Real Madrid after 15 seasons. "I believe you have to be aware that there are stages that close and in this case for me it is a very glorious stage at Real Madrid which is coming to an end," the 33-year-old told a news conference.
Guti, who had another year on his contract, said he was considering an offer from Besiktas, where he would be coached by German's Bernd Schuster, who managed Real between 2007 and 2008. "I have a good offer from them, an interesting one, now we will see," he said. "I think you have to make room for younger players and know that football is like that."
"It is a complicated and difficult moment but you have to know that these things happen in football and that at certain moments, regardless of the talent you have, it is your time to leave a club or leave football and life goes on." Guti, a product of the club's youth system, made his pro debut in 1995.
He helped Real win five domestic league titles and three European Champions League titles, having scored 86 goals in 542 appearances for the club. Only eight other players have played more matches for the club in its history.

   Butt open to suggestions as England loom
AFP, Leeds, England

Pakistan's novice captain Salman Butt is happy for his players to keep offering him advice during their forthcoming series against England if it helps to build a united team.
Butt, in his first match as captain, led Pakistan to a three-wicket second Test win against Australia at Headingley here on Saturday-a victory that ended a record run of 13 straight Test defeats at the hands of the Aussies stretching back 15 years.
While Pakistan were in the field, several players could be seen wanting a word with their new skipper and, while some captains might see that as a challenge to their authority, 25-year-old opening batsman Butt was delighted. "Being humans we are never happy, when you have advice you never want it and when you do want it you say 'nobody comes and gives it to me'," Butt said.
"I'm very lucky. The best thing they (the players) are doing is they are reading the game, they are in the game.
"It's not that I take all the advice, but it's important for me that every player is in the game and thinking about the game.
"If I'm open to every man, even a youngster playing his first game, then that will mean he will believe in me. So to build a team, I think this is a very important thing to do." Pakistan just did enough to reach their victory target of 180 against Australia here at Headingley on Saturday, although they lost seven wickets before they were able to square a two-match series at 1-1. Only a week earlier, Australia had thrashed Pakistan by 150 runs at Lord's, a defeat that prompted Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi to quit Test cricket. But teenager Mohammad Aamer, well supported by fellow seamers Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul, took advantage of overcast conditions at Headingley for a match haul of seven wickets.
And Pakistan's successful run chase featured a maiden fifty from Azhar Ali in what was only the batsman's second Test
Pakistan's seamers, together with leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, certainly appear capable of posing England's batsmen problems when the first of a four- Test series starts at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
But there are doubts about a batting line-up where Ali, Umar Amin and Umar Akmal have played just 12 Tests between delivering big totals, although Pakistan do have Yasir Hameed, a veteran of 23 Tests, in reserve. "I can't predict what is going to happen (against England)," Butt said.
"We know tough times will come. We know it will not be an easy ride so we have to stick together and try our best. That's all we can do." There has been speculation that, with Afridi out with a side strain, Pakistan might call up either of ex-captains Mohammad Yousuf or Younus Khan, both originally left out after bans imposed following a series whitewash in Australia this year, to bolster the top order.

  Fish wins second title in a row with Atlanta triumph
AFP, Atlanta

Mardy Fish won his second straight title as he outlasted fellow American John Isner in brutal heat, claiming the trophy 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) at the ATP Atlanta Championships on Sunday.
The 49th-ranked Fish followed up title success at his prior event, the grass tournament this month at Newport the week after Wimbledon.
The match win was the ninth in a row for the inspired American, who came through in just under three hours in blistering 37 Celsius conditions.
"It feels great. This is what I've been putting in the work for. I feel as good as I've ever felt in my career," said Fish, winner of his last 10 matches and a winner of two tournametns in a year for the first time in his career.
"Playing in the heat, you have to convince yourself you feel better than the other guy, even if you're feling it. I struggled at the end of the match. I wasn't used to the weather as I had played at night.
"I felt great until about 5-all in the third set, but I didn't want to leave anything out there. I was maybe a little lucky to pull through. It was a extremely physical match with all of the heat. His no fun to play. He gives a lot of people trouble.
"My confidence is really high right now."
Second seed Isner, winner of the longest match ever played in the sport when he won in the first round at Wimbledon, may still not have totally overcome the mental physical drain from that 11-hour contest a month ago.
Isner remains on one title this season, obtained at the start of the season in Auckland.

