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Leading News
SC scraps 5th
amendment of constitution with modification
The verdict paves the way for restoration of preamble
and articles 8, 9, 10, 12, 25, 38 and 142 of ‘72
constitution
UNB, Dhaka
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court Tuesday upheld
the High Court verdict that scrapped the 5th Amendment of
the Constitution, with certain modifications recognizing
citizens of Bangladesh as Bangladeshis.
The modified judgment of the six-member Appellate Division
paved the way for restoration of the Preamble and Articles
8, 9, 10, 12, 25, 38 and 142 of the 1972 Constitution.
On August 29 in 2005, the High Court in a historic verdict
declared illegal the 5th amendment to the constitution,
meaning that the rules of Khandker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu
Sadaat Mohammad Sayem, and Maj General Ziaur Rahman from
August 15, 1975 to April 9, 1979 were unlawful.
In the first paragraph of the Preamble, it will now be
read as "a historic struggle for national liberation"
instead of "a historic war for national independence."
The verdict also restored in the 2nd paragraph of the
Preamble of the original Constitution the words "Pledging
that the high ideals of nationalism, socialism, democracy
and secularism" which inspired our heroic people to
dedicate themselves to, and our brave martyrs to sacrifice
their lives in, the national liberation struggle, shall be
the fundamental principles of the Constitution.
It replaces the words "Pledging that the high ideals of
absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah,
nationalism, democracy and socialism meaning economic and
social justice, which inspired our heroic people to
dedicate themselves to, and our brave martyrs to sacrifice
their lives in, the war of national independence, shall be
the fundamental principles of the Constitution.
The Article 8 (1) of the 1972 Constitution will revive the
words "The principles of nationalism, socialism, democracy
and secularism, together with the principles derived from
them as set out in this Part, shall constitute the
fundamental principles of state policy."
It replaces the words inserted through the 5th amendment
by the words "The principles of absolute trust and faith
in the Almighty Allah, nationalism, democracy and
socialism meaning economic and social justice," together
with the principles derived as set out in this Part, shall
constitute the fundamental principles of state policy."
The Appellate Division verdict deleted the Clause (1A) of
Article 8 saying that absolute trust and faith in the
Almighty Allah shall be the basis of all actions".
The verdict paves the way for restoration of Article 12 of
the original Constitution that says: The principle of
secularism shall be realized by the elimination of - (a)
communalism in all its forms.
Following the verdict, Article 38 with proviso will be
restored. Article 38 says "Every citizen shall have the
right to form associations or unions, subject to any
reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interests of
morality or public order:
"Provided that no persons shall have the right to form, or
be a member or otherwise take part in the activities of,
any communal or other association or union which in the
name or on the basis of any religion has or its object, or
pursues, a political purpose."
In their observations the Appellate Division judges put on
record their total disapproval of Martial Law and
suspension of the Constitution or any part thereof in any
form.
"The perpetrators of such illegalities should also be
suitably punished and condemned so that in future no
adventurist, no usurper, would dare to defy the people,
their Constitution, their Government, established by them
with their consent," the verdict said.
The Appellate Division, however, said: It is the
Parliament which can make law in this regard. Let us bid
farewell to all kinds of extra constitutional adventure
for ever.
It said: "We are of the view that in the spirit of the
Preamble and also Article 7 of the Constitution the
Military Rule, direct or indirect, is to be shunned once
for all."
"Let it be made clear that Military Rule was wrongly
justified in the past and it ought not to be justified in
future on any ground, principle, doctrine or theory
whatsoever as the same is against the dignity, honour and
glory of the nation that it achieved after great
sacrifice; it is against the dignity and honour of the
people of Bangladesh who are committed to uphold the
sovereignty and integrity of the nation by all means."
Pakistani plane crashes,all 152 on board killed
AFP, Islamabad
A Pakistani airliner carrying 152 people crashed in a ball
of flames Wednesday into densely wooded hills outside
Islamabad amid heavy rain and poor visibility, killing
everyone on board.
Rescue officials said pieces of charred flesh and body
parts were littered around the smouldering wreckage,
partially buried on a remote hillside, in the deadliest
crash involving a Pakistani passenger jet in 18 years.
Private airline Airblue's flight ED 202 from Karachi was
being diverted into land at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto
International airport when witnesses saw it flying at an
unusually low altitude before a defeaning boom.
The plane disintegrated into a gorge between two hills,
enveloped in cloud and some distance from the road,
severely hampering rescue efforts and limiting visibility
for helicopters hovering overhead, said an AFP
correspondent.
"I saw a big ball of smoke and fire everywhere with big
pieces of aircraft rolling down the hill," said police
official Haji Taj Gul.
"The plane was flying very low. Then we heard a loud
noise," said Wajih-ur Rehman, a resident of the exclusive
E-7 neighbourhood in the Margalla foothills, home to
Western expatriates and some of Pakistan's elite.
"Nobody survived," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told
Express TV. Bodies were mostly mutilated and in pieces,
and would require identification, he said. The civil
aviation authority and Airblue said there were 152,
including six crew, on board the doomed plane.
Zeeshan Haider, a Civil Aviation Authority official said
seven children, including two babies, were on the flight
manifest.
Reports had said a handful of people survived the
disaster, but asked whether all those on board died Malik
replied: "Yes, all of them are dead". "It's a big tragedy.
It's really a big tragedy," the minister said. The US
embassy said two Americans were on the flight.
"I can confirm there were two American citizens on the
plane and we are working with Pakistani authorities as we
normally do in cases such as this," embassy spokesman
Richard Snelsire told AFP.
Officials said air traffic control diverted the plane on
its final approach, owing to rain and thick cloud-outside
the normal route for aircraft flying up from the southern
port city of Karachi.
The civil aviation authority said all possible causes
would be investigated, including terrorism and bad
weather, although officials gave no indication that an
attack might have been to blame.
Some people are trying
to frighten me: PM
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said some
opportunist people have sneaked into her ruling party with
a perception that they would remain safe after doing
wrongs but she cautioned wrongdoers would never be spared.
"I like to say in clear-cut terms that whoever they may be
- Chhatra League or Swechchhsebak League - would never be
spared after committing offences or repressing people,"
she said. "I won't tolerate any kind of indiscipline or
chaos."
Hasina came up with the toughest warning at a function at
Ganobhaban in the morning. The function was arranged as
senior leaders of Bangladesh Swechchhasebak League went to
meet the Prime Minister on the occasion of the
organization's 16th founding anniversary.
Reacting to certain remarks BNP leader Salahuddin Qader
Chowdhury MP made on Monday about amendments to the
Constitution, she said: "Some people are trying to
frighten me with the consequences similar to my father. I
would like to ask these people who are speaking like this
and trying to mislead the public to look back to their
past."
Hasina said the people of this country did not forget the
role they had played during 1971. "It's a futile exercise
to try to scare me," she said, recalling the planting of
70-80 kgs of bombs at Kotalipara and subsequent grenade
attacks to kill her.
"But, the Almighty Allah saved me. As long as Allah would
keep me alive none will be able to cause any harm to me,"
she said in an emotion-charged voice.
The Prime Minister said the evil quarter is trying to
frightening her to foil the government's move to try the
war criminals and implement the Supreme Court verdict
declaring illegal the fifth amendment of the constitution.
"But no fear or threat would deter me from performing the
sacred duty to try the war criminals and implement the
apex court verdict."
Mannan Bhuiyan
passes away
UNB, Dhaka
Former BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan died of
lung cancer at about 12:01 am Wednesday at city's Square
Hospital. He was 67.
Bhuiyan had been suffering from lung cancer. He was in the
intensive care unit of the hospital since he was brought
back from Singa-pore on July 7. The former LGRD and
Coopera-tives Minister was on life-support system at the
hospital.
He was brought back home by an air ambulance from
Singapore National University Hospital, where he was under
treatment from June 18.
He had been given life support at the Singapore hospital.
Bhuiyan served as BNP secretary general for 11 years. The
party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia expelled him before
she was arrested during the tenure of the last caretaker
government in September 2007.
Namaj-e-Janaza of Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan was held at Baitul
Mukarram national mosque and south plaza of Jatiya Sangsad
Bhaban on Wednesday.
Ministers, MPs, leaders and workers of different political
parties, cross section of people attended the janaza and
prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.
The first janaza was held at the south plaza of the Jatiya
Sangsad Bhaban at 11-20 am. Chief Whip Abdus Shahid on
behalf of the Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina and
Speaker Abdul Hamid placed wreath on the coffin of Bhuiyan.
Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan was laid to rest at his family
graveyard at Masimpur in Shibganj upazila on Wednesday.
Freedom Fighter Bhuiyan was laid to rest at about 6:45 pm
with gun salute by a team of police. His final
Namaj-e-Janaza was held at Shaheed Asad Government College
ground after Asr prayer in Shibpur. Post and
Tele-communication Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, Dhaka
city mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Advocate Nurul Majid
Humayun MP, Jahirul Haque Mohon MP, ex-MP Sarker Sakhwat
Hossain Bakul and a huge number of BNP activists were
present to pay their last respects to the veteran
politician.
Earlier, Ministers, MPs, leaders and workers of different
political parties, cross section of people attended at the
first namaz-e-janazas at the south plaza of the Jatiya
Sangsad Bhaban and second at Baitul Mukarram national
mosque.
Jamaat
programmes from today
UNB, Dhaka
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Wednesday announced a series
of programmes beginning Thursday (July 29) on various
issues, particularly demanding release of its detained top
leaders. Jammat acting secretary general ATM Azharul Islam
announced the programmes at a press conference at its
central office in the afternoon.
As per the programmes, Jamaat will stage demonstration
across the country tomorrow (Thursday) demanding immediate
and unconditional release of all leaders and activists of
the party including Jamaat ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami,
secretary general Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujaheed,
nayeb-e-ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee, and assistant
secretaries general M Qamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Mollah.
Jamaat will observe doa (prayer) day on Friday (July 30)
and hold rally and campaign August 4-6 throughout the
country to press for immediate release of its leaders and
activists. They will also arrange rally and processions
all over the country to protest price-hike of essentials,
electricity, gas and water crisis, and deteriorating law
and order as well as for upholding the sanctity of holy
Ramadan.
Back Page
ECNEC okays 4 development projects
UNB, Dhaka
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC)
on Tuesday approved four development projects involving Tk
272 crore that includes procurement of 290 single-decker
CNG buses for state-run Bangladesh Road Transport
Corporation (BRTC).
The approval came from the ECNEC meeting held at the NEC
conference room with ECNEC chairperson and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
"Of the total cost of Tk 272 crore, Tk 177 crore will come
from the government exchequer while Tk 95 crore as project
assistance," said Planning Minister AK Khandaker while
briefing reporters after the meeting. Planning Division
Secretary M Habibullah Majumder was present.
The Planning Minister said that the CNG buses would be
procured under a credit from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF)
at a cost of Tk 114 crore of which Tk 19 crore will be
provided by the government.
Replying to a question, he said the buses would run in the
capital and steps would be taken to maintain the buses
properly.
Of the 290 buses under the project, some 100 CNG buses
have already been procured and are plying in the capital.
According to sources close to the ECNEC meeting, the BRTC
chairman apprised the Prime Minister that some 55
double-decker buses have so far been repaired and another
200 buses are under repair.
The three other projects approved in the meeting include
Baniachang-Nabiganj road construction project under the
Roads and Railways Division (Tk 47 crore),
Ashashuni-Paikgachha road development project including
construction of Manikkhali Bridge under the Roads and
Railways Division (Tk 67 crore) and water supply
development project in Khulna Metropolis under the Local
Government Division (Tk 44 crore).
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Planning Minister AK
Khandaker, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Labour
and Employment Minister Engr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain,
Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen, Commerce
Minister Faruk Khan, Communications Minister Syed Abul
Hossain, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan and advisers to
the Prime Minister were present at the meeting.
Holy Shab-e-Barat observed
BSS, Dhaka
Shab-e-Barat, the holy night of fortune and forgiveness,
was observed across the country on Tuesday night with due
religious fervour and solemnity.
The Muslims across the country spent sleepless night at
mosques and homes, offering prayers, reciting from the
holy Quran and seeking divine blessings from Allah for
long life, peace, progress and happiness for themselves,
their families, relatives and friends as well as the
nation and the Muslim Ummah.
The Muslim devotees in the city thronged Baitul Mukarram
National Mosque, Azimpur Graveyard, High Court Mazar and
other sacred places that turned into human seas.
The Muslims consider Shab-e-Barat as one of the three most
sacred nights and believe that on this night Almighty
Allah writes the fate of all human beings fixing their 'rizq'
(livelihood) for the coming year.
President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
in separate messages extended their heartiest greetings to
people of the country and the world Muslims on the eve of
the holy night.
The Muslims on this night visited the graveyards to offer
fateha for peace of the departed souls of their near and
dear ones.
They also visited the mazars of saints in Dhaka and
elsewhere in the country and distributed food and sweets
among the neighbours and the poor.
Many Muslims observed fasting on Wednesday and Tuesday on
the occasion.
Sugar price
fixed at Tk 43 per kg
UNB, Dhaka
The government has decided to build up a stock of
77,650.50 metric tonnes of sugar to keep the sugar price
at an affordable level during the holy month of Ramadan.
"We have taken a decision to buy 25,000 metric tonnes of
sugar from the international market and 10,000 metric
tonnes from local markets," Industries Minister Dilip
Barua said during a press conference at his Ministry
Tuesday.
He said the BSFIC (Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries
Corporation) has already stocked 42,650.50 metric tonnes
of sugar to keep the sugar price stable during Ramadan.
The Minister said price of sugar has been reduced by Tk 2
per kg by BSFIC and the price has now been fixed at Tk 43
at mill gate from Tuesday, considering the additional use
of sugar during the Ramadan.
