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Leading News
CCC polls held peacefully
Mohiuddin Chowdhury leading in partial results
Conflicting victory claims by rivals
UNB, Chittagong
ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury is leading in mayoral polls with
wide margin in 41 polling centres out of total 673,
results of which were available from the Election office
at 10pm on Thursday.
Mohiuddin polled 24,579 votes while Manjur Alam Manju got
19,051 votes, according to the unofficial results of the
Election Commission office. But the camps of the two major
candidates have been giving conflicting figures.
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdury, chief election agent of Manju,
has claimed that he own the mayoral election with a margin
of more than 70,000 votes. His camp is already in a mood
of election victory.
On the other hand, Mohammad Ishaque Mia, chief election
agent of Mohiuddin, claimed he is leading in 64 polling
centres casting 48,709 votes while his rival Manju polled
35,779 votes.
Mohiuddin Chowdhury, president of Chittagong City Awami
League, has been Mayor for three consecutive terms and is
now contesting for the fourth time.
Manju, backed by BNP, and once a close aide of Mohiuddin
Chowdhury, was a ward councilor in the outgoing council of
Chittagong City Corporation.
Earlier, polling in Chittagong City Corporation (CCC)
concluded peacefully at 4 pm on Thursday.
Both candidates-Awami League-backed ABM Mohiuddin
Chowdhury and BNP-backed Mohammad Manzur Alam said the
elections were held in a peacefull maner. Returning
Officer Jesmin Tuli said the allegations of capturing
polling centres in some places and driving out of the
agents is not true.
There was no report of major untoward incident from the
674 polling centres. Turnout of voters was almost
satisfactory. ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury cast his vote at
Ahmed Mia Government Primary School at about 8:30am while
Mohammad Manzur Alam at Haji Daud Government Primary
School at about 9:30am. After dropping his ballot, ABM
Mohiuddin Chowdhury told journbalists that whatever be the
results of Chittagong City Corporation elections, he will
accept readily.
Talking to newsmen after castiong his vote, Manzur Alam
said that he will accept the results if polls are held in
free, fair and neutral manner.
BNP leader Abdullah Al Noman and Manzurul Alam told UNB
that many voters failed to cast their votes at 6/7 centres
due to lack of similarity between number of Voter ID card
and voters' list.
Meanwhile in Dhaka, BNP has claimed its mayoral candidate
Manjur Alam is leading by more than 50,000 votes in 300
out of 673 polling centre in the mayoral election of
Chittagong City Corporation held on Thursday.
The party is apprehending that 'mechanism and
manipulation' by invisible power might take place to
change the CCC election results.
BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a
briefing at the party's Nayapaltan central office at 10 pm
on Thursday said the results collected from 300 polling
centres showed Manju is leading with a convincing margin
of more than 50,000 votes.
He alleged that the government resorted to the course to
controlling a section of the electronic media that is
broadcasting 'manipulated' results' in favour of the
ruling party backed mayor candidate ABM Mohiuddin
Chowdhury.
CCC
elections held in free, fair manner: CEC
UNB, Dhaka
Expressing satisfaction over the holding of Chittagong
City Corporation elections, Chief Election Commissioner Dr
ATM Shamsul Huda on Thursday said the CCC polls were held
in free and fair manner.
"We're very satisfied over the holding of the CCC polls,"
he told reporters at the Election Commission Secretariat
in the afternoon, replying to question.
Dr Huda said the candidates would have to take the
election results as the EC took all-out measures to hold
the CCC polls in free, fair and neutral manner. Congratula-ting
the candidates, the CEC said all candidates and officials
concerned have worked together to successfully complete
the election.
"The CCC elections were good because all candidates have
co-operated with the Election Commission and they have
also abided by the election code of conduct during the
polls."
About E-voting, Dr Huda mentioned that the use of e-voting
as an experiment in the CCC elections has become
successful. The EC would introduce the e-voting in large
scale in the upcoming Dhaka City Corporation (DCC)
elections, he said.
Replying to a question, the CEC said few complaints were
lodged about the expulsion of polling agents but after
getting such allegations, the EC officials have examined
the incidents and immediately taken measures. Election
Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain and EC
officials were present on the occasion.
Muhith
for multi-model mass transit to ease city traffic
BSS, Dhaka
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Tursday called
for multi-model mass-transit system linking waterways-
railways, roads and airports to resolve city's nagging
traffic congestion.
Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) project involving around 2
billion US dollar might be a very ambitious project in
terms of timeframe and financial aspect, he cautioned.
The Finance Minister was addressing the inaugural session
of a workshop on DEE at Bangabandhu Friendship
International Conference Center here today.
"Recognizing the importance of resolving the existing
traffic problem in the densely populated Dhaka City, a
multi- model mass transit system linking all modes of
transports can be the best option for us, he said.
The day-long workshop was arranged to exchange views with
local and foreign experts, officials, pre-qualified
constructing firms, civil society members and cross
section people on four alignment options placed by the
consulting firm AECOM Australia.
Addressing the function, Communications Minister Syed Abul
Hossain expected to sign the Concession Agreement with the
successful bidders by December this year and the first
phase of the project will be completed before completion
of the tenure of the present government.
The government, which is desperately put in its efforts to
ease city's traffic problem, intends to construct about 35
kilometer elevated expressway on a Public Private
Partnership (PPP) basis.
Six month back, the government engaged AECOM-Australia,
also working as the consultant of the proposed Padma
Bridge, for financial and economic feasibility study of
the DEE project.
BSF kills
another Bangladeshi
29 killed in four months and 109 in 13 months
TBT Report
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) killed one more
Bangladeshi on Ronchondi border at Dhamoirhat upazila in
Naogaon early Thursday as the killing spree on Bangladesh
border continues unabated despite India's repeated pledges
to stop such killings.
According to UNB News Agency, BSF of India gunned down a
Bangladeshi cattle trader on Ronchondi border under
Dhamoirhat upazila in Naogaon here in the small hours of
Thursday, BDR sources said. The victim was identified as
Abdul Motaleb, 40, son of Abed Ali Mandal of frontier
village Chak Sobdal of the same upazila. BSF men of
Shalgram camp under 28 BSF Battalion opened gunfire when
Motaleb was allegedly engaged in breaching barbed- wire
fences near border pillar no 266/4S opposite to Ronchondi
BDR outpost under Joypurhat 3 Rifle Battalion to bring
cattle from India.
Motaleb was killed on the spot during the shootout at
about 2:30 am today when the BSF men took away his body to
India.
The BDR authorities lodged protests against the killing of
the Bangladeshi citizen and demanded return of the body
through a Company Commander level flag meeting and the BSF
side responded positively towards the direction.
After conducting autopsy of the body at an Indian
Hospital, the BSF is expected to bring it to the proposed
flag meeting on the same border later today before handing
it over to the concerend Bangladesh authorities, the
sources said.
The killings of unarmed Bangladeshis by the BSF on the
border are continuing in clear violation of the spirit of
good neighborliness as well as international law and
despite repeated pledges by the Indian authorities to stop
it. In every meeting between BSF and BDR and also between
the higher level officials of the two countries, the
Indian side assures that killing of Bangladeshis by its
forces on the border would come to an end immediately. But
this pledge is seldom implemented.
With this BSF killed 29 Bangladeshis in last four months
and to 109 in last 13 months. The number of Bangladeshis
killed by BSF during the nine years period from January 1,
2000 to June 14, 2010 stands at 833. BSF also injured 860
and abducted 903 Bangladeshis in the same period.
Five
killed in road accidents
UNB, Dhaka
Five people including a minor girl, were killed in
separate road accidents in Sirajganj, Jessore and Bagerhat
districts on Thursday and Wednesday.
In Sirajganj, a minor girl was crushed under the wheels of
a three-wheeler 'Votvoty' on Bonainagar-Faridpur road. The
deceased was identified as Chumki, 6, of Char Shilanda
village in Shahjadpur upazila.