  Jol turns focus to Ajax’s European ambitions
AFP, Paris

Barely a week after being denied a move to Fulham, Ajax coach Martin Jol must prepare his team to face Greek side PAOK Salonika in the Champions League third qualifying round on Wednesday.
Jol guided four-time European champions Ajax to a second-place finish behind FC Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie last season but grew frustrated this summer at what he saw as the club's reluctance to hold onto their best players.
It was in this state of mind that he reacted favourably to the approach from Fulham, but having being refused permission to leave the Amsterdam Arena he has vowed to put the matter behind him.
"It took a long time, which was probably not good for this club, because it's a big club with one and a half million fans in Holland," he said. "I had to tell them (Fulham) I had to stay. All the problems, going to court, I didn't want that, because Ajax is too big to be put through that misery."
Jol says Ajax must take control of the tie in Wednesday's first-leg match, as he is wary of the role the Greek club's "fanatical fans" could play if Ajax have to travel to Thessalonika in need of a positive result.
Perhaps the most intriguing tie of the third qualifying round pitches Scottish giants Celtic against Champions League debutants Sporting Braga, who finished second to Benfica in last season's Portu-guese Liga.

  City boss Mancini eyes Torres bid
AFP, Manchester, United Kingdom

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini admits he is ready to bid for Fernando Torres if the Liverpool striker shows interest in moving to Eastlands.
Mancini was given hope that he may be able to sign Torres when new Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson revealed the Spain star has a "beef" with the club in the aftermath of a woeful campaign last season.
Torres has yet to publicly commit his future to the Reds and Mancini hinted he would love to continue his spending spree by tempting the former Atletico Madrid player away from Anfield. Mancini has already splashed out close to 90 million pounds on Jerome Boateng, Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure and David Silva, but City's Abu Dhabi-based owners are willing to pay the 50 million pound fee needed to land Torres, as well as chasing Aston Villa midfielder James Milner. "Torres is one of the best strikers in Europe and is already playing in the Premier League for three years and knows it very well," Mancini said. "But it depends on his situation - his price and whether he wants to come.
"There are two or three strikers that we could go for, but it is the same situation as it is with James Milner.
"First there is the price and then it depends if the players want to change team. Until today, Liverpool haven't bought many players."

  Wolves can still finish top - Smith
AFP, London

Coach Tony Smith insists Warrington's bid to finish top of the Super League is far from over despite slumping to a shock 29-28 defeat to rock-bottom Catalans.
Smith's troops were matched throughout by the Dragons with Chris Hicks' double and Jon Clarke's first-half efforts for Warrington cancelled out by Frederic Vaccari, Dane Carlaw and Steven Bell.
At 16-16 Catalans quickly took the initiative after the restart with Cyril Stacul and Remi Casty scoring only for New Zealander Vinnie Anderson and Lee Briers to hit back for the Wolves.
Frenchman Thomas Bosc and Ben Westwood also traded four goals each but it was former Bulldogs scrum-half Brent Sherwin's drop goal in the 67th minute that proved the difference for the Dragons. That loss leaves Warrington four points adrift of Wigan - who thrashed Hull 46-0 - in the race for top spot but their Australian coach Smith remains upbeat as the regular season draws to a close.
"We were behind the eight ball from the start but we will go away and lick our wounds and come back stronger for it," said Smith - whose side play third-place St Helens next week.
"It doesn't matter who beats us, we won't sulk about it, we will get ready for our next game. We will turn our attentions to St Helens after we review the Catalans game.
"We will go through the process in the same way as if we had won and I am sure the boys will be ready for St Helens next week.
"There were some areas that we became frustrated with and we will have to go and fix those up and try and put in a performance next week."
Meanwhile St Helen's coach Mick Potter couldn't praise his side enough after their 50-6 win over Wakefield moved them to within two points of Warrington.
Former Penrith Panthers second-row Tony Puletua, Jon Wilkin and Shaun Magennis all bagged doubles as the Saints responded to Kieran Hyde's eighth minute try for the Wildcats with eight unanswered scores.
Jamie Foster also booted seven goals to complete the rout and leave Aussie Potter purring ahead of next weekend's clash with second-place Warrington.