Dilip Barua said according to Bangladesh Bank, the private
sector has imported adequate quantity of sugar this year.
Some 120,763 metric tonnes of raw sugar was imported up to
July this year.
"We hope the price of sugar will be stable during Ramadan
as the government has taken a timely decision to reduce
sugar price by Tk 2 per kg," he said.
About the retail price of sugar, the Minister said the
Deputy Commissioners will fix the retail price. "We expect
consumers will be able to buy sugar at Tk 45 per kg during
the Ramadan."
He said there are 45,000 dealers across the country and
the government will distribute sugar through these
dealers.
Referring to dishonest businessmen, Dilip Barua said: "We
have some psychological problems. A quarter of greedy and
dishonest businessmen take advantage of the situation in
Ramadan by increasing the prices of essentials on the eve
of religious festivals and this is very unfortunate for
us."
He vowed to take stern action against the traders who will
be involved in increasing the prices of essentials to
cause misery to public life.
Bhuiyan’s
demise creates vacuum in the country’s political arena:
Khaleda
UNB, Dhaka
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has said the demise of Abdul
Mannan Bhuiyan created a vacuum in the country's political
arena.
In a condolence message on Wednesday Khaleda expressed
deep shock at the death of former BNP secretary general
Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan who died of lung cancer at Square
Hospital Hospital in the city Tuesday midnight.
Paying tributes to the late leader she said Bhuiyan was a
patriotic freedom fighter and courageous politician who
had achieved a place in the national politics overcoming
many odds since his student life.
He was always vocal in favour of pubic demand and very
sincere in carrying out responsibilities, added the BNP
chief.
Mannan Bhuiyan who was secretary general of BNP for 11
years was expelled from the party by Khaleda just before
she was thrown into jail by the army backed caretaker
government in September 2007.
Khaleda Zia prayed for eternal peace for the departed soul
of Bhuiyan and conveyed deep sympathies to the bereaved
family.
Pvt varsity
students protest VAT on tuition fees
UNB, Dhaka
At least 20 people, including 10 cops, were injured as
students of private universities clashed with police at
Banani in the city while demonstrating for the second day
Tuesday against the government decision to impose VAT on
their tuition fees.
Police charged batons and lobbed some 12 tear gas shells
to disperse the agitating students after they put
barricade on Mohakhali-Airport road and Kamal Ataturk
Avenue halting vehicular movement from 2:50 pm. Police
detained 15 persons from the spot.
Witnesses said students threw brickbats towards police as
they tried to disperse the demonstrators. The
demonstrating students also damaged 8 to 10 vehicles.
The agitating students removed the barricade on Mohakhali-Airport
road at about 4:30 pm but continued their demonstration on
Kamal Ataturk Avenue. Police again went into action
lobbing about 12 tear gas shells at about 5:30 pm. The
demonstrators withdrew the barricade on Kamal Ataturk
Avenue at about 6:50 pm.
Draft wage
structure for RMG workers finalized
UNB, Dhaka
The government will give its final decision on new wage
structure for the readymade garment (RMG) workers on
Thursday fixing minimum wage at Tk 3000.
"Minimum wage for RMG workers won't be less than Tk 3000.
We'll formally announce the new wage structure at 5pm on
July 29 (Thursday)," Labour and Employment Minister Engr
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told newsmen at his
Secretariat office in the evening.
He said they received a draft of the news wage structure
from the wage board which will be sent to BG Press on
Thursday as tomorrow (Wednesday) is a public holiday.
"I'll announce it formally at about 5pm from my office."
The Labour Minister, however, said the government is not
compelled to accept all the recommendations of the wage
board.
The wage board formed to fix a new wage structure for the
workers of the RMG sector earlier finalized the draft
fixing minimum wage at Tk 3000 and placed it before the
government today (Tuesday).
All representatives of the wage board except of the owners
signed the draft, workers representative Begum Shamsun
Nahar told UNB.
She said the wage board has recommended a seven-step wage
structure fixing minimum wage at Tk 3000. "However,
minimum wage during probation period has been fixed at Tk
2500, which is presently Tk 1200."
Vested quarter
hatching conspiracy to foil trial of war criminals: Tuku
BSS, Manikganj
State Minister for Home Advocate Shamsul Huq Tuku has said
a vested quarter is hatching conspiracy at a time when the
government has started the trial of war criminals.
"A vested quarter is trying to create an unstable
situation in the country, but the government would not
budge an inch on its stand to try the war criminals," he
added.
The state minister said this in a meeting of district law
and order committee at the district administration office
on Tuesday night with Additional Deputy Commissioner
(general) Mohammad Zakir Hossain in the chair.
He said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wanted to build
a secular state, which will be free from terrorism,
corruption and exploitation.
But the anti-liberation forces killed him brutally along
with most of his family members, he added.
Tuku said the verdict of the Bangabandhu murder case has
been executed and the war criminals will also be punished
on this soil.
Editorial
VAT at private
universities
It
is an unpleasant development that the students of different
private universities had to come down on the streets to voice
their demand for the withdrawal of VAT imposed on their
tuition and other fees. The country's private universities are
largely free from violence and politics of conflict and most
of the students are away from agitation and movement. But the
wrong move of the government has forced them to gather on the
roads and stage agitation against the unjustified decision to
impose VAT on tuition and other fees in private universities.
It is unthinkable and unwarranted, but true that the
government has recently imposed 4.5 per cent VAT on the
tuition fees at the private universities and that has to be
paid by the students. The National Board of Revenue in June
through letters to private universities imposed the 4.5
percent value added tax on admission fees, tuition fees and
other charges. But this is not acceptable to the students. So,
hundreds of students of different private universities on
Monday blocked the Airport Road at Mohakhali in Dhaka for
about four hours demanding withdrawal of VAT imposed on their
tuition fees. They disrupted traffic movement for hours,
vandalised at least 10 vehicles and clashed with police.
Police resorted to baton-charge and fired teargas shells to
disperse the agitating students leaving 15 people injured.
The students rightly termed the VAT on their fees illogical
and unacceptable. They have very correctly said that education
is not a commodity and the government cannot impose any VAT on
it. Moreover, they questioned the justification of imposition
of VAT on private universities and providing subsidy for
public universities by the same government.
Meanwhile, UNB news agency has quoted Education Minister Nurul
Islam Nahid as saying that the government is considering
withdrawal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on tuition fee for private
university students to ensure quality education in the
country. "Education Ministry has no involvement in determining
VAT on private university. Finance Ministry has imposed the
VAT on tuition fee of the private university students." He
said he had already negotiated with Finance Minister Adul Maal
Abdul Muhith and the chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR)
to withdraw the VAT and they said they are looking into this
issue to solve the ongoing crisis.
It will be a good step if the government withdraws the VAT on
fees of the students at private universities. But a question
will persist why was the Financed Minister so much whimsical
to impose VAT on education like commodities sold at different
shops. The students, guardians and the people had genuinely
expected an experienced administrator like AMA Muhith to
realise the fault in such a decision and its possible angry
repercussions. After all, it can not be the function of the
finance ministry to collect some VAT from wherever it is
possible.
The initiative taken by the education minister to defuse the
crisis over the VAT issue at private universities is
appreciable. He has rightly pointed out that private
universities cannot increase fees without reason and the
students should never bear the expenditures of the university.
The students are already overburdened with exuberant education
cost at private universities. So if the government is in any
compulsion to extract some money from the private university
sector, the tax should be levied on the university authorities
as they make lofty profits.
In the past, much has been said about the high expenses of
education at private universities and demands have been made
to reduce the cost. But even the Private University Act passed
by the Parliament recently has failed to do anything positive
in this regard. In the meantime has come the imposition of VAT
on fees of the students. This is deplorable and the VAT must
have to be withdrawn.
Population census
The
2011 population census will be held in March and it is very
much important for Bangladesh for adopting future plans to
develop the country as a middle-income state by 2021. In this
regard Dr Kazi Saleh Ahmed, a member of the National
Statistics Council has told a news agency that there is no
alternative to having an independent body during
post-enumeration checking to get reliable data. Academics and
researchers, working in the universities and research
organizations, who have both theoretical and practical
knowledge about the issue can ensure authenticity of the
census data, he said .
According to the projection of BBS, the total population of
the country will reach 15.14 crore by 2011, 17.17 crore by
2021 and 19.60 crore by 2031, 20.65 crore by 2041 and 21.87
crore by 2051. The BBS projection for 2001 to 2051 is based on
the assumption that replacement level fertility will be
achieved by the year 2011 but experts differ, as they are of
the opinion that there is no such trend and expressed the hope
that if the government puts in extra effort it could be
achieved before 2021.
The population census should be accurate, reliable and
dependable as the country's major planning is made on the
basis of it. If the census is inaccurate the planning may also
be faulty ultimately causing damage to the development
process. So, the experts are very much right in emphasizing
the need for accurate population census.
Meanwhile, there is no other alternative to control the
population in a planned way for building a balance environment
keeping away from the ill-cycle of poverty. And for
accomplishing that objective proper population census is
necessary. According to a UN study, Bangladesh's total
population now exceeded 160 million bringing forth one new
born baby in very 11 seconds. Against this backdrop,
population control is a must and so is the proper population
census.
Analysis
Here we go again!
There could be individual Taliban sympathisers
in the ranks of Pakistan's intelligence agencies and other
official circles, but to say that Pakistan provides concerted
institutional support claimed in the report is nonsense.
Ikram Sehgal
In another major
attack on Pakistan's credibility as a responsible entity among
the comity of nations, among the 92000 secret US documents
about the Afghan war leaked to the media by WikiLeak, a number
of reports implicated Pakistan's premier intelligence agency
in colluding with the Talibaan. The "war logs" also alleged
ISI involvement in plots to kill Hamid Karzai as well as
planning strategy for attacks against US and coalition forces
in Afghanistan. Independent analysts warned that most of the
intelligence material was of questionable value coming from
sources inimical to Pakistan. Clearly fabricated, inconsistent
and certainly not verified, it was not surprising that most
emanated from the National Directorate of Security,
Afghanistan's premier intelligence agency, taken over lock,
stock and barrel by India's RAW when the Northern Alliance
came to power.
As DG ISI in the late 80s, Lt Gen (Retd) Hameed Gul was
actively working with the CIA in aiding the Talibaan. His
views are well known and have not really changed, his extreme
stance is presently at variance with the moderate nature of
the "great silent majority" of Pakistanis. One does not agree
with him on any number of issues however one does respect his
integrity and patriotism. To suggest that he would support the
Talibaan actively in any way, particularly when the Army that
he loves and served with distinction is at war with them, is
in his own words, "preposterous". There is a sea-difference in
the ISI that existed during the Afghan war and the ISI that
exists today. Clandestine organization like the ISI, CIA,
MI-5, KGB, etc necessarily operate in grey areas, that any
would work against the best interests of the State is
ridiculous. The Pakistan Army shields Pakistan from its
enemies, the ISI provides the outer shield for Pakistan and
the Pakistan Army. The motives for our enemies to constantly
attacking the ISI is well known. Put bluntly and simply,
reduce the shield and you compromise the security and
integrity of Pakistan.
The documents leaked by WikiLeak includes details of war
crimes by US and coalition forces and the involvement of
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's family in drug smuggling, yet
these got only cursory media attention. Nowhere in the 92000
documents there seems any mention of India, good or bad. One
may well ask, why is there golden silence on India? True to
form, Afghan Presidential spokesman, Waheed Omar, studiously
focused on Pakistan, saying the "documents could help raise
awareness on the sanctuaries Islamabad provides for militant
groups". That about sums up Afghanistan's hostility to
Pakistan and ingratitude for all the sacrifice Pakistan has
made (and is making) for Afghanistan. The Pakistan Govt is
glutton for punishment, only the week before they had agreed
to a "Memorandum of Understanding" wherein Afghanistan would
get most favoured free access to Pakistan ports as well as
roads/railways communications infra-structure. It is time our
foreign policy to discover self-respect. One is forced to use
language that is not diplomatic, till they learn to shut up
and keep shut, we should allow only food essentials to transit
through Pakistan and nothing else. As regards transit
facilities for India to Afghanistan, either through Karachi
port or Wagah, somebody in our govt needs to get their heads
examined for even agreeing to talk about it. We do not need
Afghanistan, they need us.
The US has forcefully condemned the leaks as harmful to their
national security interests, however there is a hint of a
"wink" and "nod" to put Pakistan under further pressure "to do
none". One has great respect for Adm Mike Mullen, what he has
achieved in calming the suspicions and fears of our Armed
Forces is remarkable but this doublespeak in the US
Establishment is shocking. One is heartened by comments by US
lawmakers who have taken into account the tremendous
sacrifices rendered by Pakistani security forces in dealing
with the militants, they rightly say that the leaks do not
represent facts as they exist on the ground today.
Right on cue, Richard Haass, Chairman Council of Foreign
Relations, USA, appeared on a show (hosted by CNN's Fareed
Zakaria) to announce blithely that Pakistan allows Al-Qaeda to
roam about freely in Pakistan and manipulates Afghanistan in
its designs against India. While Indian Muslim Fareed Zakaria,
(an original "Uncle Tom") has a vested interest in showing
himself more loyal than the king, these accusations were
mind-boggling! We are the ones suffering most at the hands of
Al-Qaeda and to correct Haass, just look at the geography, it
is the other way around, it is India that manipulates
Afghanistan for its purposes against Pakistan.
With experience in the White House working with both the
younger and elder Bush, Haas was an insider in the making of
decisions affecting millions. In his Essay "Dilemma of
Dissent", Haass disclosed, "very frequently the rulers and
their close aides made important ones without proper enquiry,
analysis or debate". Those facilitating such decision-making
Haass calls "Enablers", one way to avoid becoming an "Enabler"
was to resign. That unfortunately requires a conscience.