In Jessore, a bicyclist was killed in a road accident at
New Hut on Jessore-Benapole road. The deceased was
identified as Yunus Ali, 45, of Karchia village under
Kotwali thana. Later, agitated people blocked the road for
three hours.
In Bagerhat, three people were killed and five others
injured as a bus rammed into a pick-up van at Bangram on
Bagerhat-Pirojpur road in Morelganj upazila on Thursday
evening.
The deceased were identified as Mobarak Ali, 35, Rubel,
22, and Farid Ahmed, 24. Police said the accident occurred
when a Pirojpur bound bus from Dhaka hit a pickup van,
leaving one passenger of the pickup van dead on the spot.
Floods,
landslides leave 12,000 homeless
AFP, Cox's Bazaar
More than 12,000 people are homeless and receiving
emergency relief in makeshift camps after flash floods and
landslides hit Bangladesh's southeast, officials said
Thursday.
Dry food rations, tarpaulins and first aid kits were given
to thousands of people left homeless across the country's
southeastern tip, which borders Myanmar, when the worst
rain in decades struck Tuesday, killing 55 people.
"At least 3,000 houses have been totally destroyed and
many others damaged-the area is still very fragile, if
there is more rain, we will have to evacuate residents,"
Cox's Bazaar district administrator Giasuddin Ahmed said.
The country's flood warning centre said Thursday that
heavy rain had stopped in the southeast, with no
expectation of further rain in the next 24 hours.
Ahmed said 50 people had died in his district, and police
said another five people were killed in the neighbouring
Bandarban district.
"It was the worst rain in three decades and was
particularly devastating as 12 centimetres (4.5 inches) of
rain fell in just three hours," Ahmed said.
In the hardest-hit area, Teknaf, which is home to hundreds
of thousands of ethnic Rohingya refugees, some flood
victims said there was a food crisis with government aid
not reaching some of the most needy.
"People haven't eaten for days. There's an extremely bad
food crisis-we've not had any help from anyone," said
Manzural Islam, an unregistered Rohingya refugee.
"At least 1,000 houses have been destroyed, people are
still sleeping without any shelter, they don't have food
and can't cook like this, but we are trying to rebuild,"
he said.
Around 15,000 Rohingya refugees living in camps-both legal
and illegal-around Teknaf have been affected by the
floods, Firoz Salauddin, the government's spokesman on
Rohingya issues, told AFP.
Back Page
Cabinet okays proposal for mandatory
use of jute in packaging
BSS, Dhaka
The cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal for keeping a
provision for mandatory use of jute in packaging goods for
marketing. The approval was given at a regular cabinet
meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina in the chair. "With endorsement of the
proposal, all concerned have to market their products
using jute-made packages," said Prime Minister's Press
Secretary Abul Kalam Azad after the meeting.
Briefing journalists, he said the meeting also endorsed a
draft of "Policy and Strategy for Public-Private
Partnership" guidelines and an amendment proposal of "Bank
Company Act, 1991" and "Financial Institution Act, 1993".
Besides, it approved a proposal for revoking a cabinet
decision on Judicial Service Secretariat Ordinance-2008.
Today's meeting also okayed another proposal to cancel a
cabinet decision regarding amendment to "Bangla Language
Use Act-1987".
Apart from this, the cabinet was apprised of the recent
visit of a Bangladesh delegation led by the state minister
for science, information and communication technology to
Russian Federation. At the very outset of the meeting, the
cabinet adopted an obituary reference at the loss of lives
in landslides in Cox's Bazar and Bandarban.
Seeking early recovery of the injured, the meeting
directed the authorities concerned to provide adequate
treatment to them. During the meeting, the cabinet members
and advisers to the Prime Minister have decided to give
their 10 days' salary in aid of the victims of Nimtoli
fire and Begunbari building collapse incidents. Members of
the cabinet, advisers to the Prime Minister and state
ministers concerned attended the meeting. Cabinet
secretary and secretaries concerned were present.
Pakistan nuclear plants for peaceful
use: China
Dawn Online, Beijing
China said on Thursday its civilian nuclear cooperation
with Pakistan was for peaceful purposes, after the United
States said it was seeking clarification from China on a
deal to build two new reactors.
"I want to stress that the civilian nuclear cooperation
betw-een China and Pakistan is in line with each side's
international obligations," Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Qin Gang told a news briefing in Beijing. "It is
for peaceful purposes, and is under the supervision of the
International Atomic Energy Agency," he added without
elaborating. US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley
told reporters on Tuesday that Washington had asked China
for more details on the deal. "We have asked China to
clarify the details of its sale of additional nuclear
reactors to Pakistan. This appears to extend beyond
cooperation that was grandfathered when China was approved
for membership in the Nuclear Supp-liers Group," he said.
"We believe that such cooperation would require a specific
exemption appr-oved by consensus of the Nuclear Suppliers
Group," Crowley said. The United States was expected to
oppose the China-Pakistan deal next week at a meeting of
the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The 46-nation group controls
trade in "dual-use" nuclear fuel, materials and technology
to ensure they are applied only to civilian nuclear energy
programmes and not diverted into clandestine nuclear
weapons work.
The Washington Post reported that China had suggested that
the sale was grandfathered from before it joined the NSG
in 2004, because it was completing work on two earlier
reactors for Pakistan at the time.
Ctg voters first
enjoy e voting in CCC polls
BSS, Chittagong
Voters at city's Jamal Khan Ward in Chittagong City
Corporation (CCC) election enjoyed the country's
first-ever use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) while
exercising their right of franchise on Thursday.
A total of 25,315 voters of Jamalkhan ward are casting
their votes in 79 polling booths of 14 polling centres
through EVM machines.
Voters, presiding officers, assistant presiding officers,
observers and agents of candidates expressed satisfaction
over the EVM system and smooth casting of votes. Returning
Officer (RO) Jesmin Tuli told BSS that she had so far
visited 5 to 6 electronic voting centers and received no
complaints.
Taleya Rahaman, Chairman of Democracy Watch, an election
monitoring watchdog, said she had also visited 6 to 7
polling centers and the presence of the voters was
satisfactory in those centers.
Referring to the EVM system, she said it is a unique,
transparent and easy-going voting system.
" The voters should have made more familiar with this
system through mock e voting," she added. Iftekhar Islam,
a presiding officer at Dr Khastagir Government Girls' High
School center, said that 20 percent votes had been cast in
two hours and few voters faced a bit problem while using
the EVM system for the first time.
Paapia Chowdhury, a voter who cast her vote through EVM
systems, said she faced no problem in casting her vote.
Mrinal Das, a voter of Kusumkumari City Corporation High
School center, said he faced problem in e voting because
of his ignorance about the system.
Fayez Ahmad, a voter of Kadam Mubarak High School center,
said he cast his vote promptly with the help of an
assistant presiding officer.
Ninth parliament
passes 93 laws in 18 months
BSS, Dhaka
Besides holding discussions on important national issues,
the ninth parliament passed 93 laws in about 18 months.
The current parliament that started its journey with a
'Charter for Change' to implement 'Vision-2021' played an
effective role to fulfil the aspirations of the people.
The first session of the Jatiya Sangsad began on January
25, 2009 following formation of government by the grand
alliance led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by securing
more than two-thirds majority in the parliamentary
elections held on December 29, 2008. Lawmakers belonging
to all parties, including the main opposition party, took
part in the first session of the parliament. The first
session passed 32 important laws.
Including the first and the current fifth session, the
parliament so far passed 93 laws in 137 working days. Of
the laws, 23 were passed in the second session, 11 in
third session, 23 in fourth session, four in the current
fifth session.
The laws passed in parliament include Father of the
Nation's Family Members Security Act, Right to Information
Act, Consumers Rights Act, International Crimes (Tribunal)
(Amendment) Act, Representation of People's Order
(Amendment) Act and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Planetarium
Act.
The ninth parliament held discussions and adopted a
thanks- giving motion for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for
delivering her speech in Bangla in the United Nations
Security Council and giving the proposal to recognise
Bangla as an official language of the UN.
Besides, parliament thanked the Prime Minister unanimously
for playing an important role in UN climate conference in
Sweden.
Parliament also adopted a proposal expressing gratitude
over the execution of the verdict of the case of killing
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and
most of his family members.
Plan to set up
12 underpasses, overpasses to reduce city traffic jam
BSS, Dhaka
The government has undertaken a plan to set up six
underpasses and six overpasses to reduce traffic
congestion and road accidents in the city.
The six underpasses would be set up on important
crossings, including Sonargaon road and Moghbazar, and six
overpasses on rail crossings.
Joint Police Commissioner (Traffic) of Dhaka Metro-
politan Police (DMP) M Shafiqur Rahman told reporters
after an awareness- creating meeting with students and
guardians in the auditorium of Motijheel Government Boys
High School in the city.
He said it is not possible to reduce the traffic
congestion without creating alternative roads as the
city's roads are inadequate compared to vehicles.
Quoting statistics, Rahman said on an average 135 new
vehicles including buses, trucks, private cars are being
pressed into service in the metropolis every day and 40
drivers of the vehicles have no licences, contributing to
increase in traffic jam.
The city dwellers are not getting much respite from the
unbearable traffic congestion although several steps were
taken during the last one year, he pointed out. The police
official stressed the need for increasing awareness
against risky movement and reckless driving for reducing
the traffic jam considerably.
Sangu
gas field, power plants resume production
UNB, Dhaka
Power supply situation slightly improved on Thursday as
production resumed at Sangu gas field and also at one
generation unit in the Ashuganj power station.
According to official sources, the Sangu gas field at the
Bay of Bengal resumed production on Wednesday night that
facilitated gas supply to a number of power plants in the
Chittagong region. The gas production at the country's
only offshore field came to a halt on Wednesday following
a technical fault.
"The offshore field resumed production and we're receiving
about 33 million cubic feet gas from it," a senior
official at Energy Ministry told UNB. The state-owned
Power Development Board (PDB) official said that one of
the three units at the Ashuganj Power Station, which
suffered breakdown on Wednesday following a technical
fault and fire incident, came back into production. "One
unit, having installed production capacity of 150 MW,
resumed power generation from on Thursday", a PDB official
said.
Govt begins CFL
bulb distribution tomorrow
UNB, Dhaka
The government begins distributing Compact Florescent
Lamps (CFL) bulbs, popularly known as energy saving bulbs,
free of cost on Saturday with a slogan "June 19, 2010: Elo
Natun Alor Din" (A new light's day arrives).
The Rural Electrification Board (REB) is implementing the
project titled "Efficient Lighting Initiative for
Bangladesh" (ELIB) to reduce the consumption of
electricity.
Officials of the Power Department on Thursday night handed
over CFL bulbs to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her
official residence Ganobhaban to introduce the project
formally. Energy Adviser to the PM Toufiq-e-Elahi
Chowdhury, Power Secretary M Abul Kalam Azad, State
Minister for Energy Enamul Huq and Deputy Press Secretary
to the PM Mahbubul Hoque Shakil were present during the
handover.
In the first phase, some 5.5 million CFL bulbs will be
distributed from 9am to 5pm giving priority to the areas
where demand for electricity is high. Twenty-seven
districts have been selected for distributing CFL bulbs on
Saturday under the first phase. These are Khulna, Jessore,
Kushtia, Jhenidah, Chuadanga, Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur,
Gopalganj, Bagerhat, Dhaka, Gazipur, Tangail,
Chapainababganj, Sylhet, Rangpur, Chittagong, Comilla,
Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Mymensingh,
Kisho-reganj, Netrokona, Rajshahi and Natore.
Editorial
The story of jute
Jute
has become an important issue of discussion in recent days
amid the prospect of its regaining the lost glory. The latest
news about jute is encouraging. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
told parliament on Wednesday that Bangadesh has invented the
crucial "genome sequence" of jute, an innovation that would
bring back the pride of the golden fibre. "This is a glorious
event for Bangladesh . . . with this discovery, jute is
expected to regain its lost glory of being the golden fibre,"
she said congratulating the discoverer of the genome sequence,
scientist Dr Maksudul Alam and his team members. The premier
also hoped the discovery would help improve the jute fibre
quality and invent species which would also be tolerant to the
climate change phenomenon.
Officials and scientists familiar with the development said
Bangladesh was the lone country in Asia after Malaysia to
carry out such a high level research. A genome is all of a
living thing's genetic material and it is the entire set of
hereditary instructions for building, running, and maintaining
an organism, and passing life on to the next generation.
Everyone is happy with the discovery of the "genome sequence"
of jute. It is hoped that the country will be greatly
benefited by this discovery.
Significance of jute in the national economy is immense. But
successive governments ignored it for years. Besides jute
faced an uneven competition against synthetic fibre in
international market. There was a time when the country used
to produce huge quantity of jute every year as it was the main
cash crop. During the Pakistan period 90 per cent of export
earnings used to come from jute export. In 1952-53 jute
production was estimated at one crore bales in then East
Pakistan which used to produce about 75 per cent of total raw
jute in the world. Even after the independence of Bangladesh
jute production stood at 75 thousand bales, but later area
under jute cultivation shrunk and production declined due to
different reasons including anomalies in the jute sector after
nationalisation of the jute mills. Later, a major damage was
done to jute by the arrival of synthetic fibre. Now, the trend
of using synthetics has weakened and the popularity of
environment-friendly jute has enhanced globally. In the
changed global and domestic situation, time has come to
revitalise the jute sector.
But it is a bad news that jute mills were hit hard recently by
scarcity of jute. Several jute mills in the private sector
were closed due to non-availability and abnormal rise of
prices of raw jute. High prices of raw jute in the local
market have affected the country's jute yarn export.
Ironically, the abnormally high price of jute does not come to
the benefit of the growers as their jute went out of their
hands long before. In fact, raw jute is now in the hands of
the middlemen and hoarders who procured it at a cheaper price
and now creating an artificial crisis are selling at a much
higher rate.
This manipulation over jute is an old practice. This could
have been checked had the government purchased jute from the
growers at the outset of the season.In the light of the
experience gathered the government should try to tackle the
present crisis and take steps from the next jute season to
purchase jute from the growers at reasonable rate and then
supply it to the mills gradually. In the given circumstances,
jute cultivation should be encouraged. It is reassuring that
the government has taken up a Taka 1300 crore project to
re-open the closed jute mills and replace old machineries with
new ones with a view to producing improved jute products
suitable for the world market. Besides, raw jute export should
be continued to prevent international market from slipping out
to other countries.
Land grabbing
Food
and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on
Wednesday categorically said stringent actions would be taken
against land grabbers, who illegally occupied the government
lands, causing immense sufferings to the people. The minister
quoted the Prime Minister as saying, "Take stern action
against those who are involved in land grabbing,"
The food minister's statement was preceded by State Minister
for Housing and Public Works Advocate Abdul Mannan Khan's
disclosure in the Parliament on Monday that land robbers
grabbing lands of the poor are daring to threaten the
government in public. He said a few land robbers are filling
rivers, canals, ditches and beels and selling out those lands.
Khan said these land robbers buy half-katha land somewhere,
thereafter grab the adjacent lands and sell those at lakhs of
taka through tempting advertisements. He said a vicious circle
in collaboration with some corrupt people in the ministry are
misappropriating national property worth thousands of crores
of taka.
The number of landless people in the country is growing fast
and they are passing days in endless miseries while vast
tracts of government khas lands continue to remain under the
illegal occupation of land grabbers. In most cases there is
little or no efforts on the part of the government to recover
these lands. It is really a matter of great concern that more
and more people are being rendered landless due specially to
erosion of rivers, crop damage caused by frequent floods or
draughts and extreme poverty. Every year new groups of
landless people add to the old ones aggravating the situation.
According to reports 73 thousand 800 acres of government khas
lands are now under illegal occupation. Urgent steps should be
taken to evict the illegal occupants from government lands and
the lands thus recovered should be allotted to landless
families on priority basis.