Richard Haass became an "Enabler" rather than risk "being
ignored or overruled". Bluntly put, many American soldiers and
Iraqis across the board have died (and are dying) because
people like Haass, etc wanted to stay within the reaches of
power, and would not if their dissent became known. If any
order is unlawful, further action is a matter of morality.
People like Haass sacrificed morality at the altar of their
career. To quote my article "Defining Character" published on
May 28, 2009, "Richard Haass may be brilliant, he is also a
self-confessed intellectually dishonest person". Yet people
like Haass proliferate in the upper reaches of US
decision-making and can rule the air-waves to spread false
perception.
Perception is nine-tenths of media law, unless we do something
to contain the constant media attacks that keep providing our
vital national interests, the blood of our youth being shed in
the killing fields of Swat and FATA, and that of our citizenry
in the streets of the country, will be in vain. To quote from
my recent article, "Pie in the sky", "Propaganda is a
deliberate attempt to persuade people by any available media
to think and then behave in a manner desired by the source, it
is really the means to an end. There could be individual
Taliban sympathisers in the ranks of Pakistan's intelligence
agencies and other official circles, but to say that Pakistan
provides concerted institutional support claimed in the report
is nonsense, it demeans not only the blood that our soldiers
have shed fighting the Taliban but that of our innocent
civilians also".
As a coherent platform for our national security strategy, our
present media policy is quite impractical and is tilted
inwards as opposed to the requirement of being focussed
externally. The stakes are high, a comprehensive media
strategy must incorporate the new ground realities and must
project Pakistan abroad by coalescing and force-multiplying
the talent and potential of the private sector. The attacks on
the Army and the ISI have grave national repurcussions for us,
this will happen again and again unless we do something.
Ikram Sehgal is an internationally renowned columnist and
the Editor of the Pakistan Defence Journal.
A stronger,
wider, deeper relationship
Economy
isn't the only reason India matters to Britain. There's
also its democracy with its three million elected
representatives - a beacon to our world.
David Cameron
It's
a real pleasure to be back in India. This is my third trip
here and with each visit, time seems to have leaped
forward by decades in just a few years. It is exhilarating
to see a country growing at super-speed before your eyes.
But I'm not just here to enjoy the energy of this country.
I'm here with a very clear purpose: to renew the
relationship between India and Britain - to re-launch a
relationship that is stronger, wider and deeper. Both our
countries have talked about it long enough. Now it's time
to turn those words into reality.
To show how serious I am, I have brought with me the
biggest visiting delegation of any British Prime Minister
in recent memory: members of my cabinet, industry leaders,
top businessmen and women, figures from the arts, sports
and local government. We're all here to make the case that
this deeper relationship will be beneficial not just for
our own countries, but for the world.
From the British perspective, it's clear why India
matters. Most obviously, there is the dynamism of your
economy. In the U.S., they used to say: "Go West, young
man" to find opportunity and fortune. For today's
entrepreneurs, the real promise is in the East. But your
economy isn't the only reason India matters to Britain.
There's also your democracy with its three million elected
representatives - a beacon to our world. There is your
tradition of tolerance, with dozens of faiths and hundreds
of languages living side by side - a lesson to our world.
And there is this country's sense of responsibility.
Whether it's donating reconstruction assistance to
Afghanistan, peacekeeping in Sierra Leone or providing
intellectual leadership in the G20, India is a source of
strength to our world.
So it's clear why India matters to Britain. But why should
Britain matter to India? I believe our two countries are
natural partners. We have deep and close connections among
our people, with nearly two million people of Indian
origin living in the U.K. We share so much culturally,
whether it's watching Shah Rukh Khan, eating the same food
or watching cricket. Beyond the cultural bonds, Britain
has practical attractions for India. We speak the world's
language. We are still the world's sixth largest
manufacturer and the best base for companies wanting to do
business in Europe. We have some of the best universities
in the world and we are a great hub for science and
innovation. Britain still has the strengths of its
history, not least our democracy, rule of law and strong
institutions, but there is also the modern dynamism of the
nation that helped pioneer the internet, unravel the DNA
code and whose music, films and television are admired the
world over. All of these things can mean opportunity for
Indian investors and entrepreneurs.
So if these are the foundations of a stronger
relationship, how can that relationship benefit our
countries and the wider world? I believe there are three
global challenges we must take on together.
The first challenge is economic. In the past couple of
years, we have seen global economic turmoil. Now both our
nations must ask how we can emerge from the storm stronger
and more prosperous. We come at this challenge from very
different angles. On any measure, India's economy is on an
upward trajectory. In Britain, we're waking up to a new
reality. For centuries my country assumed we could set the
global economic pace. But economic power is shifting -
particularly to Asia - so Britain has to work harder than
ever before to earn its living in the world. I'm not
ashamed to say that's one of the reasons why I'm here in
India. I believe that to spread opportunity for all our
people, from Delhi to Dundee, Bangalore to Birmingham, we
would benefit from a common strategy for economic growth.
We must start by making our own economies as open and
dynamic as possible. That's why within fifty days of
coming into power, our government introduced an emergency
budget to cut red tape, reduce corporation tax rates,
improve our infrastructure and show that Britain is open
for business. Next, both India and Britain must encourage
more investment from each others' countries. Companies
like Vodafone, Wipro and Infosys are showing the way - now
let's go further. Yes, that means bringing together the
best and brightest from both our countries through
scholarships and by twinning universities. But it also
means doing the more difficult thing of opening up our own
economies to foreign direct investment. We have welcomed
your expertise in car manufacturing and steel production;
and we need you to reduce the barriers to foreign
investment in legal services, defence, banking and
insurance.
But perhaps the biggest economic boost of all will come
from more trade. EU-India trade is worth £50 billion a
year already - and I'm determined we expand that by
sorting out an EU and India Free Trade Agreement by the
end of the year. We also need to hammer out a global deal.
Agreement on Doha would add $170 billion to the world
economy. Together we need to make the argument that we
will only get things moving on Doha if we expand it -
because when the pie gets bigger, we'll all get a greater
share. So let's demonstrate our commitment by opening up
our economies and showing we mean business.
The second challenge we must meet together is ensuring
global security. Both India and Britain have suffered
grievously at the hands of terrorists. We've worked
together in the fight against terrorism before and I'm
here in India to propose an even closer security
relationship. This year and in 2012, Delhi and London are
hosting the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. It makes sense
that we co-operate closely to ensure both are as safe as
possible. It also makes sense for us to share expertise on
defence technology - as we've seen with the building of
Jaguar and Hawk aircraft in India in recent decades. And
when it comes to the security of our people, we cannot
ignore what's happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Let
me be clear: India's relations with those countries are a
matter for you - and you alone. But because when we both
want to see a Pakistan free from terror, when we both want
to see an Afghanistan that is secure in its own right,
again it makes sense that we work together to realise
those interests.
The third challenge we must meet together is climate
change. Decisive action is long overdue - and that must be
global action, with all major economies playing their
part. It's only fair that those with the longest history
of carbon emissions make the biggest contribution to this.
But it's also fair that the largest polluting countries
contribute too. Indian action is of course different to
U.K. action. We know that India's development needs mean
that its energy needs and carbon emissions will have to
grow. But by working together, we can help you avoid some
of the high carbon mistakes we made.
So this is the case I'm making for a stronger, wider,
deeper relationship between India and Britain. I have come
to your country in a spirit of humility. I know that
Britain cannot rely on sentiment and shared history for a
place in India's future. Your country has the whole world
beating a path to its door. But I believe Britain should
be India's partner of choice in the years ahead. Starting
this week, that is what we are determined to deliver.
David Cameron is British Prime Minister.
Viewpoints
Truth of a scandalous war
All three
publications, the New York Times, The Guardian and German Der
Spiegel that got the exclusive rights to break the story after
the WikiLeaks released it on the Web first, agree that the
West's Afghan mission is in far worse shape than admitted so
far.
Aijaz Zaka Syed
Obama
faces a stark choice in Afghanistan: Leave now with dignity or
await the humiliation that befell the Russians and we all
thought we had read and said all that was needed to be read
and said on Afghanistan! We have read and heard so much on the
shenanigans of the coalition of the willing over the past few
years that nothing seems to shock us anymore. Yet the
shock-and-awe of the WikiLeaks disclosures takes your breath
away.
This is the mother of all exposes, and perhaps the biggest
news story of our time, even for the whistle-blowers who have
made a name for themselves with stories like the raw video
footage of the US soldiers gaily firing on a group of Iraqi
civilians including two Reuters journalists from the safety of
their Apache gunship in the air.
All three publications, the New York Times, The Guardian and
German Der Spiegel that got the exclusive rights to break the
story after the WikiLeaks released it on the Web first, agree
that the West's Afghan mission is in far worse shape than
admitted so far.
Nine years after the cowboy coalition walked into the Afghan
morass, eyes wide shut, and after even spending $300 billion
of US taxpayer's money, it remains a mission as impossible as
ever.
While not even the most ardent America apologists have dared
to suggest the West is faring well on the Afghan front,
clearly no one in the Western media in their wildest dreams
ever thought things could be this bad.
The disclosures, based on daily logs of US military
operations, paint a picture of the war that is truly
mind-boggling and far more harrowing than ever imagined by
anyone, including the blissfully clueless Americans.
In its intensity, geopolitical ramifications and utter
pointlessness of it all, this war is far more disastrous and
deadlier than Vietnam, a war whose memories still shock the
Americans out of their wits. From the friendly fire between
the US and NATO troops to the fierce fighting between Afghan
and Pakistan soldiers along the border, it's a complete mess
out there.
In the thick fog of war, nobody seems to have a clue what is
going on down on the ground. The coalition totters from crisis
to crisis and from disaster to disaster, insisting it will
stay the course as precious billions are poured down the
bottomless pit that is Afghanistan.
The insurgents get bolder, deadlier and more effective as they
hone their skills in a game that they have played for
centuries. But we have already been familiar with most of
these facts despite the endless propaganda blitz of the US
military establishment and the unquestioning US media.
Thanks to some courageous whistle-blowers and independent
bloggers, the world is not totally ignorant of the deepening
mess in Afghanistan. Only we underestimated the extent of the
trouble.
The highlight of the WikiLeaks expose, however, is the
humanitarian tragedy of the war, a story that has found little
space in the international reportage of the war.
While many of us, including yours truly, have occasionally
protested, for what it's worth, against civilian killings and
reckless coalition bombings of wedding parties and funeral
processions etc., none of us thought the rot is as widespread
as it has been revealed by the WikiLeaks.
This despite the fact that the three publications voluntarily
removed material "which threatens the safety of troops, local
informants and collaborators."
Still the collective picture that emerges is spine chilling.
The logs record at least 150 incidents of trigger-happy
coalition forces bombing unsuspecting civilians including
women and children. These incidents have never been reported
before.
So they are besides the incidents those reported by
international media like the airstrike in Azizabad, in Western
Afghanistan, that killed as many as 92 civilians in August
2008. In May 2009, another airstrike killed 147 civilians.
"Bloody errors" include the day French troops strafed a bus
full of children in 2008. A US patrol similarly machine-gunned
a bus, wounding or killing 15 of its passengers, and in 2007
Polish troops mortared a village, killing an entire wedding
party including a pregnant woman. The logs detail an unusual
cluster of four British shootings in Kabul in the space of
barely a month, in October/November 2007, culminating in the
death of the son of an Afghan general.
These are just some of the many 'incidents' that haven't been
reported or recorded by anyone. One couldn't muster the
courage and patience to go through it all. As the New York
Times puts it, "incident by incident, the reports resemble a
police blotter of the myriad ways Afghan civilians were killed
- not just in airstrikes but in ones and twos - in shootings
on the roads or in the villages."
This is not all. The war logs also detail how a secret "black"
unit of special forces hunts down Afghans for "kill or
capture" without so much as a trial. Not surprisingly, many of
these "Taleban leaders" happen to be innocent civilians. The
diary also reveals how the coalition has been using Reaper
drones to hunt and kill "usual suspects" by remote control
from the safety of a base in the remote Nevada desert in the
US. So much for America's mission to promote freedom,
democracy and human rights in the Muslim world!
Commenting on the WikiLeaks story, a White House spokesperson
has pointed out that the "time period reflected in the
documents is January 2004 to December 2009," suggesting most
of it took place under Bush.
But can this fig leaf help the Obama administration justify
what has been going on in Afghanistan for years?
Having inherited this mess from his predecessor, this
president had a historic opportunity and all the means at his
disposal to turn around America and its troubled relationship
with the Muslim world by getting out of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Obama squandered that opportunity, just as he has squandered
all the goodwill he had generated with his historic election
and soaring rhetoric. Instead our hero chose to perpetuate the
poisonous legacy of his predecessor. So much for the "audacity
of hope" and so much for the promise of "change we can!"
I know, I know. Obama didn't start these wars and he's not to
blame for much of the madness. But the least the Nobel
laureate president could have done was put an end to the shame
of Iraq and Afghanistan.
As the WikiLeaks logs illustrate in terrifying detail, some of
the worst human rights abuses including old-fashioned murder,
rape and torture have taken place during these wars fought in
the name of freedom, human rights and democracy. If the same
were to happen under some other regime, the coalition of the
willing would have bombed them back to the Stone Age.
The two wars have claimed more than a million innocent lives.
What for? And who'll pay for these crimes? But who can
confront the superpower and its powerful allies with these
questions? For all our talk of democracy and fine-sounding
international institutions, ours is still a world where might
is right.
Obama faces a stark choice in Afghanistan: Leave now with some
dignity intact or await the humiliation of total and
comprehensive defeat, the kind that came the way of the
Russians.