Analysis
The US-India dialogue
New Delhi has publicly expressed fears that
Pakistan is being given far too great a role in determining US
strategy in Afghanistan.
Tariq Fatemi
It has become
quite the fashion these days to characterise even the
semblance of good relations as 'strategic ties'. Nevertheless,
the US-India strategic dialogue that took place recently in
Washington, certainly deserves this appellation.
It came in the wake of India's ill-disguised misgivings about
the 'strategic dialogues' that the US recently had with China
and Pakistan.
Keen to assuage India's 'hurt' feelings, US leaders engaged in
more than the usual rhetoric. President Obama also chose to
break with protocol to turn up at Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton's reception for Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, where
he announced that he would undertake an official visit to
India in November. He then chose to speak of his ambitions,
which if it materialises, will take US-India relations to
unprecedented heights. US officials also pointed to the
administration's National Security Strategy, which while
welcoming a China "that takes on a responsible leadership role
in working with the US and international community", makes it
clear that the US "will monitor China's military modernisation
programme and prepare accordingly to ensure that US interests
and allies regionally and globally are not affected".
India, on the other hand, receives a positive reference: "US
and India are building a strategic partnership that is
underpinned by our shared influence, our shared values", while
emphasising that "India's responsible advancement serves as a
positive example for developing nations".
The Indo-US strategic dialogue covered a wide gamut of issues
that included terrorism, disarmament, trade, science,
technology and civil nuclear cooperation. On the two crucial
issues, terrorism and Afghanistan, the joint statement spoke
of US commitment to continued support for ongoing
counter-terrorism investigation. It also welcomed India's
contribution to reconstruction and development efforts in
Afghanistan. Washington undertook to regularly consult Delhi
on Afghanistan.
As regards India's desire to have a role in training and
capacity-building for Afghan security forces, there was no
definite outcome.
India asked for further liberalisation of US export laws that
restrict the sales of crucial military technology and lifting
of restrictions on a number of Indian organisations. The US
wish list includes the nuclear liability bill, access to
Indian military bases and a bigger share of the Indian market
for American goods and services including military sales and
nuclear commerce.
Not surprisingly, Pakistan hovered in the background.
Assistant Secretary Robert Blake placed Pakistan in the
context of the US desire to promote peace in South Asia,
though making the preposterous claim that India had not
objected to the sale of US weapon systems to Pakistan.
India chose to imply, with little effort at disguise,
Pakistan's involvement in terrorism, drawing attention to the
fact that while "the epicentre of this threat lies in India's
neighbourhood, it reaches far and wide all across the globe".
At the same time, the Indian foreign minister said that India
was seeking "a future of peace and cooperation with Pakistan".
That India resents the Obama administration's desire to forge
strategic ties with China and Pakistan is well-known. The
Indians claim that while they are a peaceful nation, China has
extra-territorial ambitions, oblivious to how their own
neighbours view them. Pakistan, it simply rejects, as both a
terrorist-sponsoring state and not one to be considered in the
same league as India.
The Indians also used the dialogue to seek greater clarity on
Pakistan's role in Afghanistan, especially concerning the
emerging reconciliation plans with the Taliban. Earlier, it
had conveyed its unhappiness with the US administration's
suggestion that India show greater sensitivity to Pakistan's
concerns in Afghanistan. It reacted strongly to a leaked memo
of Gen McChrystal that "increasing Indian influence is likely
to exacerbate regional tensions and encourage Pakistani
counter-measures in Afghanistan or India".
New Delhi has publicly expressed fears that Pakistan is being
given far too great a role in determining US strategy in
Afghanistan. It has rejected the growing consensus in
Washington that acknowledges Pakistan's indispensable role in
the success of US plans for Afghanistan, which led Assistant
Secretary Blake to snub an Indian journalist who accused the
administration of having a pro-Pakistan tilt.The two countries
also held an extensive exchange on Iran, which encouraged US
officials to claim that New Delhi would support any action
against Tehran when it came to sanctions, while acknowledging
India's refusal to isolate Iran diplomatically and
economically.
The issue of Security Council reforms and India's aspiration
for permanent membership of this exclusive club also came up
during the Washington meeting. On its eve, Under Secretary
William Burns had confirmed that India's expanding global role
would make it an important part of any future consideration of
Security Council reforms. Ms Clinton went even further when
she reiterated that the US was committed to considering India
for the UNSC. But it was Blake's remark that Obama was looking
to achieve "ambitious results" during his visit to Delhi that
led to speculation in India that he would be coming with "glad
tidings".
If during his visit to Delhi, Obama were to 'gift' a UNSC
seat, it would definitely be a huge success for India in
getting two of its fondest wishes fulfilled in five years.
First, in getting the civilian nuclear deal from Bush, without
having signed the NPT and then entering the ranks of the
Security Council, which is becoming increasingly the vehicle
for great powers to achieve their national goals - all this
without having resolved the Kashmir issue or differences with
its neighbours.
The US has to ask itself whether this will promote peace in
the region. The US must not forget that however much it may
claim that US relations with India and Pakistan are no longer
a zero-sum game, the reality is far more nuanced. Pakistan,
for all its shortcomings, remains a critical player in the
region and the US would do well not to ignore this.
Afghan riches
up for grabs?
So much so an internal Pentagon memo suggests that the
Central Asian country could become the "Saudi Arabia of
lithium," a precious raw material used in the making of
batteries
for laptops and ?mobile phones.
Aijaz Zaka Syed
He
has strange ways of balancing His creation. Look around
and you can't miss the delicate equilibrium in nature all
around you, even if you choose not to believe in Him. From
our own bodies to the awesome, infinite universe that
hosts us, there's a fine balance that seems to govern,
maintain and sustain it all.
If the nature has blessed one country with abundant
resources, it has gifted another people with something
else. If the Arabs have had to struggle with an incredibly
hostile landscape throughout their history, they have been
compensated for it by the liquid gold called oil.
Trust me, dear readers, this is not a discussion on the
origins of universe, nor am I trying to take on the
delusional arguments of Richard Dawkins, the inimitable
author of The God Delusion.
My rambling is inspired by the latest New York Times
report that confirms what many have long suspected: That
Afghanistan, like Iraq, is sitting on the vast reserves of
rich mineral resources and precious metals and that the
invasion and occupation of the country has nothing to do
with the 9/11 attacks or Shaikh Osama.
The untapped mineral deposits that include huge quantities
of iron, gold, copper, cobalt and critical industrial
metals such as lithium are said to be so huge and so rich
that the war plagued and long exploited Afghanistan could
change forever, emerging as one of the most important and
affluent mining centres in ?the world.
So much so an internal Pentagon memo suggests that the
Central Asian country could become the "Saudi Arabia of
lithium," a precious raw material used in the making of
batteries for laptops and ?mobile phones.
The findings are based on a survey carried out by the US
Geological Survey, Pentagon and the Afghan government.
However, it is not the US that has discovered this
limitless treasure that Gen. David Petraeus, commander of
the US Central Command, agrees offers "stunning
potential."
The survey was carried out on the basis of some old charts
and data collected by Afghan engineers and Soviet mining
experts.
Clearly, the Russians had been aware all along of the
mineral jackpot that the dirt poor, underdeveloped
Afghanistan had been sitting on when they invaded the
country in 1979.
The Russian bear however had to beat it after years of
disastrous occupation and a debilitating war. They not
just had to fly by night with all their plans to plunder
Afghanistan but the disaster changed the Soviet Union or
Russia forever.
It's a great irony of history that it is not America's
military might, its fancy weapons or its state of the art
Star wars programme but the rudimentary, rustic weapons
and legendary bravery of the Afghans that brought down the
Soviet giant, changing the course of history forever. And
it's an even greater irony that the US has drawn no
lessons from the fate of the evil empire, as Ronald Reagan
would call it. Uncle Sam has rushed headlong, eyes wide
shut, to dig himself deep into the Afghan quagmire not
long after the humiliating retreat of the Russian bear.
After the 9/11 strikes when our friend George W. Bush was
preparing to "shock and awe" Afghanistan, promising a "new
crusade" of 'With Us or Against Us,' some solitary voices
around the world dared to suggest Afghanistan was being
invaded because of its rich natural resources.
Some of them went to the extent of questioning the
official version on the 9/11 attacks, implying they had
been part of a vast conspiracy involving US intelligence
agencies, neocons and Zionists to invade and take over the
resources of Muslim countries.
At the time, those conspiracy theories sounded like the
loony tunes of a feverish, overactive imagination even to
me. Given the shocking poverty and backwardness of
Afghanistan, the idea sounded totally bizarre.
I am not so sure any more though. Especially after the
absurd lengths to which the US has gone and the kind of
outlandish excuses it invented to invade Iraq, the world's
largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia.
And remember, before Iraq it was Iran. If the Iranians,
one of the most cultured and civilized people anywhere,
distrust and despise the Americans, British and virtually
all of the West from the depths of their hearts, there are
enough reasons for it.
In fact, there's a long history of conspiracies,
manipulation and old fashioned exploitation by big powers
against Iran.
From playing petty games with the last Shah of Iran to
deposing his defiant father to sending mercenaries to
bring down Prime Minister Dr Mosaddeq, the Middle East's
first elected leader, they have tried every trick in the
book to cheat Iranian people out of the rich resources God
has gifted them.
The fun hasn't stopped even with the fall of Shah and the
Islamic Revolution of 1979. The continuing UN sanctions
and the talk of "action" against Teheran, driven by you
know who, only rub salt into the deep wounds on Iranian
psyche. No wonder the nuclear programme has become an
issue of national prestige for most Iranians, even to
those ostensibly opposed to the ayatollahs. Of course,
this long saga of colonial exploitation has not been
limited to the Middle East. This game is as old as the
history of Western colonialism itself.
From Africa to India to the Far East, it's the same story
of exploitation everywhere. It'd be no exaggeration to
suggest that the West's breathtaking march to industrial
and scientific progress has been fuelled and driven by the
riches of the so-called Third world.
It's become fashionable for Western wonks to rile against
crushing poverty, endemic corruption and misrule in much
of Africa. But who created this mess in the first place in
a continent that is a vast, big mine of incredible riches?
Who colonised, ruled and exploited Africa at gunpoint for
over four centuries?
In fact, who has ruled and exploited much of the world
over the past few centuries, plundering it to fill their
own coffers? India, the jewel in the crown, was denuded
and robbed of all its beauty and brilliance by the time
the last British viceroy flew into the empire's sunset.
Kohinoor, the legendary diamond in Queen Elizabeth's crown
mined from Golconda, is the ultimate testament to our
colonial masters' insatiable craving.
You would forgive and forget it all if it had been a mere
page from a hoary, long forgotten history. But it's not.
This game of exploitation is still a living, breathing
reality. Western colonialism may be dead but the mindset
is very much alive in one form or the other. Players may
have changed but policies haven't. Yesterday, it was the
East India Company. Today, it's Uncle Sam's trigger-happy
boys or mighty multinational corporations.
However, if the Yanks think they will succeed where the
Russians failed, they'd better think again. If the
irrepressible Afghan can beat one mighty empire with his
sticks and stones, he can beat another mighty empire too.
The Americans may have the deadliest arms known to man and
infinite resources at their disposal. History, geography
and time, however, are on the other side. This is a war
Afghans have never lost. Not in the past, not now.
Especially not now when they have to protect their
national resources. Afghanistan's riches belong to its
people, not to the coalition of the willing. It's a reward
from God for all the suffering Afghan people have put up
with for centuries with a smile.
Aijaz Zaka Syed is Opinion Editor of Khaleej Times.
Write to him at aijaz@khaleejtimes.com
Viewpoints
Prepare for a fallout
Even without
the additional dangers posed to society by an Iran-US conflict
we are fighting desperately for our survival.
Zafar Hilaly
Iran
wants the bomb and not because of some fixation with Israel;
it goes beyond that. Possessing nuclear weapons will elevate
Iran's global status; consolidate her claim to be a regional
power and provide her with a credible deterrent against
powerful international adversaries.
With the bomb, Iran, in league with Hezbollah, Hamas and Syria
could challenge Israel's hegemony and once Egypt sheds Mubarak,
possibly extricate the region from western clutches. The fact
that Saudi Arabia would become infinitely more pliable, and
the Gulf sheikhdoms more amenable to settle their territorial
disputes with Iran, would provide Tehran the proverbial icing
on the cake.
To achieve all this Iran needed time and adroit diplomacy to
bring her nuclear plans to fruition. Unfortunately, diplomacy
has never been revolutionary Iran's strongpoint and certainly
not that of the Ahmadinejad administration. In it bluster and
bluff prevail together with sad, implausible takes on world
history and interminable and cantankerous sermonising. True,
Ahmadinejad's utterances warm the cockles of the hearts of
many who loath the West but they do little else and did not
prevent China and Russia from supporting the
western-engineered UN resolution imposing sanctions on Iran.
The Iranian president's criticism of China for supporting
sanctions is an indication of how self-defeating his
utterances can be and how he has misread China. He forgets
that China is no longer a revolutionary but a status quo
power. She is plugged into the world economy and certainly
that of America's. China has a vested interest in seeing the
US prosper; at least long enough to pay back its debts and
especially the $1 trillion China has invested in US treasury
bonds. And to keep the dollar, which forms a sizable portion
of the $2.5 trillion that China has in foreign currency
reserves a viable currency while the world struggles to
discover an alternative.
Perhaps Ahmadinejad was misled by China's dependency on
Iranian oil, which makes up as much as 10 per cent of her
imports. However, for China the risk of war, if America were
to be left on its own, was considerably greater and especially
the dislocation of supplies and the spike in oil prices
resulting from war. For Beijing, therefore, sanctions were a
way of defusing the pressure on America for military action
and, at the same time, signalling Ahmedinijad to engage more
convincingly in negotiations.
Ahmadinejad must have found Russia's ganging up with the US
less surprising though no less galling given the substantial
and long-standing defence relationship with Moscow. Tehran
should have known that for both China and Russia, America is
far more important than Iran and if anything this equation
will get more pronounced.
Or perhaps Ahmadinejad never stood a chance of winning Chinese
and Russian backing. First because the P5 have made it evident
that they mean to preserve their nuclear monopoly come what
may - the NPT is about as discriminatory a treaty as one can
imagine. And, secondly, because none of the P5 can stomach
another nuclear weapon state in the Middle East and most
definitely not one with Ahmadinejad's finger on the nuclear
trigger.
Though Iran failed to parry UN sanctions the outcome of the UN
vote did give some cause for hope. The nuclear swap deal with
non-permanent Security Council members Turkey and Brazil keeps
alive the faint hope that a negotiated settlement may
eventually be possible. If nothing else the swap arrangement
"amounts to an interesting starting point" for further
negotiations. Besides, when Washington brusquely rejected it
out of hand, the outcry prevented a unanimous vote in favour
of the resolution thereby diluting its moral force.
With irate Brazil and Turkey leading the charge for further
negotiations and a diplomatic solution to the crisis most of
the Muslim and non-aligned world will back their initiative.
However, not Saudi Arabia, which has long been greasing the
skids for Iran's fall. And although Riyadh has denied that it
has granted Israeli planes the right to overfly the Kingdom to
attack Iran no one believes that the Saudis would put up any
resistance were Israel to do so.
Predictably Ahmadinejad has scoffed at sanctions comparing
them to "used handkerchiefs". Of greater consequence was the
remark of Iran's representative on the IAEA who said, "Not
only will Iran continue her enrichment activities but even a
second enrichment activity will not be suspended." He was
referring to Iran's recent move to enrich uranium to a higher
level of purification, an unmistakable sign that Iran remains
defiant and is willing to up the ante.