For one thing is certain. The Afghans' legendary patience and
their never-say-die spirit will outlive the persistence and
fortitude of the invading armies. Ask the Russians and the
British. No matter how hard the West tries to pretend all's
well, it will have to leave Afghanistan, sooner or later.
This war has been already unraveling faster than you could say
Mission Accomplished! It's up to Obama if he wants to leave
now or stay the course and lose thousands of more precious
lives and burn billions of hard-earned dollars in the
Graveyard of Empires that is Afghanistan.
At last,
building a better, safer world for children
I’m talking
about the dramatic drop in child mortality, the birth rate
and the death rate in the poorest countries-a drop that
appears to be accelerating.
Jonathan Power
We
live in exciting times. I am not talking about the
advances of medicine, science and engineering. Nor the
growth of the internet, the mobile phone and the fact that
Africa is the world's fastest growing market for the
latter. Nor.....I could go on.
I'm talking about the dramatic drop in child mortality,
the birth rate and the death rate in the poorest
countries-a drop that appears to be accelerating.
It is expected that more up to date figures to be
published in a few years, will show an even more dramatic
fall. Give thanks to all the energy and sweat that has
been poured into the problem by local governments, the
Bush administration's program to fight AIDS and malaria,
such organisations as the Bill and Linda Gates foundation,
the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and
countless smaller but effective NGOs.
Today, we have a preview of that. Only reported in one of
the major Indian newspapers, the Times of India, the
Indian census office published this week its latest
results on these indicators, based on an India-wide sample
of seven million. These statistics are more up-to-date
than the above. There has been a 14 per cent country-wide
decline in the annual birth rate.
In eight major states it was much more. In the bread
basket of Punjab it was almost a quarter. In West Bengal
and Kerala, where communist governments have been in
office for decades, it was nearly 20 per cent. The drop in
death rates was also astonishing-in the desert state of
Rajasthan there was almost a quarter drop. And Bihar, the
poorest of the large states, had a drop of 22 per cent.
West Bengal, Kerala and Rajasthan have the lowest rates.
Contraception is one explanation. So is better sanitation,
life saving drugs and, as in West Bengal, an increase in
rural incomes. In West Bengal rural incomes are now high
enough to severely cut down migration into Kolkata. In
Kerala high education levels are another instrument of
success, especially that of young girls- a policy that
produces dramatic results wherever it is tried.
The infant mortality rate is one of half a dozen
indicators that give a picture of a society's well-being
and one more accurate than GNP alone. Kerala has the best
rate. The southern state of Tamil Nadu has slashed its
infant mortality rate by an incredible 42 per cent; West
Bengal by 34 per cent and Maharashtra (in which the city
of Mumbai dwarfs everything else in the state) by 33 per
cent.
In a recent report UNICEF noted that the Millennium Goals,
which most countries have signed up to, commits the UN
membership to cut the rate of infant mortality in Third
World countries by two thirds by 2015.
The progress over the last decade suggests this is an
achievable target except in sub-Saharan Africa where
progress is slow, but accelerating too, as many economies
are achieving GNP growth rates of 7 per cent or more and
would have done even better of it hadn't been for the
Great Recession.
Measles infections falling by 60 per cent has been one of
the Third World's successes. So has the effort to resist
the advertising and clever marketing of companies like
Nestle to get mothers to use "sophisticated" bottle
feeding instead of breast feeding.
The Dominican Republic, Vietnam and Morocco are the world
pace setters and have cut infant mortality rates by one
third. This beats the Indian average but is on a par with
the leading Indian states. Madagascar shows what can be
done with a bit of extra effort.
It has cut its rate of infant mortality by 41 per cent.
India, for one, with much more knowhow and medical
infrastructure at hand, should seek to emulate this. To
keep up the pace, all countries need more mosquito nets,
more Vitamin A drops, more breast feeding, more
inoculations, more testing for malaria and an increased
use of vaccines. When the last citizens of Nigeria were
vaccinated against polio two years ago the World Health
Organisation announced that the world was polio free, just
as happened with an earlier campaign against smallpox. The
Great Recession didn't do as much damage to Third World
countries as had been feared. This is because most of its
banks hadn't overextended themselves as Western banks did.
So in principle all these countries and regions could do
much better if priorities were re-ordered- for example
smaller defence budgets, and more rural and poor urban
area health clinics than large city hospitals.
Come to West Bengal-on average the best all round Indian
performer-where I am at the moment. If all the words
spouted by politicians every day in their often petty
arguments were channelled into the energy needed to
enhance children's programmes the state would soon have
the best infant mortality rate in the Third World. That
would make a truly exciting result.
Jonathan Power is a London-based foreign policy
commentator.
Expect
little from Washington this year
With a tough election looming, Obama is unlikely to pay
much attention to the Middle East at present.
Gordon Robison
For
the past week Washington has been consumed with the tawdry
way both the media and the Obama administration treated an
obscure Agriculture Department official named Shirley
Sherrod.
This might seem like a story with little resonance beyond
America's shores, but the truth is that it holds several
important lessons for those of us concerned with foreign
policy and the Middle East.
These are the basic facts: early last week a grainy video
surfaced of Sherrod addressing a meeting of Georgia's
chapter of the NAACP (the National Association for the
Advancement of Coloured Persons - the country's most
eminent civil rights organisation). In the two-minute
video that travelled around the web Sherrod, who is black,
appeared to brag about using her official position to
discriminate against a white farmer.
Suspicious source
The video was posted by a conservative blogger known for
his go-for-the-jugular approach to politics. Its intended
message was obvious: the NAACP says it stands against
racism but, in fact, condones discrimination against white
people.
Within hours the NAACP denounced Sherrod and called for
her resignation. Soon after the Agriculture Department
demanded it. For the next 24 hours or so she was pilloried
by left and right alike.
Then it emerged that the video had been taken grossly out
of context. What had seemed to be bigoted bragging was, in
fact, part of Sherrod's story of how she had learned to
recognise and overcome her own prejudices and understand
that poor people need government assistance whatever their
skin colour.
Moreover, the events in her anecdote had taken place 24
years ago - long before she went on the government
payroll. To cap it all off, the supposedly-wronged white
farmer, now well into his 80s, emerged to tell CNN that
far from being a racist Sherrod had more-or-less
singlehandedly saved his farm from foreclosure.
By the end of the week Sherrod had received a grovelling
public apology - and an offer of a new job - from the
agriculture secretary, followed by a remorseful phone call
from President Barack Obama himself.
The media quickly pivoted from bashing Sherrod to bashing
Obama and his aides, largely ignoring its own role in
hyping the story without first bothering to authenticate
the tape (an especially egregious sin considering the
highly partisan track record of the blogger who originally
posted it).
The lesson for those of us whose political attention is
usually focused on the Middle East is clear: the Sherrod
affair has been a useful reminder that in an election year
everything is political.
That might seem like a statement of the obvious, but for
the Middle East it holds a deeper truth. It reminds us not
to expect the Obama administration to go out on any sort
of limb between now and November's mid-term elections.
That means no pressure to speak of on either the Israelis
or the Palestinians; no re-examination of policy in either
Iraq or Afghanistan; no effort to press Egypt to open up a
bit, relieving the tremendous pressures obviously building
there as the country prepares for an uncertain post-Mubarak
era; no more outreach of any significance to the Muslim
world.
Some of this should not be surprising. US administrations,
by nature, are always reactive in the way they handle the
wider world. People come into government with a sincere
desire to focus on careful, long-term planning only to
find themselves careening from one crisis to the next. We
can all bemoan this state of affairs, but it is how every
White House has functioned for the last half century. It
is not likely to change any time soon.
With a tough election looming (though he himself is not on
the ballot) Obama faces a still-terrible economy, an
implacable opposition and a political base that is
increasingly unhappy with him. On top of this, the Sherrod
saga has been a painful reminder that we now live in a
hyper-partisan era in which many media outlets, both old
and new, have abandoned old-fashioned fact-checking in
favour of speed and sensation.
No-go areas
In such an environment Obama is likely to see foreign
affairs in general and the Middle East in particular as
problems to be avoided whenever possible, and who can
blame him?
Does that mean Obama is ignoring the region? Not exactly.
Governing is mainly about making choices and, right now,
viewed from Washington, the problems posed by the Middle
East do not appear to be the ones most in need of an
immediate fix. Events could, of course, alter that
equation at a moment's notice. Until they do, however,
people in the Middle East should not expect a lot of
high-level attention from the White House.
Gordon Robison, a writer and commentator who has lived in
and reported on the Middle East for two decades, teaches
political science at the University of Vermont.
International
British PM
pitches for jobs, trade in India
AFP, Bangalore
British Prime Minister David Cameron kicked off a
much-touted visit to India Wednesday, pitching for
investment and increased trade to create jobs and boost
Britain's post-recession recovery.
"I want this to be a relationship which drives economic
growth upwards and drives our unemployment figures
downwards," Cameron declared in a speech in the Indian IT
hub of Bangalore.
"This is a trade mission, yes, but I prefer to see it as
my jobs mission."
Accompanied by a bevy of top ministers and a small army of
business leaders, Cameron arrived late Tuesday at the head
of the largest British delegation to travel to the former
jewel in its colonial crown in recent memory.
It has been tagged as a mould-breaking mission to redefine
what Cameron's government sees as a long-neglected
relationship with one of the world's fastest-growing
economies.
The trip kicked off in the southern city of Bangalore,
where Cameron visited the country's second-largest
software exporter Infosys and the state-run defence giant
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
Among a raft of trade agreements to be signed during the
visit, the expected highlight is a deal worth up to 650
million dollars for BAE Systems to supply 57 more Hawk
trainer jets.
India ordered 66 Hawk jets from BAE in 2004. All the
aircraft in the follow-up deal will be jointly assembled
locally with HAL.
Cameron highlighted the recent investment in Britain made
by Indian-run companies such as the car maker Tata and
steel group Arcelor Mittal, but also pushed India to open
up its tightly regulated domestic market.
"We want you to reduce the barriers to foreign investment
in banking, insurance, defence manufacturing and legal
services-and reap the benefits," he said, adding that a
new global free-trade deal was vital.
Since taking power in May, Cameron has said he wants
British foreign policy to focus more on business in a bid
to boost the economy as it emerges from recession facing
deep budget cuts to combat record state debt.
Apart from a trip to war-torn Afghanistan last month, the
visit is Cameron's first major foray to Asia. The choice
reflects India's growing regional clout and its emergence
as an investment destination to rival neighbouring China.
India pledges
millions in credit to Myanmar regime
AFP, New Delhi
Myanmar's military ruler Than Shwe flew to Hyderabad
Wednesday on the latest leg of a controversial state visit
to India that has garnered millions of dollars in grants
for infrastructure projects. The general left New Delhi
having received a full, red-carpet welcome Tuesday and
held talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Human rights groups have severely criticised India for
bestowing a formal state visit on Than Shwe, arguing that
it helps legitimise a military regime that has been widely
condemned for systematic rights abuses.
The two countries signed a series of pacts Tuesday
including one to strengthen security along their common
border, where India is struggling to curb ethnic
separatists.
India also offered a grant of 60 million dollars to build
a road connecting Myanmar with the northeast Indian state
of Mizoram.
India's EXIM bank agreed to provide a 60-million-dollar
line of credit to fund various railway projects, and New
Delhi also pledged 10 million dollars for the purchase of
modern agricultural equipment. Once a staunch supporter of
Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, India began
engaging the junta in the mid-1990s as security, energy
and strategic priorities came to the fore.
As well as needing the military regime's help to counter
the separatists along the common border, India is eyeing
oil and gas fields in Myanmar-formerly Burma-and is eager
to counter China's growing influence there.
China is the junta's key ally and trading partner, and an
eager investor in the isolated state's sizeable natural
resources. The Myanmar junta, which has ruled with an iron
fist for nearly 50 years, has promised to hold the first
elections since 1990 later this year, and Singh had been
urged by rights groups and some Western countries to
pressure Than Shwe on the need for a free and fair ballot.
A joint statement said the prime minister had simply
"emphasized the importance of comprehensively broad-basing
the national reconciliation process and democratic changes
being introduced in Myanmar."
Kabul urges West to review
Pakistan policy after leaks
AFP, Kabul
Afghanistan's national security adviser called on the West
Tuesday to review policy towards Pakistan after leaked
Pentagon documents pointed to Pakistani double-dealing in
the Afghan war.
Kabul has consistently accused Pakistan's intelligence
agency of supporting Taliban insurgents-including
masterminding attacks against Afghan and US-led targets in
the country. Islamabad denies the claims.
Kabul said information contained in documents released on
whistleblowing website WikiLeaks on Sunday backed its
long-held position.
Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, President Hamid Karzai's national
security advisor, took issue with US aid to Pakistan,
which last year secured a 7.5 billion-dollar non-military
package from Congress spread over the next five years.
"It's not justifiable for Afghans to see a country given
11 billion dollars in reconstruction aid and to support
its security forces, and then see those same forces
training terrorists," said Spanta.
"At least we Afghan politicians are not able to explain
this to the Afghan people," he said, calling on US and
NATO troops to deal with insurgents before they
infiltrated Afghanistan from their sanctuaries in
Pakistan.
A secretive US drone war routinely targets Taliban and
Al-Qaeda-linked groups holed up in Pakistan's lawless
border districts with Afghanistan.
Karzai has ordered Spanta and Afghan foreign minister
Zalmai Rasoul to "study the leaked US documents," a
statement from the president's office said.
Afghanistan's National Security Council (NSC) said the
leaked Pentagon documents showed the country's Western
allies had an incoherent approach to fighting a Taliban
insurgency, now in its ninth year and at its deadliest.