There remains a year or two before matters come to a head and
either Iran caves in or the West adopts a more emollient
attitude. And if neither happens then Israel will likely have
its way which is to bomb Iran's nuclear sites and some
infrastructure critical to the Revolutionary Gaurds - the
current guardians of the clerics who rule Iran.
Were war to break out between Iran and the US or Israel the
impact on Pakistan could be enormous. Anti-Taliban sentiments
would subside with public ire focussing on symbols of western
presence. If disturbances intensify and spread there will be
the usual doubts about the safety of our nuclear arsenal,
which may well prompt further threats from Israel and America
backed up by India.
It will take a lot of cool heads and a willingness to take
extreme measures to retain control in the wake of disturbances
that may follow a US-Iran war. Bitterness and hostility
towards the West, already high, could reach explosive levels.
And if, by some chance, Muslim shrines in Iran were hit by
accident or design the kind of mayhem witnessed in Pakistan
following the Mecca incident of 1979 may very well follow.
But, most threatening of all would be the spread of the
Salafi-Shia tensions.
While there is nothing that Pakistan can do to prevent a US
military strike against Iran we should be aware of its
dangerous implications and do a lot better at managing our
internal situation. Currently, the central and provincial
governments are struggling to deal with the home-grown
Taliban. The present lawlessness bordering on anarchy puts at
risk our strategic interests. Even without the additional
dangers posed to society by an Iran-US conflict we are
fighting desperately for our survival. Therefore, unless we
are prepared for the likely fallout of that conflict, we will
be courting disaster.
The writer is a former ambassador of Pakistan. Email:
charles123it@hotmail.com
Whither the
Nobel Peace Prize?
The Nobel
Committee had already brought itself into question by
awarding people such as Shimon Peres who are
simply unable to spell the word “peace.”
Kourosh Ziabari
To
the disappointed and dejected people of the world who had
witnessed the dark and gloomy years of George W. Bush's
presidency, Barack Obama's electoral slogan of "change"
seemed to be an encouraging pledge of rebirth and
revitalization which could eventually extricate them from
war, destruction, sanction and militarism.
Obama's catch phrase of "change" was so inspirational and
exciting that 140 heads of state sent him congratulatory
messages upon his election as the president of the United
States in 2008. The whole world believed that a new change
would be underway - a change that had seemed basically
unreachable under President Bush.
Obama, who endeavored to appeal to the Americans as a
pacifist politician who has come to revamp the image of
his country in the eyes of public opinion and put an end
to the hawkish policies of his Republican predecessor, won
the hearts and souls of his compatriots by promising them
to pursue a strategy of détente, withdraw the troops from
Iraq, seek reconciliation with Iran and put forward a
comprehensive public health-care program.
With his matchless features as an African-American
president with Muslim background, Obama indicated his
willingness to be reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln for his
fellow citizens; therefore, he intelligently began taking
steps that would bring to the minds of Americans the
delightful history of their country's rescue from the
Civil War under Lincoln. First, he announced his candidacy
for the president of the United States before the Old
State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, where
Lincoln delivered his memorable "House Divided" speech in
1858.
Harold Holzer, the American writer and Lincoln biographer
believes that from the beginning of his political career,
Obama tried to model himself on Lincoln, the 16th
president of the United States and one of the most popular
figures in the history of the country. They both became
lawyers and consequently served in the state legislature
and then served a single term in the Congress. It goes
without saying that they both come from the same state:
Illinois.
According to Douglas Brinkley, a Rice University professor
of history, Obama and Lincoln both appealed to the nation
by the virtue of their effectual public speaking: "Lincoln
and Obama shared a love of words, a belief that rhetoric
and oratory could change people's minds, and the way they
would express things, the confidence they would have in a
debate - not by fiery oratory, but by a calming presence,
a reasoned argument."
In order to take part in the inaugural ceremony and assume
office, Obama traveled from Illinois to Washington by
train, a tradition first devised by Lincoln in 1861 when
he wanted to pass through New York to the capital. Obama
even adopted his inaugural luncheon menu from the favorite
foods of Lincoln: Lobster, scallops and shrimp. Obama's
inaugural address was thoroughly glorified with the
phrases and expressions exclusive to Lincoln; from "A New
Birth of Freedom" derived from the Gettysburg Address to
"renewal, continuity and national unity."
Obama tried his best to appear as a duplicate of Lincoln,
with the same pacifistic ideology and reconciliatory
trajectory. He spoke of peace, extended hands, equality,
mutual respect, human rights and nonintervention in the
internal affairs of other countries. He resorted to his
eloquence and proficient oratory to captivate the global
public opinion, and mostly succeeded. Bearing in mind the
aggressive speeches of Bush whose ultimate solution for
each problem would be found in military expedition and
bellicosity, Obama should have been the most ideal
president every American and even non-American citizen
might seek, and there would be no room left for doubt and
uncertainty regarding Obama's excellence as an
unparalleled peace-lover who could save the US from the
quagmire Bush had created during his 8 years of aggressive
administration.
Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 9, 2009,
only 10 months after assuming office as the president of
the United States. He was granted the prestigious award
"for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international
diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," and this was
the juncture where the controversies would arise. Having
decreed the recruitment of extended troops to be
dispatched to Afghanistan, failing to hold Israel
accountable for its relentless massacre of Palestinians in
the Gaza war and refusing to order the cessation of drone
attacks on the Pakistani civilians, Obama found his
winning of the Nobel Peace Prize embraced by the
international community's astonishment and surprise.
Although few people doubted that Obama is far more
qualified and tolerable than Bush, the early endowment of
a Nobel Peace Prize to him was not well received by many.
Once it was officially announced that Obama would be the
winner of the peace prize, the front pages of world
newspapers became filled with astounding editorials the
following day. Gideon Rachman, the Financial Times' chief
foreign affairs commentator wrote in an interesting
editorial titled, "What did Obama do to win the Nobel
Peace Prize?": "I doubt that I am alone in wondering
whether this award is slightly premature. It is hard to
point to a single place where Obama's efforts have
actually brought about peace - Gaza, Iran, Sri Lanka?"
The London Times, however, attacked the Nobel Committee
more intensively. Michael Binyon of the London Times wrote
in a hard-hitting article that the Nobel Committee's
decision has made a mockery of the Nobel Peace Prize:
"Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and
partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian
Nobel Committee as a way of expressing European gratitude
for an end to the Bush administration, approval for the
election of America's first black president and hope that
Washington will honor its promise to re-engage with the
world."
However, the gist of story was best described in a Globe
and Mail article written by Norman Spector on Oct. 9, the
same day the award was given to Obama: "The simple
explanation for the committee's decision to cite Mr. Obama
at this stage of his presidency is that he is not George
W. Bush."
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the US president on a
comparative basis. Comparatively, Obama was better than
Bush, and that's why he received the prize. It was just a
compliment to his "not being" the same as Bush; however,
it has recently become evident that Obama has the
potentiality to become an aggressive and belligerent
leader like what George W. Bush was, and this simply
discredits the Nobel Foundation and its premature
decision.
Obama has threatened Iran with a nuclear strike, and this
is not the practice of a Nobel peace laureate. If it was
somehow difficult to reject the Nobel Committee's decision
at the early stage, it's now completely unjustifiable to
consider Obama as a meritorious choice for winning the
Nobel Peace Prize. Someone who is awarded for his
endeavors to promote peace does not threaten a 70-million
nation with a nuclear attack, nor does he impose crippling
sanctions on them to paralyze their economy and their
daily life.
Even if the Nobel Committee's decision was to encourage
the US president to remain the same man of "change" he had
promised earlier, it should not have been taken that
frantically, only 10 months after he took office. The 2009
Nobel Peace Prize was a "comparative award," and made
millions of people laugh at the credibility and
authenticity of the foundation which is aimed at the
preservation of Alfred Nobel's heritage; however, from
another comparative viewpoint, the Nobel Committee had
already brought itself into question by awarding people
such as Shimon Peres who are simply unable to spell the
word "peace."
Kourosh Ziabari is a young Iranian journalist, media
correspondent and literary author. He can be contacted at:
kziabari@gmail.com
Germany: Angela Merkel’s
paralysis
The crunch day will be 30 June: that day the new president
will be elected. If Merkel's candidate, Christian Wulff -
the bland CDU first minister of Niedersachsen (Lower
Saxony) - doesn't get enough votes, it will be the end of
this coalition government and new
elections would have to be held.
Sabine Rennefanz
The
obituaries are in. All the hopes of the German government
now rest on Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller. They aren't
members of the cabinet, they're the new stars of the
national football team. If anybody could, they might turn
the destiny of Chancellor Angela Merkel's hopeless
coalition. If they win the World Cup in South Africa, the
whole country will party relentlessly and nobody will
worry any more about the disastrous government. At least
that's a possibility. It has worked before: poor
governments have carried on thanks to a wave of football
fever. "Drink beer, watch football," said one Christian
Democratic Union member of parliament the other day, when
he was asked by a journalist how to survive the following
weeks.
Germany has a similar coalition to Britain's: an agreement
between the conservative CDU and the liberal Free
Democratic party. But, unlike Britain, there was never a
honeymoon in Berlin. From the start, last September, there
has been constant infighting, disagreement - chaos.
Cabinet members refer to each other as " Gurken"
(cucumbers) or " Wildsau" (wild boar). Merkel's once ideal
partner, the pro-business FDP has turned out to be a
nightmare.
While the CDU has become a modern conservative party with
a strong interest in social equality, gay rights and
environmental protection, the FDP is stuck in the 1980s
and is a single-topic party: it wants to cut tax, or at
least block tax rises. Under the guidance of its erratic
leader, Guido Westerwelle, the foreign secretary, its
members happily ignored the pressing problems of the
international financial crisis.
And up to now, the coalition has managed to disagree on
everything - the budget, health reform, how to help the
struggling carmaker Opel.
The most recent low point was last week, when Merkel and
Westerwelle presented what they called a "saving package."
They want to save €80bn by 2014, mainly by cutting social
spending, and support for poor parents and the long-term
unemployed. It read like the wish list of the FDP. There
was an immediate cry of outrage - and not only from the
opposition. CDU members found the package socially
imbalanced, they said, claiming that wealthier people do
not contribute at all. About 20,000 people demonstrated at
the weekend against the proposed cuts in Berlin, and the
papers published obituaries of the coalition government. "
Aufhoren!" ("Stop!") reads the cover headline this week of
the German news magazine Der Spiegel, above a picture of a
troubled-looking Merkel and Westerwelle.
Merkel was once dubbed the Queen of Germany because of her
presidential style. In the grand coalition with the social
democrats (SPD) she was able to remain less hands-on, and
merely moderate the process of governing. She had strong
counterparts like finance minister Peer Steinbruck. But
confronted with a very different coalition partner she
appears remarkably weak - almost paralysed, and unable to
control the constant arguing of the coalition members. The
electorate wait in vain for some inspiration or
explanation of how to go on. Merkel herself does not
appear to know what the purpose of her government is. She
has made uncharacteristic mistakes: she did not go
personally to persuade the president Horst Kohler to stay,
before he threw his job away. Instead she talked to him on
the phone. She also humiliated important allies such as
the work and labour minister, Ursula von der Leyen.
Merkel's weakness is felt in Europe, too. With the
currency in crisis, previous German chancellors would have
taken a leading role. She, on the other hand, seems
uninterested. Her actions are lacklustre; she's happy to
leave the initiative to France's Nicolas Sarkozy to agree
new rules for the European Central Bank. At the most
recent meeting of Sarkozy and Merkel, the differences were
emphasised - both talked about a common European business
policy but they seemed to be referring to different
things. Merkel just wants better co-ordination and tougher
punishments for countries who spend too much; Sarkozy
demands more solidarity from Germany - in the past he has
criticised German spending cuts. The unity once shown by
Francois Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl has long gone.
The crunch day will be 30 June: that day the new president
will be elected. If Merkel's candidate, Christian Wulff -
the bland CDU first minister of Niedersachsen (Lower
Saxony) - doesn't get enough votes, it will be the end of
this coalition government and new elections would have to
be held. But it is unlikely to happen, since many MPs
would lose their jobs in that process. They're likely to
grit their teeth and hope for 11 July. That's the day the
World Cup final takes place.
Sabine Rennefanz is an editor at the Berliner Zeitung.
International
Govt should stop
ridiculing judiciary, says Nawaz
Dawn Online,
Lahore
Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz's chief Nawaz Sharif on
Thursday urged the government to accept the courts'
verdicts and stop ridiculing the judiciary's independence.
Talking to media representatives in Lahore, Nawaz
reiterated his demand for the resignation of lawmakers who
held fake academic records. Answering a question, he
conceded that there were some flaws in the selection
process of parties' candidates. Sharif pledged that the
PML-N will not issue election tickets to any fake degree
holders in future elections. He further said that holders
of fake degrees should voluntarily resign and save
themselves from embarrassment.
Nawaz said the Election Commission of Pakistan should
have, in time, scrutinised academic documents of the
candidates contesting elections. Sharif also criticised
presidential pardon given to some convicted persons and
said the judiciary was being humiliated by such measures.
Regarding Pakistan's relations with India, Nawaz said "we
should have good neighbourly ties with India and
outstanding issues between the two countries should be
resolved through talks."
UN Afghanistan representative says
Taliban 'weary of war'
AFP, Oslo
The United Nations representative to Afghanistan, Staffan
de Mistura, said in an interview published Thursday that
Taliban militants were "weary of war," which opens the way
for dialogue.
"All the information we receive indicates everyone is
weary of war, including the Taliban," de Mistura said in a
interview published on the website of daily Aftenposten.
"They will never win, they will never be able to take
control of the country and they know that," added the
Italian-Swedish diplomat, who arrived in Afghanistan on
March 13 in replacement of Norway's Kai Eide.
He remained vague on his plans for holding talks with
Taliban militants.
"When such discussions with the Taliban will be launched,
it won't be seen as they will be discreet, confidential,
and hidden in the beginning," de Mistura said.
"That kind of thing does not happen in a conference, but
it is necessary because everyone is weary," he added
At the end of March, the UN representative met with a
delegation from Hezb-e-Islami, a group headed by warlord
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Hekmatyar, who was not at the meeting, is black-listed as
a terrorist by the United Nations and the United States.
In January, a UN official said de Mistura's predecessor
Kai Eide met with Taliban militants in Dubai with the hope
of holding peace talks, but the militants denied the
meeting took place.
12 Maoists killed in India
AFP, Kolkata
Indian security forces killed 12 Maoists, including three
women, in the latest of a series of raids against rebel
strongholds in the east of country, officials said
Thursday.
The government launched a major offensive last year to
tackle the worsening left-wing insurgency, but since then
the Maoists have hit back with bloody strikes including
the massacre of 76 policemen in April.
The latest rebel deaths occurred late Wednesday when
commandos and paramilitary special forces acting on a
tip-off targeted about 45 Maoists gathered in a village in
the Midnapore district of West Bengal state.
"This was a major success. We found eight bodies and we
have information that four more bodies were carried away
by the Maoists, while many more were injured," director
general of police Bhupinder Singh told reporters in
Kolkata.
"When the Maoists opened fire, the forces retaliated," he
said.
A Maoist spokesman speaking to local media from an
undisclosed location confirmed the attack but said only
five rebels from the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army-an
armed wing of the Maoists-had died.
As part of the same government operation in Midnapore
district, eight Maoists were killed by security forces on
Tuesday, while on Monday in neighbouring Jharkhand state
10 rebels were killed.
Maoist rebel groups have fought for decades throughout
east India against state and central government rule,
drawing support from landless tribal groups and farmers
left behind by the country's rapid economic expansion.