UN ‘concerned’ over Nepal’s
repatriation of Tibetans
AFP, Kathmandu
Nepal has forcibly repatriated three Tibetan refugees, the
United Nations said on Wednesday, adding it was "extremely
concerned" by the move.
The UN refugee agency said it had written to the Nepalese
government about the incident in early June, details of
which were published in a report by the International
Campaign for Tibet (ICT). Two of the refugees-a Buddhist
monk and a young woman-are now in jail in Tibet after they
were detained in western Nepal and taken by helicopter to
the border, where they were met by Chinese security
forces, the ICT said.
Theirs is the first such case to be reported since 2003,
when 18 Tibetans, some of them children, were detained by
Nepalese police and sent back to China in a move that
sparked international condemnation.
"Three Tibetans were forcefully returned to China from
Nepal in early June 2010. It is a very serious issue and
we are extremely concerned," Nini Gurung, spokeswoman for
the UN refugee agency in Kathmandu, told AFP by email.
Thousands of Tibetans used to make the difficult and
dangerous journey to Nepal every year, fleeing political
and religious repression in China.
They have traditionally been given safe passage through
Nepal under an informal agreement between the government
and the UN refugee agency put in place in 1989, when Nepal
stopped giving them refugee status.
They are then given UN assistance to travel on to India,
where the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama lives in
exile. But their numbers have fallen sharply since March
2008 riots in Tibet led China to strengthen border
security and increase pressure on authorities in Nepal to
stem the flow of refugees.
"Nepal is duty-bound under its own agreement with the
UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) to ensure the
safe transit of Tibetan refugees through its territory,"
said ICT president Mary Beth Markey.
"We urge the Nepal government and the UNHCR to work
together to investigate this incident, including China's
extra-territorial role, and to adopt remedies that prevent
future occurrences of refoulement (forced return) from
Nepal."
Blast hits Japan oil tanker
near Iran
AFP, Tokyo
An explosion from a suspected attack hit a Japanese tanker
early Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran,
officials said, spotlighting a potential threat in a
chokepoint for global oil supplies.
One crew member was injured and the ship, the M. Star of
the Mitsui OSK Lines, was partly damaged but able to keep
sailing after the blast hit at 00:30 am local time (2030
GMT Tuesday), Japan's transport ministry said.
"Since one of the crew saw a flash on the horizon
immediately before the blast, the company suspects it was
highly likely an attack," the ministry said, adding that
the immediate area was not known for commercial piracy.
The vessel-staffed by 16 crew from the Philippines and 15
Indians-was carrying 270,000 tones of crude oil but did
not suffer a spill.
The tanker was heading from the United Arab Emirates
toward the Japanese port of Chiba, east of Tokyo, at the
time of the blast, but then turned back for inspection in
a port in the UAE, a company official said.
The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf-including the ports of
oil-rich states such as Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar-with the
Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, making it a strategic
conduit for global energy supplies.
Bahrain, across the Gulf from Iran, is the base for the US
Fifth Fleet and the main host for American forces in the
Gulf.
The cause of the explosion was "maybe an attack, not a
spontaneous accident, it may be a terrorist attack", Junto
Endoh, general manager in the Doha liaison office for
Mitsui OSK Lines, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"The vessel is now navigating towards Fujairah by itself,"
he said, referring to one of the seven emirates that make
up the UAE, adding that the explosion had not been "huge".
Eiko Mizuno, a Mitsui spokeswoman in Tokyo, told AFP: "The
crew member was not seriously injured. His arm was cut by
shattered glass.
"The ship is now sailing to the port without having to be
towed. It is expected to reach the port as early as late
Wednesday (local time)."
"The damage did not spark a fire of the oil inside the
tanker. Further details have yet to become available as a
full investigation will be launched once the tanker gets
to the port."
Five shot dead in troubled
Thai south: Police
AFP, Narathiwat, Thailand
Suspected Islamist insurgents have shot dead four Muslim
men while one militant was killed by security officials in
Thailand's restive southern provinces, police said
Wednesday.
A 50-year-old villager was shot dead at his home late
Tuesday in Narathiwat province while in neighbouring Yala
province a 26-year-old security volunteer was killed in
drive-by shooting.
Meanwhile, in Pattani province, two Muslims aged 27 and 34
were gunned down in separate attacks on Tuesday evening,
police said.
Earlier the same day in Yala a 39-year-old suspected
militant was shot dead in a confrontation with Thai
soldiers.
Thailand this month extended emergency rule in three
troubled southern provinces until October as it struggles
to quell unrest that has left more than 4,100 people dead
in six years. The shadowy militants, whose exact goals are
unclear, have targeted both Buddhists and Muslims,
including many civilians.
Convicted Khmer Rouge
prison chief to appeal: Lawyer
AFP, Phnom Penh
Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch will appeal against his
conviction by Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal,
which sentenced him to 30 years in jail, his defence
lawyer said Tuesday.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was found guilty
of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the court on
Monday in a ruling that has been hailed as a "historic
milestone" in tackling impunity in the country.
He is the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international
tribunal over crimes committed under the 1975-1979
hardline communist regime.
The 67-year-old was initially handed 35 years but the
court reduced the jail sentence on the grounds that he had
been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed
tribunal was established.
"We will appeal against the (court's) decision," Duch's
lawyer Kar Savuth told AFP by telephone, without
elaborating.
Many survivors and relatives of victims were dismayed by
the verdict, which also took into account the years Duch
has served since his arrest in 1999, meaning that he could
walk free in about 19 years.
"He only apologised to the judges. Duch didn't apologise
to the victims," said Chum Mey, 79, one of the handful who
survived the prison because his mechanical skills were put
to use repairing sewing machines and water pumps.
Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Tuesday told
reporters: "From my own point of view, not that of the
government... the sentence is not suitable.
Pressure
mounts for direct Mideast talks ahead of Arab meet
AFP, Jerusalem
International calls for direct Middle East peace talks
mounted on Wednesday ahead of a key meeting of Arab
ministers as the Palestinians stuck to their demand for
guarantees on borders.
Arab foreign ministers were to meet in Cairo on Thursday
to decide whether to endorse moving to face-to-face
negotiations after nearly three months of US-mediated
indirect talks that the Palestinians say have made no
progress.
The ministers were expected to back Palestinian president
Mahmud Abbas, who has said he will only go to direct
negotiations if he is given assurances they will succeed
where past talks have collapsed into violence.
"We do not reject negotiations, but we want negotiations
on a clear foundation that will lead to an independent
Palestinian state," he told AFP earlier this week.
Specifically, he wants the 1967 borders separating Israel
from the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem as
the starting point of the negotiations and for Israel to
freeze all settlement activity in both territories.
"It is clear that the Netanyahu government does not want
this," he said, referring to Israel's hawkish Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads a right-wing
coalition deeply opposed to giving up east Jerusalem.
Israel annexed the Arab half of the city after capturing
it in the 1967 Six Day War in a move not recognised
internationally. The Palestinians view east Jerusalem as
the capital of their future state. Netanyahu has
repeatedly said he is willing to meet with Abbas to
discuss all the core issues of the decades-old conflict,
and he and other top officials have accused the
Palestinians of dodging direct talks.
"Everything is open for discussion... But it is impossible
in advance to agree on a specific agenda on the 1967
lines, settlements or (Palestinian) refugees," Israel's
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday.
"Clearly, it's going to be a long and complex negotiation
process," he added, speaking to reporters alongside
visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
Moratinos echoed his remarks, saying "if you want to make
peace, if you want to make a final settlement, you need to
meet directly."
Iran accuses US of
paying opposition to topple regime
AFP, Tehran
Iran's electoral watchdog accused the United States of
giving opposition leaders one billion dollars to topple
the Islamic regime and promising them another 50 billion
dollars, reports said Wednesday.
The head of Guardians Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati,
charged that Washington had paid one billion dollars to
"the leaders of the sedition" during last year's
post-election unrest which rocked the regime.
"I have acquired documents showing that the Americans paid
one billion dollars to the sedition leaders through their
Saudi agents who are active in regional countries,"
Jannati was quoted as saying by ILNA news agency.
Jannati said the Saudis, who spoke on behalf of the United
States, told the opposition leaders that "if you can
overthrow the establishment, we will pay another 50
billion dollars."
"The leaders of the sedition staged riots with the help of
Americans and they were sure that, with the help of the
US, the revolution will collapse," he said.
The Guardians Council endorsed the result of Iran's June
2009 presidential election which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
win a second four-year term. The hardliner's re-election
has been disputed by opposition leaders Mir Hossein
Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who say it was the outcome of
a "fraudulent" poll.
Their accusations sparked widespread protests and unrest
across Tehran and other cities, shaking the pillars of the
regime.
Dozens of people were killed in clashes, hundreds were
wounded and thousands arrested in the violence which
continued for months.
Several top Iranian officials, including supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have blamed the United States and
Britain for triggering the vote unrest.
US lawmakers beat back
Afghan war challenge after leaks
AFP, Washington
US lawmakers on Tuesday easily approved urgent funding for
President Barack Obama's escalation in Afghanistan,
despite a huge leak of secret military files that stoked
anger at the unpopular war.
The 308-114 vote in the House of Representatives set the
stage for Obama to sign the legislation, which provides
some 37 billion dollars to fund the conflict in Iraq and
pay for his "surge" of 33,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
The House also beat back a blunt challenge to Obama's
war-fighting strategy, defeating a resolution calling for
the removal of US forces from Pakistan by a crushing
38-372 margin. The margins called into question what
impact the stunning disclosure of some 92,000 previously
secret Pentagon documents on the war by the whistleblowing
website Wikileaks would have on the US debate on the
conflict.
But lawmakers-who face a war-weary public in November
mid-term elections-argued passionately about the nearly
nine-year-old conflict and Obama's plan to right the
faltering campaign in time to start a draw-down by July
2011.
"Wake Up America. WikiLeaks' release of secret war
documents gave us 92,000 reasons to end the wars. Pick
one," Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich, author of
the Pakistan measure, said as debate began. House
Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer left open the
possibility of "further debate" on the strategy and the
presence of US troops, but stressed "until we bring them
home they need that money."
And Representative Buck McKeon, top Republican on the
House Armed Services Committee, invoked US forces on the
frontlines and declared that "cutting off their funding in
the middle of that fight is tantamount to abandonment."
But Democratic Representative Dave Obey, chairman of the
powerful appropriations committee, said he was
"reluctantly" voting no out of doubts "that this operation
will hurt our enemies more than us."
"The Afghan government has not demonstrated the focused
determination, reliability and judgment necessary to bring
this effort to a rational and successful conclusion," said
Obey.
Gulf strait still open
after Japan tanker blast: US Navy
AFP, Dubai
The vital Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman remained
open on Wednesday after an explosion hit a Japanese tanker
in the oil-shipping corridor, the US Fifth Fleet said.
"The Strait of Hormuz remains open for safe navigation and
shipping lanes are unaffected by this incident," the
Bahrain-based fleet said in a statement.
The Japanese transport ministry said an oil tanker
belonging to Mitsui OSK Lines was hit by an explosion
attributed by crew to an attack early on Wednesday.
"The cause of the explosion and extent of damage is
currently unknown," the Fifth Fleet said.
"Initial damage assessment from the ship's owner, Mitsui
OSK Lines Ltd., Japan, is that one life boat was blown off
the ship and there is some damage to the starboard
hatches."
The US Navy had offered to help but the crew determined it
was not needed, the statement said, adding the ship was
heading to the port of Fujairah, in the United Arab
Emirates "under their own power to make repairs." The
Strait of Hormuz, less than 100 kilometres (60 miles) at
its widest point, separates Oman from Iran and is the
gateway into the oil-rich Gulf.
An estimated 40 percent of the world's crude oil passes
through the strait on the way to global markets.
British lawmakers launch
Afghan war inquiry
AFP, London
Lawmakers in London said Wednesday they will start an
inquiry into the Afghanistan war, examining why British
troops remain there nine years after the invasion and
whether they have been successful.
The House of Commons defence select committee has called
for written evidence on "the justification for the
continued participation" of Britain's 10,000 troops in the
international coalition in Afghanistan.
Amid polls showing a lack of public support for the
mission, the members of parliament (MPs) will also examine
"the success of the government in communicating this to
the UK public".
Prime Minister David Cameron has called for British combat
troops to be out of Afghanistan by 2015, and the MPs will
scrutinise this timetable, as well as success in the
training of Afghan forces which could allow this to
happen.
In addition, they will investigate the issue of Afghan
civilian casualties in the war, and the success of
stabilisation and reconstruction efforts.
Hearings will start later this year, the committee said.
Parliament started its summer break Tuesday but returns on
September 6.
Most of Britain's troops are based in the volatile south
of Afghanistan, and a total of 325 have died in operations
since the US-led invasion in 2001.
A second inquiry, due to be announced in September, will
examine "the context for a political settlement" in
Afghanistan, the committee added, without giving further
details.
Somali government applauds
AU decision to send troops
AFP, Mogadishu
Somalia's embattled government Wednesday hailed the
African Union's decision to beef up its force in Mogadishu
where fierce clashes with Islamist rebels left 17
civilians dead the previous day.
Government spokesman Abdulkadir Mohamoud Walayo said the
pan-African bloc's move was crucial in improving security
in Somalia and the entire region.
"We applaud the fresh troop contributions made by AU
states," said Walayo, a day after the AU commission chief
Jean Ping said they had received pledges for 4,000 troops
at the close of a three-day heads of state summit in
Kampala.
"We believe this decision will help improve the security
situation in Somalia and also contain the threat Al-Qaeda
elements are posing to the region in general."
But even as African leaders scrambled to boost the AU
mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Islamist rebels engaged the
forces in fierce battles Tuesday that left at least 17
civilians dead in Mogadishu's Taleh district.
The AMISOM, which currently counts 6,000 soldiers from
Uganda and Burundi, has been the only thing preventing
Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab insurgents from punching their
way to the presidential palace and completing their power
grab.
"Their decision is a lifeline for the transitional
government and is good not only for security in Somalia
but for security in neighbouring countries," Walayo
insisted.
Mauritania mobilises army to counter
Qaeda
AFP, Nouakchott
Mauritania has deployed troops across the country and
tightened its desert borders against the threat of attacks
from Al Qaeda-linked militants, the interior minister
said.
"Mauritanian territory is under control after the
redeployment of the army in the country and the
establishment of 45 border transit points," Interior
Minister Mohamed Ould Boilil said. The stepped-up border
security is aimed at tightening its frontiers with Algeria
and Mali amid reports that the Islamist militants use the
porous desert borders to pass freely through the arid
Sahel region.
The minister's comments late Tuesday came in the wake of a
joint raid with French troops on an Al-Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) camp in neighbouring Mali in which
seven militants were killed.
France said the raid last week was aimed at freeing Michel
Germaneau, a 78-year-old French hostage held by AQIM since
April. Mauritania said the attack was a pre-emptive strike
against the AQIM unit which it said was planning an attack
on its territory on July 28.
Business/Economy
Textec
Bangladesh Expo begins
‘Steps taken to strengthen market monitoring to check
price spiral’
UNB, Dhaka
The government has strengthened market monitoring well
ahead of Ramadan to check price-hike of essentials during
the holy month of fasting, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan
said Wednesday.
"Usually prices of essentials go up every year with the
beginning of Ramadan. It's unfortunate… people suffer for
it. This time the government has started vigorous
monitoring to check the unusual price-hike," he said. The
Commerce Minister was talking to newsmen after
inaugurating an international exhibition at Bangabandhu
International Conference Center on Wednedsday.
Conference & Exhibition Management Services (CEMS)
Bangladesh organized the four-day exhibition titled "The
11th Textech Bangladesh 2010 International Expo" to
exhibit textiles machinery, garment products and
accessories. Chaired by CEMS Bangladesh president Meherun
N Islam, the inaugural function was also addressed by
BKMEA first vice president Habibur Rahman, BGMEA vice
president Faruk Hasan and president of Grey and Finished
Fabrics Manufacturers and Exporters Association
Harun-ur-Rashid.
Speaking as chief guest, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said
the government is determined to ensure all-out support for
the development of the garment sector.
"The government has taken steps to improve supply of power
and gas for the garment sector apart from providing
banking facilities," he said.
The Commerce Minister hoped that Bangladesh would turn
into a developed nation by 2021 if all work together to
achieve the goal. Over 400 institutions of 26 countries,
including Bangladesh, are taking part in the four-day fair
which will remain open daily from 10am-7pm.
IMF
sees significant downside risks to global recovery
Xinhua, Washington
The global economic recovery is expected to be moderate
with significant downside risks, a senior official from
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.
"Despite recent signs of slowing momentum, the global
recovery is expected to continue. Nevertheless, the most
likely prospect is for a moderate, multi-speed recovery,
with significant downside risks," John Lipsky, First
Deputy Managing Director of the IMF said in a speech at
the Korea Economic Institute in Washington D.C. . "While
financial markets have improved somewhat in recent weeks,
ongoing financial market strains have heightened
uncertainty," he noted. "Against this backdrop, the
overarching policy challenge is to sustain the recovery
while restoring confidence."
Lipsky listed three key policy challenges. First, Policy-
makers need "an ambitious and vigorous program" to repair
and reform the financial system. "The recently completed
European bank stress tests are receiving particular focus
at present, and in general they have made a positive
contribution to market sentiment," he said. According to
the findings of the Committee of European Banking
Supervisors, only seven European banks failed the tests
and only needed to shore up their finances by 4.5 billion
dollars.
Second, authorities need to design credible, medium-term
fiscal consolidation plans to bolster confidence. Lipsky
argued that while most G-20 economies' current fiscal
plans appear to be appropriate, countries facing sovereign
funding pressures still will require upfront measures to
underpin confidence. Finally, the director stressed the
importance of rebalancing the world economy. Economies
with both excessive external surpluses and excessive
external deficits need to reform their economic structures
to achieve more balanced and sustainable growth.
‘Britain, India must forge new economic
partnership’
PTI, Mumbai
Britain and India have the potential to forge a new
economic partnership and further develop trade and
investment links in the financial services sector as well
as the wider economy, a top UK Ministry official said.
"It is a good opportunity for both the countries to
enhance relationship by helping each other. This is also
an opportunity where the Indian investor can invest in
Britain, and British investors can also invest in India. I
think it's a mutual partnership," United Kingdom's
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told reporters
during the launch of Vodafone's new solar- powered mobile
handset here yesterday.
Osborne said that it is a good chance for Indian IT
contractors to get involved and provide services to the
British government.
"TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) has a back office in the
UK and we would like to see more companies coming. We want
smaller and mid-size companies to provide services to the
British Government," he said. Commenting on stress tests
in view of the European financial crisis, he said they
have helped build confidence in the banking system. "It
was necessary and it was picked up in a transparent way.
However, it is not the only measure we need to look up. It
is in Europe's interests and indeed whole of G20's
interests, including India," he said.
In Mumbai, he will call on Reserve Bank of India Governor
D Subbarao at an event co-hosted by the British Deputy
High Commission, UK Trade and Investment and the Indian
Bankers' Association. It will be attended by senior
representatives of the banking, financial services and
business communities in the city.
Mobile data to drive Southeast Asian telecom sector
AFP, Singapore
Data services will drive earnings growth in Southeast
Asia's telecommunications sector as cellphone
subscriptions hit saturation levels, an industry report
said Tuesday.
Data use via services such as mobile broadband is expected
to account for 40.4 percent, or slightly over 12.4 billion
US dollars, of mobile revenues earned by the region's
telecom operators by the end of 2015, consultancy Frost
and Sullivan said.
This is up substantially from last year, when data
services accounted for 27.8 percent of operators' mobile
revenues, the consultancy said in the report.
"Plain old voice and text messaging services will no
longer deliver larger revenue growth than data services,
even in developing markets such as Cambodia and Vietnam,"
said Nicholas Khoo, a senior consultant with Frost and
Sullivan.
The report showed that in 2009 there were 489 million
mobile phone subscribers in seven Southeast Asian
markets-Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Thailand and the Philippines.
In some countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, where
the mobile penetration rate exceeded 100 percent,
opportunities abounded for data services such as mobile
broadband, the report said.
"Mobile broadband offers the clearest new connections
growth and new revenue stream opportunity for operators,"
said Frost and Sullivan senior industry analyst Shi Min.
India plans
stress test of banks
AFP, Mumbai
India plans to stage "stress tests" twice a year on its
banks following the lead of US and European financial
regulators, a report said Wednesday.
The central bank said Tuesday it had carried out
rudimentary tests during the worldwide financial slump to
monitor credit and interest rate risks, according to the
Financial Times. But the Reserve Bank of India said it
would carry out more sophisticated tests to build up
confidence in the country's banking network, which largely
weathered the global financial crisis.
The newspaper quoted bank governor Duvvuri Subbarao as
saying India was "learning on the job" in its review of
capital, liquidity and other standards.
A central bank spokesman could not be immediately reached
for comment on the report. India needed to have more
rigorous stress tests, in which bank balance sheets are
checked to see how much financial pressure they can
withstand in a simulated future crisis, the governor was
quoted as saying. The comments come days after Europe
released the results of stress tests of the region's
leading financial institutions.
The London-based Committee of European Banking Supervisors
announced last Friday that seven of the 91 European Union
institutions examined had failed the tests designed to
assess the capacity to withstand financial crises. India's
mainly state-controlled banks fared well during the global
financial crisis despite a widespread liquidity squeeze.
Only ICICI, the nation's largest private sector bank,
required explicit liquidity support from the central bank
during the downturn. The government also borrowed from the
World Bank to inject capital into some smaller state-owned
banks. The United States conducted stress tests in 2009 in
which 10 of the nation's largest 19 banks were found to
need a combined 75 billion dollars of extra funds to boost
their cash reserves to absorb further losses.
Philippines
seeks faster growth under new leader
AFP, Manila
The new Philippine government said Wednesday it aimed to
sustain economic growth of up to eight percent annually as
investor confidence grows and the effects of reforms kick
in. Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga told
reporters that streamlined business procedures and more
transparent investment measures would help bring in the
money needed to speed up growth. "We will work on what we
need to do in order to obtain a growth rate... somewhere
around seven to eight percent by 2011," Paderanga said.
He said that President Benigno Aquino's government, which
took office on June 30, aimed to make structural changes
to the economy to ensure growth is sustained.
But he warned that overseas developments, such as the
still-shaky recovery of crisis-hit countries, could bring
down Philippine growth rates.
The government also hopes to tap the renewed interest in
the Philippines from investors and multilateral agencies
seen since Aquino took office on June 30 vowing to fight
endemic corruption.
"We are hoping that with the new administration, we can
get more credibility so that domestic and also foreign
investors will start looking at our country," Paderanga
said.
The Aquino government's targets include large
infrastructure investments in areas such as power,
transport, water and irrigation, according to Paderanga.
National
Number of Scouts to be raised up
to 15 lakh by 2013: PM
BSS, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Tuesday said the number of
Scouts would be raised up to 15 lakh from the existing 10
lakh by 2013 considering the size of population of the
country.
The Prime Minister said this while distributing Shapla Cub
Award of Bangladesh Scouts at the Int’l Conference Center
(ICC) of Prime Minister's Office here on Tuesday.
Sheikh Hasina assured her government's allout cooperation
in expediting Scout Movement across the country and asked
the authorities concerned to form Cub Scouts and Scouts at
all government and non-government primary and higher
secondary schools and equivalent educational institutions.
The Prime Minister advised the Scouts to engage themselves
in various social-welfare activities and build themselves
as efficient and self-reliant citizens to cope with the
present world.
She said the role of Scout Movement is very much important
specially for children and youths to build them as honest,
self- confident and ideal citizens with character and
righteousness along with their academic education.
The Prime Minister appreciated the role of Scouts during
natural calamities like Aila and Sidr and asked them to
further increase their scope of activities and spread
their learning to common people.
Sheikh Hasina lauded their role in creating mass awareness
on afforestation, sanitation, health and environment and
their cooperation with various government and
non-government organizations in maintaining peace and
order in society.
The Prime Minister told the Scouts that her government has
set up computer-based information centers at the union
level and suggested the Scouts to help in running these
centers.
Sheikh Hasina informed that the Education Ministry and
Primary and Mass Education Ministry are implementing a
project titled "Human Resources Development through
Scouting".
Regarding 24th Asia Pacific Scout Conference, the Prime
Minister said her government would provide allout
cooperation in holding the conference in Bangladesh.
Earlier, she distributed Shapla Cub Award among 199
Scouts. President of Bangladesh Scouts Mamtazul Islam
chaired the function, addressed by Chief Commissioner of
Scouts Abul Kalam Azad and National Commissioner Mejbah
Uddin Bhuiyan, among others.
Muhith for ensuring better rural life to check
urbanization
BSS, Dhaka
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Tuesday
underscored the need for increasing facilities at villages
for creating better livings for rural people in order to
reduce growth of urbanization.
The government is working to improve the lives at rural
areas for ensuring development of rural economy to ensure
food security and generating employment.
The minister said this while inaugurating as the chief
guest "Ghore Fera (Returning Home) Programme". Bangladesh
Krishi Bank (BKB) organized the programme for handing over
loans to 250 families dwelling at slumps in the city for
initiating various employment schemes at their villages.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman addressed the
function as the special guest. Chairman of BKB Khandaker
Ibrahim Khaled chaired the function.
BKB received Taka five crore out of Taka ten crore
allocation in the budget for 2009-2010 financial year for
running such schemes to encourage village people leading
miserable lives in cities to return to their homes with
employment facilities.
Total 86 lakh loans were given to 250 families from
different villages of the country who were engaged in
different professions in the city for self-employment
including grocery business, tea vendors, wood trading,
poultry, dairy, fishing, harvesting, rice trading etc.
Mentioning that Dhaka city is experiencing a population
growth by over six percent annually, the minister said
such a higher growth is not at all good for the country.
He said municipality facilities as well as other urban
facilities and employment should be provided at villages
so that people feel comfortable for staying there.
Referring to improved rural lives in developed countries
like Switzerland, he said urban population does not
increase as rural people have all facilities at the
villages as people in cities and towns get.
Programmes like "Ghore Fera (Returning Home)" could reduce
growth of urbanization, the finance minister said adding,
"We have to pay attention to the villages to ensure food
security and reduce pressure on housing."
Collaborators of occupation forces to be brought under
trial: Shafique
BSS, Dhaka
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Barrister
Shafique Ahmed Tuesday said those helped the occupation
forces in 1971 and committed crimes against humanity would
be brought under trial through the International Crimes
Tribunal following investigations.
The accused would be arrested, if the prosecutors appeal
to the court after getting adequate evidence, he said
while speaking at the launching ceremony of a
UNICEF-funded project 'Policy Advocacy and Legislative
Reform' regarding the country's existing child laws at the
CIRDAP auditorium in the city. Referring to the writ
petitions filed against the appointment of two judges of
the International Crimes Tribunal, the minister said their
appointments are legal and it has increased acceptability
of the tribunal.
Responding to a Jamaat leader's proposal on bringing
government officials of 1971 under the trial process, he
said the trials of crimes against humanity are being held
on the basis of investigation. Those who talk without
investigation do not believe in the rule of law, he added.
Presided over by Legislative and Parliament Affairs
Division Secretary M Shahidul Haq, the function was also
addressed by State Minister for Law Advocate Qamrul Islam,
UNICEF Officer-in- Charge Lyor Umun J Uhaa and Joint
Secretary Nasrin Begum, said an official release.
CID submits charge sheet against 808 under explosive act
in BDR carnage
BSS, Dhaka
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police
Tuesday charged 807 soldiers of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR)
and a civilian for using explosives in last year's carnage
at Peelkhana headquarters that saw the killing of 74
people including 57 army officers.
"We have submitted the split charge sheet to the Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) after more than 16 months of
investigations accusing 808 people as there was another
nature of crime," chief investigator Special Police Super
(SSP) Abdul Kahar Akand told BSS.
"We found that 22 civilians including BNP leader Nasir
Uddin Ahmed Pintu and Awami League leader Torab Ali were
not involved in explosive use. So they were dropped from
the earlier charge sheet," he said adding that six more
BDR personnel were also indicted in the split charge
sheet, who were not in the previous charge sheet.
Associate Investigator Inspector SM Idris Ali of the CID
today submitted the charge sheet to the court of
Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) S K Tofail, which will be
sent to the trial court later.
Some 1,300 people were named as prosecution witnesses with
prominent ones being Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun,
State Minister for Local Government Jahangir Kabir Nanak,
the then army chief general Moeen U Ahmed, several
lawmakers including whip of the Jatiya Sangsad Mirza Azam,
CID sources said.
The other witnesses included 106 army officers, 182 BDR
soldiers, 68 members of the slain officers' families, 15
journalists, 202 policemen, 33 magistrates, 37 doctors and
110 residents of the neighbourhood and passers-by, the
sources added. A Senior CID official told BSS that they
collected over 5000 evidence including an air force
helicopter which was hit by rebel bullets as it hovered
over the Peelkhana during the bloody rebellion.
The accused looted huge grenades from the government
armoury and hurled it for killing people and creating
anarchy inside the Peelkhana HQ of BDR during the last
year's carnage. They also used mortar shells during the
time, the official added.
Police on February 27 filed a case with Lalbagh Thana
which was later shifted to the New Market Thana as the
places of occurrences were under the jurisdiction of New
Market Thana.
3 women die after taking home-made medicine
UNB, Laxmipur
Three women died and another one fell critically sick
after taking home-made medicine at Atiatoli village in
sadar upazila on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Solema Begum, 35, wife of
Joinal Abedin of village Atiatoli, her sister Shirin Akter,
42, and their maid Pakhi Begum, 35.
Police and locals said they took home-made medicine of
hepatitis disease and fell into serious sickness in their
house at Atiatoli Kobirajbari on Monday night.
Of them, Shirin Akter died in the house. Pakhi Begum,
Solema and Sabera Tasnin, 48 were admitted to Laxmipur
general hospital where the doctors declared Pakhi Begum
death. Solema and Sabera were then being shifted to Dhaka
Medical College Hospital (DMCH) but Solema died on the way
of DMCH.
Palli Bidyut office gheraoed
UNB, Naogaon
Power hungry people led by a ruling party lawmaker
gheraoed the Palli Bidyut office at Badalgasi upazila town
on Tuesday night.
The demonstration was staged in view of load shedding for
hours together during the holy night of Shab-e-Barat
causing problems to devotees. They kept the Bidyut office
under lock and key.
Dr Akram Hossain Chowdhury MP of Naogaon-3 branded the
Palli Bidyut officials as supporters of Jamaat-BNP and
alleged of sabotage in power supply. He demanded
withdrawal of Jamaat-BNP supporters within next 24 hours
from the Badalgasi Bidyut office. Assistant Junior
Engineer of the Bidyut office said they fled through the
backdoor in the face of attack of a group of people led by
the lawmaker.
Shoe shop employee
slaughtered in city for Tk 1500
UNB, Dhaka
An employee of a shoe shop was slaughtered early hours of
Wednesday in the city as he wanted repayment of Tk 1500
from a fellow employee. The victim was identified as Sumon,
22, son of Jhangu Miah of Sadhir Char in Bazitpur upazila
of Kishoreganj district.
Police said Sumon used to work as a seasonal employee at
the shoe shop of Nazimuddin at Sikkatuly of Bangshal
police station.
Zakir, 20, another employee of the shoe shop, took Tk 1500
as loan from Sumon three days ago and promised to return
the money on the night of Shab-e-Barat (Tuesday night).
As Sumon wanted the money Tuesday night, Zakir took him to
a house at Ananda Bazar near Shahidullah Hall of the Dhaka
University at about 2:30 am Wednesday saying that the
money would be paid there.
But instead of paying back the money, Zakir allegedly
slaughtered Sumon and fled from the scene leaving him dead
on the spot.
On information, police rushed to the spot and recovered
the body at about 4:00 am. Police arrested three people,
including Zakir's father Monu Miah, Rezia and Rahim, in
connection with the killing.
Minor boy kidnapped,
killed for refusal of ransom
UNB, Gaibandha
A minor boy kidnapped by terrorists on Tuesday was
strangulated for refusing ransom at Khamar Pirgachha
village in sadar upazila.
Zahid, Pavel and Rubel, identified terrorists of the area,
suspected of their involvement in kidnap and murder, were
held by Shahapra UP chairman Mahbubur Rahman Tulu. On
interrogation they admitted the kidnap and murder of Tasin,
6, son of Romel Sarkar of adjacent Laxmipur union. On
their confessional statement, the body of Tasin was
rescued on Wednesday from under the pater jag (jute
rating) in a pond. Angry villagers attacked houses of the
terrorists and caused extensive damage.
The terrorists were later handed over to the police.
Family sources said Tasin came to maternal uncle's home
with his mother. At about 11 am on Tuesday, the terrorists
kidnapped him and demanded by cell phone ransom of Tk 3
lakh from his maternal grandfather Nazrul Islam Mondal.
Finding it impossible to pay so much money to secure the
release of Tasin, Mondal filed a GD with Gaibandha thana.
But police failed to take any step to rescue the poor boy.
Former foreign
secretary Ataul Karim passes away
BSS, Dhaka
Former foreign secretary Ataul Karim died at a city
hospital on Tuesday night at the age of 75.
He had been suffering from lung cancer for a long time, a
press release of the Foreign Ministry said in Dhaka on
Wednesday.
Karim left behind two sons, a host of relatives, friends
and well-wishers to mourn his death.
His body has been kept at the mortuary of United Hospital.
He will be buried on Saturday after arrival of one of his
sons from the United States, sources said.
"During his long career, Karim also served as Bangladesh
ambassador in Geneva and Washington," the release said.
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni expressed deep shock at the
death of Ataul Karim.
Sports
Tendulkar and Raina keep India afloat
Cricinfo Online
Sachin Tendulkar led India's attempt to stay alive in the
series on an attritional day at the SSC. Just when it seemed
the bat would dominate for the third successive day, the Sri
Lankan spinners brought the Test back to life by rattling the
Indian top order. But Tendulkar, with support from VVS Laxman
and debutant Suresh Raina, made a determined century to
restore stability to the Indian innings and took them closer
to the follow-on target.
The conditions were still batsman-friendly, but the Sri Lankan
bowlers varied their pace and lengths with greater skill than
their Indian counterparts to create chances. However, India
survived a couple of nervy moments that helped turn the third
day, only slightly, in their favour. When on 29, Tendulkar,
rather inexplicably, tried to upper-cut Dilhara Fernando and
was dropped by wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene. And an
appeal against Raina was turned down in the final session when
he was struck on the pads by a straighter delivery from
Tillakaratne Dilshan; replays suggested the ball would have
gone on to hit leg.
Charged, yet again, with the responsibility of reviving the
Indian innings, Tendulkar batted with assuredness amid the
pressure. The spinners didn't extract much turn though they
did generate good bounce, but Tendulkar adapted well, opting
to deal with the length deliveries outside off with caution
while dealing harshly with ones pitched short. He struck Suraj
Randiv for seven boundaries through point, cover and past
slip, and comfortably picked off deliveries bowled on his pads
for a couple more. The one time he did step out to the
spinners was when he brought up his half-century, a clean
strike over long-on.
Tendulkar played the ball late on a slowish track, and
targeted Randiv while approaching his century, reaching the
landmark, his 48th in Tests, with a sweep through square leg.
He also ensured a steady flow of singles with Raina, whose
strokeplay masked the nerves of a batsman making his first
Test appearance.
Maradona
dropped as Argentina coach
AFP, Buenos Aires
Diego Maradona's brief but turbulent reign as Argentina coach
has come to an end after the Argentine Football Association (AFA)
elected not to renew his contract. The football legend's
18-month tenure as manager of the Albiceleste had looked in
doubt following tense talks with AFA president Julio Grondona
on Monday which focused on Maradona's demands to retain his
entire backroom staff.
Before that meeting Maradona, whose final game in charge was
last month's 4-0 World Cup quarter-final humiliation by
Germany, had made it plain he wanted to stay as long as he
could keep his staff.
"I really want to stay, but it depends on Grondona," Maradona
told El Show del Futbol on America TV at the weekend after
returning to Buenos Aires following a trip to visit his
friend, Venezuala President Hugo Chavez. "If they touch a hair
of one of my guys, even the masseur or the kitman, I'm going.
"I want to continue the adventure but not with (just) anyone.
I chose these people. I want to continue working with them."
One was former Argentina defender Oscar Ruggeri, the target of
criticism from Grondona after Argentina's last eight World Cup
defeat. "I already asked and I will continue to ask that
Ruggeri joins me," Maradfona had insisted. "It's a constant
struggle. This is the first thing I will discuss with Grondona."
Media reports suggest that Grondona had vetoed that wish,
triggering the end of Maradona's 18-month spell in charge. AFA
spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo, confirming Maradona's
departure on Tuesday, said: "The president put some salient
points to Maradona in their long conversation yesterday. "And
the executive committee unanimously resolved not to renew
Maradona's contract as technical director of the national
teams." Local media described the exit of the man who lifted
Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title as the end of an era.
"It's official-Maradona is no longer the coach of the
Argentine team," said La Nacion newspaper.
"It's the end of a cycle," the paper added. Maradona's tenure
was marked by his use of over 100 players as he grappled with
various formations, a two month ban for a foul-mouthed
outburst at journalists, an eleventh hour qualification for
the World Cup, and the resounding defeat to Germany. With
Maradona gone, focus has turned on the identity of his
successor. One name in the frame is Alejandro Sabella, 55, who
led Estudiantes to the Copa Libertadores last year. Other
potential candidates include Miguel Angel Russo (Racing Club)
and Sergio Batista, currently in charge of the Argentine
under-20s and who helped steer the country to Olympic glory in
the Beijing Games in 2008. Batista has been chosen to select a
squad for the August 11 friendly against the Republic of
Ireland in Dublin.
According to Cherquis, there is "no urgency" to find a
long-term replacement. Fans reportedly have a soft spot for
Carlos Bianchi, who has enjoyed success with Velez Sarsfield
and Boca Juniors, but his chances are believed to be slim due
to a poor relationship with Grondona.
Maradona is the greatest player in Argentina's history, having
led the country to their second World Cup title in 1986 and a
runners-up finish four years later. He took charge of the
national side in November 2008 and oversaw an occasionally
chaotic qualifying campaign that included a record 6-1 rout at
altitude in Bolivia. Initially, the side played well at the
World Cup in South Africa and won all three group matches
before beating Mexico in the last 16. Germany sent Mara-dona's
men packing in the quarter-final. Argentina will host next
year's Copa America as they chase a first major trophy at
senior level since 1993.
Athlet
Kaniskina heads Russia in women’s walk
AFP, Barcelona
Double world and Olympic champion Olga Kaniskina added
European gold to her repertoire as Russia made a clean
sweep of the medals in the women's 20 kilometre walk here
Wed-nesday. The silver medal winner from four years ago
looked comfortable from the start, taking the lead after
six kilometres and then never looking back.
She produced a season's best performance of 1:27.44 to
push Anisya Kirdyapkina and Vera Sokolova, who had beaten
her in the Russian championships, into silver and bronze
respectively. "It's fantastic to have won the race and I
am also happy for the (Russian) girls as we have all
worked hard together and now can all climb the podium. I
was a little afraid at the start but it all worked out
well," said Kaniskina.
There was a surprise in the women's 100m were Alena
Neumiarzhytskaya, of Belarus, who has clocked the fastest
time this season in Europe and was favourite for gold,
failed to qualify for the next round after finishing down
in fifth place in her group.
There were no problems, though, for Britain's Laura
Turner, coached by former Olympic champion Linford
Christie, who recorded a career best 11.11s earlier this
year. She finished second in her heat to Russian Anna
Gurova. Russia's Svetlana Feofanova recorded good wins
this summer in Bochum, Gateshead and Bergen, and finished
in first place in qualifying for the women's pole vault
final.
Despite home backing, Spain's Marta Dominguez only scraped
the final automatic qualifying place from her heat for the
3,000m steeplechase final.
Mushtaq hails Swann’s impact on
offspin
Cricinfo Online
Mushtaq Ahmed England's spin bowling coach, believes that
Graeme Swann has "changed the game" in bringing an
attacking outlook back to offspin bowling, and says that
he will be England's key weapon when they take on his
native country, Pakistan, in the four-match Test series
that gets underway at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
However, Mushtaq also warned that Pakistan's levels of
confidence and self-belief will be as high as they have
been for months after their thrilling series-levelling
victory over Australia at Headingley on Saturday, and
backed an exciting team with "lots of potential and lots
of youth" to give England a run for their money in the
coming weeks.
As one of the great legspinners of the 1990s, Mushtaq
claimed 185 wickets in 52 Tests and played a key role in
consecutive Pakistan series wins in England in 1992 and
1996. However, it is as a mentor to England's slow bowlers
that Mushtaq currently makes his living, and in that
regard, he believes he is working with one of the best
talents in the game.
"Swanny has changed everything in the last year or so,"
Mushtaq told Cricinfo. "He's singlehandedly won lots of
games for England in all different conditions, and played
a brilliant role for the art of fingerspin. One thing is
for sure, not many offspinners have the potential like he
has.
Inter still
team to beat: Zambrotta
AFP, Rome
It may be a new season but AC Milan full- back Gianluca
Zambrotta believes there will be little change at the top
of Serie A.
The veteran insists that despite the departure of
engimatic coach Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan will still be
the favourites this coming campaign.
"I believe Inter will still be the team to beat, they're
the best team and then there's ourselves, Juventus and AS
Roma," he said. "I believe that's the starting grid on
paper, but then again things can change on the pitch."
Inter have won the last five titles with Roma finishing
runners-up on four of those occasions. Last season Milan
were a distant third and they have been criticised in some
quarters for having an ageing squad, with the likes of
Zambrotta, Alessandro Nesta, Filippo Inzaghi and Clarence
Seedorf all well into their 30s.
They could even field a recognisable first-choice XI next
season made up entirely of players over 30, but Zambrotta
says they still have much to offer.
"We're not in fashion any more. If you look at the last
World Cup, even if we didn't do well, I was in good form
and at 33 I believe I have shown that I'm capable of being
part of a great team," he said.
Raul signs
two-year Schalke deal
AFP, Berlin
Real Madrid and former Spanish international star Raul
agreed a two-year deal Wednesday with Germany's Schalke 04
after 16 years at the Bernabeu, the Bundesliga side
announced. The 33-year-old striker, who paid an emotional
farewell to Real Madrid supporters on Monday together with
long-standing teammate Guti, was due to be presented to
Schalke fans later Wednesday before his first training
session. Raul played for Real since 1994, winning six
Spanish championships and three Champions League titles.
He scored a record 323 goals in 740 appearances in the
famous white Madrid jersey.
He also found the back of the net 44 times in 102 games
for Spain, making his last appearance in 2006 before the
double success of Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
Real said on Sunday that Raul and Guti would be leaving
after it became clear that the pair did not fit into the
grand plans of new coach Jose Mourinho.
Urawa post first win
in five games in J-League
AFP, Tokyo
Former Asian club champions Urawa Red Diamonds strolled to
their first win in five games and moved up to sixth in the
J-League after thumping bottom-of-the-table Kyoto Sanga
4-0 on Wednesday.
Brazilians Sanou, Ponte and Edmilson netted in the 53rd,
64th and 75th minutes, while Tomoya Ugajin added to the
total shortly before the end for the visitors.
Urawa are now eight behind leaders and defending champions
Kashima Antlers, who drew with Albirex Niigata 2-2 on
Tuesday. Antlers are now on 31 points.
Shimizu S-Pulse are second on 30 points, while Nagoya
Grampus have 29 points and Kawasaki Frontale have 25
points. Urawa, Cerezo Osaka and Sanfrecce Hiroshima each
sit on 23 points.
Shimizu beat Cerezo Osaka 3-2 on Tuesday, while Hiroshima
drew with Vegalta Sendai 1-1 on the same night.
On Wednesday Brazilian-born Japan international defender
Marcus Tulio Tanaka and another Brazilian Danilson gave
Nagoya a 2-1 win over Shonan Bellmare, while Kawasaki were
held to a goalless draw by Montedio Yamagata.
Gamba Osaka ran out 3-1 winners over Vissel Kobe, while FC
Tokyo drew 1-1 with Jubilo Iwata. Omiya Ardija also drew
1-1 with Yokohama Marinos.
Unstoppable Farah
wins 10,000m gold for Britain
AFP, Barcelona
Britain?s Mo Farah stormed to victory in the final of the
men?s 10,000m at the European Champions with compatriot
Chris Thompson finishing in silver.
The pair were hot favourites going into the event in
Barcelona but they did not have it all their own way.
Farah was able to race clear in the final lap to finish
with a time of 28:24.99, while in the sprint for the line
behind him Thompson came in narrowly ahead of Daniele
Meucci. "The first European gold feels great and it has
taken many years of hard work to achieve this goal," said
Farah.
"Chris (Thompson) took the lead and it was a fierce
competition where I knew I had to get rid of some of the
runners. It's awesome that Chris and I got the double.
"Now I am looking forward to the 5,000m and I need to
recover fast," said Farah. Elsewhere, Belarus continued
their domination of the women?s shotput as they took gold
and silver, a repeat of four years ago.
A tight competition was expected but Nadzeya Ostapchuk
finished out in front with a throw of 20.48m almost a
metre ahead of second-placed Natallia Mikhnevich and
Russian Anna Avdeyeva produced a season?s best to take
silver. Ostapchuk brought her excellent form this season,
which sees her currently lead the world rankings.
There was disappointment for her veteran compatriot Yanina
Pravalinskay-Karo-lchyk, a former Olympic champion, who
finished fourth. This morning Russian Stanislav Emelyanov
produced an upset in the men's 20km walk to take the first
gold of the event and push favourite Alex Schwazer of
Italy into second. The 19-year-old is the latest walker to
emerge from the successful Russian production line and
finished with a time of 1:20.10, ahead of Schwazer and
Joao Viera, who repeated his bronze medal in Gothenburg.
Britain?s Dwain Chambers said it would take a sub-ten
second run to win the men?s 100m and it certainly looks
like it will be a close finish between him and France?s
Christophe Lemaitre.
Chambers beat Lemaitre at a meeting in Bergen last month,
but since then Lemaitre has recorded the fastest time in
Europe this season and became the first white man to dip
below ten seconds with the clock stopping at 9.98sec.
The Frenchman was quickest in the first round of the heats
with a time of 10.19sec while Chambers, easing off, came
in first in his heat just two hundreds of a second slower.
It is by no means a two-horse race, though, as Portugal?s
Francis Obikwelu and Norway?s Jaysuma Saidy Ndure will
also be in the frame.
In-form Russian Mariya Savinova is safely through to the
final of the women?s 800m after winning her heat
comfortably.
The 24-year-old recorded a personal best of 1:57.56
recently, the best by any athlete in the world this year.
While team-mate Svetlana Klyuka is a serious threat, the
main rival for gold is likely to come from Britain?s Jemma
Meadows, who won bronze last year at the World
Championships.
She also took silver this year at the World Indoor
Championships in Doha.
Following the retirement of reigning champion Steffi
Nerius there will be a new name who wins gold in the
women?s javelin and Czech Barbora Spotakova is desperate
to claim the one major title that she is missing. The
current Olympic champion, former world champion and world
record holder took silver in 2006. Tuesday, she qualified
for the final in first place with a throw of 65.56m.
Collingwood ready for
Pakistan bowlers
AFP, Nottingham,
England
Paul Collingwood is adam-ant there is no reason why he or
his fellow England batsmen should feel daunted by the
challenge of facing Pakistan's bowlers here at Trent
Bridge. Pakistan go into the first of four-Test series
starting.
Thursday on the back of a dramatic three-wicket second
Test win over Australia at Headingley where they dismissed
Ricky Ponting's men for just 88 in the first innings last
week. Teenage left-arm quick Mohammad Aamer has been
compared to Pakistan hero Wasim Akram while Mohammad Asif
was likened to Australia great Glenn McGrath by Pakistan
captain Salman Butt.
Umar Gul is a fine third seamer while leg-spinner Danish
Kaneria completes an admirably balanced attack. However,
Collingwood - returning to Tests after missing England's
early season 2-0 home series win over Bangladesh with a
shoulder injury - suggested Pakistan were flattered by
overcast conditions at Headingley.
"I don't want to go overboard on 'these guys are the best
thing since sliced bread' - or Wasim Akram, or this, that
and the other," Collingwood told reporters on Tuesday.
Nevertheless he praised the 18-year-old Aamer, saying:
"When I was 18 I was just getting a contract for Durham
and playing club cricket out in Australia - so it was bare
bones at the time.
"Seeing a youngster like that (Aamer) is excellent for the
game."
But Collingwood added: "If we can get through those
periods where it can be really tricky, I think we can get
on top of them.
"To say they're the number one bowling attack in the world
I would say was over the mark.
"They have come up in conditions recently where it's done
a fair bit.
"Their confidence is going to be sky-high. But we're a
confident team ourselves." England will take heart from
the way an inexperienced Pakistan batting line-up lost
seven wickets in pursuit of a relatively modest victory
target of 180 at Headingley.
So England's bowlers will fancy their chances at Trent
Bridge, where paceman Stuart Broad and off-spinner Graeme
Swann play for Nottinghamshire.
Pakistan, in what will be only opening batsman Butt's
second match as captain, are likely to go in with the same
side as played at Headingley.
Zambrotta advocates calm
after Varese defeat
AFP, Rome
Veteran AC Milan full-back Gianluca Zambrotta insisted
there was nothing to worry about after Milan lost their
opening friendly of the new campaign against Serie B
Varese.
Although playing a largely first choice outfit packed with
experience, Milan were simply not at the same physical
level as their neighbours on Sunday.
But Zambrotta said nothing should be read into the result
ahead of a crucial season for the aging Milan team. "It
was the same last year and then we did well and challenged
for the title," he said referring to last year's
disastrous pre-season in which they lost eight of 11
games. "You need to find yourselves in the first
(pre-season) games and there's no reason to panic."
Zambrotta, who was a part of Italy's calamitous World Cup
defence in South Africa, in which they crashed out in the
group stages, paid tribute to his new boss at Milan,
Massimiliano Allegri.
"He's a capable and young coach who has a great desire to
do well," he said. The 33-year-old full-back is also
hoping to win back a regular place in the Milan team
having spent much of the end of last season on the bench.
"At the end of last season I was fit but I was left out of
the team for technical reasons which I respected but
didn't agree with," he said.
"This year I am ready to give 100 percent as always and
we'll see.
"It will depend on what I manage to do. No-one wants to be
on the bench but if that happens I'll still try to help,
with my experience, the person playing in my position."
Ronaldo returns to training
ahead of schedule
AFP, Madrid
Real Madrid's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo cut
short his holidays by one day and started training on
Tuesday under the club's new manager Jose Mourinho for the
first time before the team heads to the United States.
During Tuesday's training session the Portuguese coach
divided the players into two teams to play two practice
games.
The team will head to California on Wednesday morning for
a pre-season training camp where they will remain until
August 7.
Several other of Real Madrid internationals who took part
in the World Cup in South Africa will meet up with the
squad in California, such as Brazil's Kaka, who will
arrive on Saturday.
Portuguese defender Pepe on Monday became the first Real
Madrid international who took part in the tournament to
have resumed training with the Spanish club.
Ronaldo, the world's most expensive player whose transfer
to Real from Manchester United in cost the club 94 million
euros in June 2009, failed to shine for Portugal during
the World Cup.
The 25-year-old anno-unced shortly after the final of the
tournament which was won by Spain that he had become a
father in June but refused to reveal who the mother of the
baby boy is, sparking a media frenzy.
Real will play two pre-season friendlies while in
California. The club will face Mexican side Aguilas de
America in San Francisco on August 4 and US side LA Galaxy
in Los Angeles three days later.
Marseille can’t make
transfers - Deschamps
AFP, Rades, Tunisia
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said on Tuesday that the
French champions cannot sign new players due to the
current financial climate in the sport. "The club cannot
make transfers today," he said at a press conference ahead
of his side's meeting with Paris Saint-Germain in the
Champions Trophy here on Wednesday.
"I hope it improves quickly. It's in our interests to make
the team even more competitive." Marseille ended an
18-year wait for the French title last season but the club
have made just one major signing this summer, bringing in
Spanish right-back Cesar Azpilicueta from Osasuna for a
fee that could rise to 9.5 million euros.
"It's the economic reality, lots of clubs are suffering,"
Deschamps added.
"You have to adapt. Of course I'd prefer to have all the
players so that we can quickly start working together.
"The (transfer) deadline is August 31. To be more
competitive and more efficient, it's better for us to
reinforce with players who bring us something extra. That
extra has a price and at the current moment, it's not
possible for us." On July 14, Deschamps confirmed the club
were in "discussions" with Bordeaux over the signing of
their France international midfielder Alou Diarra.
The release clause in Diarra's contract is around 7.5
million euros and Marseille will reportedly be unable to
complete a transfer for him unless they free up funds by
selling players first.
Mascherano wants to leave Liverpool
AFP, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Argentina skipper Javier Mascherano wants to leave
Liverpool, the club's manager Roy Hodgson confirmed on
Tuesday.
Hodgson has been speaking to the key figures in the team
since taking over from Rafael Benitez at Anfield.
While captain Steven Gerrard has indicated he wants to
stay, Mascherano is keen to leave, with reports linking
the defensive midfielder with a move to join Benitez at
Inter Milan. "Yes, he wants to leave the club," confirmed
Hodgson when asked about Mascherano.
"He has made that perfectly clear. I think he wanted to
leave a year go.
"He wants to leave now but he is contracted to Liverpool
so whether he leaves or not will be our decision."
Hodgson has had more positive news from Spain striker
Fernando Torres, who has confirmed his intention to return
to the club on Monday and to remain at Anfield.
Recent speculation suggested Torres was keen to play
Champions League football this season, which Liverpool
cannot offer, and was considering his options. Hodgson
said that was not the message the club had received from
the Spain striker.
"As far as I know he is looking forward to coming back
here; he is back on Monday," he said.
"He is enjoying a holiday-a well-deserved break as he has
not had one for three years.
"He is spending a lot of time with his family, keeping a
low profile and as far as I know he is not really speaking
to anyone.
"But he has told us that he is looking forward to Monday,
looking forward to getting back to work and looking
forward to playing for Liverpool next season.
"That is what I know so other reports, I would suggest,
are erroneous."
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