US envoy vows solidarity with S.Korea
over warship
AFP, Seoul
The United States Thursday pledged solidarity with South
Korea in its bid to censure North Korea for the sinking of
a warship, with a senior envoy urging the world to take a
strong stance.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell was visiting
Seoul days after the North threatened military action in
response to any United Nations condemnation over the
deadly sinking of the Cheonan in March.
"We are here to make clear our strongest possible
commitment of solidarity with South Korea," Campbell told
reporters before talks with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan
and other officials.
"We are determined to show that our alliance is standing
very firmly together during an absolutely critical
period."
Regional tensions have risen sharply since the South
accused its hardline communist neighbour of torpedoing one
of its warships near the disputed Yellow Sea border with
the loss of 46 lives.
The South has announced its own reprisals including
cutting off trade. It also wants a strongly worded
resolution, or at least a presidential statement, from the
15-member UN Security Council.
This week it briefed council members on the evidence
collected by a multinational investigation, which found
overwhelming evidence that a North Korean submarine
torpedoed the Cheonan.
The North, which angrily denies the South's claims as
"sheer fabrication", also addressed the council.
"This is a defining moment for our alliance," Campbell
told a press conference. Sixty years after the start of
the Korean War, he said, "the United States is standing
closer than ever with South Korea".
Campbell said Seoul and Washington have won widespread
international support for their response to the sinking.
"We'll face the North Korean provocations from a position
of profound strength."
The United States and South Korea must still persuade
veto-wielding Security Council members China and Russia to
sign up to any statement censuring the North.
China, the sole major ally and chief economic partner of
the impoverished North, has been non-committal.
Russia sent naval experts to examine the South's evidence,
including what Seoul says is part of a North Korean
torpedo salvaged from the seabed.
Its ambassador to South Korea has said Russia would take
two to three more weeks to reach a conclusion on the
matter.
Vietnam to replace firing squads with
lethal injections
AFP, Hanoi
Vietnam's communist-dominated legislature voted on
Thursday to replace firing squads with lethal injections,
which some lawmakers said was a more humane form of
execution, a media report said. Almost all of the 433
deputies present approved the change, which will take
effect in July next year, according to the VietnamNet
online news service.
"Among measures to carry out the death penalty, lethal
injection has more advantages and is feasible," it quoted
the chairwoman of the assembly's judicial committee, Le
Thi Thu Ba, as saying.
A paper issued by a key group of deputies before the
month-long legislative session said it was necessary "to
find a more humanitarian method" of execution than firing
squads.
"Injection of poison causes less pain to people being
executed and their bodies stay intact. It costs less, and
reduces psychological pressure on the executors," said the
document.
But legislators were divided during debates on the
proposed change.
"Public shooting is necessary" for crimes involving
national security, one deputy, Dang Van Xuong, was quoted
by VietnamNet as saying.
Assembly member Pham Xuan Thuong, cited by VNExpress news
portal, said firing squads were a deterrent for crimes
like murder but he proposed that the shootings be carried
out inside jails, "instead of having execution fields in
every province."
Vietnamese authorities do not issue death penalty
statistics but since the start of this year, 49 people
have been sentenced to death and one person executed,
according to reports in state-linked media.
US returns stolen Angkorian
sculptures to Cambodia
AFP, Phnom
Penh
The United States on Thursday returned seven sculptures
created in the great Angkorian era that had been smuggled
from Cambodia, a US embassy spokesman said.
John Johnson said the sandstone artefacts, dating from
between 1000 and 1500 AD, arrived by ship and were blessed
by Buddhist monks in a handover ceremony in the
southwestern port of Sihanoukville.
The sculptures, which include a head of the Buddha, a
large bas- relief and an engraved plinth, were recovered
by US immigration and customs enforcement officials in Los
Angeles in 2008, Johnson added.
The great Angkorian empire emerged as a powerful regional
force beginning in the ninth century and built the
stunning Angkor temple complex in northwestern Cambodia,
which remains the country's main tourist attraction.
But the country's key temples suffered huge damage from
looters during three decades of civil war, which ended in
1998.
Terror bombing plot in
Malaysia revealed
AFP, Kuala
Lumpur
Islamic extremists led by a deported Syrian scholar with
suspected ties to Al-Qaeda were planning to blow up houses
of worship in Malaysia, a government-linked newspaper
reported Thursday. The New Straits Times said Aiman Al
Dakak, 45, was among nine foreigners including Syrians,
Yemenis, Nigerians and a Jordanian deported in April, most
of them students.
According to previous Malaysian reports, 10 foreign terror
suspects had been deported. Police and home ministry
officials had no immediate comment on the latest report.
The New Straits Times did not specify which "houses of
worship" were allegedly targeted by the group but said
they were located in the states of Penang and Selangor.
The foreigners and their local associates felt that
Malaysia, which is 60 percent Muslim, was losing its
identity as an Islamic country, the report said.
It said Aiman was also trying to revive the Southeast
Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) by attracting new
members from Malaysian universities.
The paper reported that Aiman, who is fluent in Arabic and
English, gave lectures to both local and foreign students
at his home, indoctrinating them with jihadist ideology
and urging them to carry out the bombings.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said his government would
tighten security to prevent a resurgence of JI, which is
blamed for a string of major attacks in the region
including the 2002 Bali bombings.
"We must be wary of JI threats to recruit students. They
can be coerced into committing violence by militant and
extremism thinking," he told state news agency Bernama
late Wednesday. "A lecturer involved with JI had been
known to explode bombs," he added, referring to Aiman.
"We have to tighten security via intelligence reports to
check the menace."
The government on Tuesday said it would enlist the help of
universities to stop Islamic militants using campuses as
recruitment centres for their violent struggle.
Indonesia's anti-terror
campaign under fire
AP, Jakarta
The anti-terror squad hurtled from a white van on a
bustling street as their quarry - three terror suspects -
stepped out of a taxi.
They shoved one to the ground and when he tried to shake
free, shot him in the head. Another died from a bullet to
the chest. The third was led away, his hands tied behind
his back and his shirt covered in blood, only to turn up
dead hours later. That's not unusual in Indonesia, where
U.S.-trained forces at the core of the anti-terror fight
have a startling kill-to-capture ratio: One suspect killed
for every four arrested.
The deaths not only raise human rights concerns, but risk
fueling Islamist propaganda and tarnishing what has been a
highly praised campaign that has seen hundreds of suspects
arrested and convicted.
The killings also mean the suspects cannot be questioned
and there is no chance to gather intelligence on their
networks. Indonesia was thrust into the front lines of the
war on terror in 2002, when al-Qaida-linked nightclub
bombings on the resort island of Bali killed 202 people,
many of them tourists. There have been several attacks on
Western targets since then, but all have been far less
deadly - and the most recent was a year ago.
Death toll from China
floods and landslides rises to 46
AFP, Beijing
The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by
torrential downpours in southern China rose to 46 on
Thursday, the government said, as weather authorities
warned of more rain to come.
Thunderstorms also wreaked havoc in Beijing, forcing the
cancellation or delays of hundreds of flights in and out
of the Chinese capital, airport authorities said.
Wide areas of southern China have been hit by torrential
rains since Sunday, causing floods and landslides that
have killed at least 46 people and left 50 others missing,
according to the ministry of civil affairs.
Millions more have been affected in six provinces and
regions across the south of China, and nearly 240,000
people have had to evacuate their homes. The rains also
damaged 33,000 houses and caused direct economic losses of
2.7 billion yuan (400 million dollars), the ministry said
in a statement.
Weather authorities have warned that more downpours are
expected to hit southern China in the next few days.
In Beijing, heavy rain, lightning storms and gusting winds
hit the city, and the local meteorological bureau issued
its third storm alert in 24 hours on Thursday. Beijing's
Capital Airport said the bad weather forced the
cancellation of 314 flights and delayed another 489.
Traffic was also affected by the summer storms, with huge
jams on Beijing highways as commuters headed back to work
after a three-day holiday.
Syria's
Bashar al-Assad warns of Middle East conflict
BBC Online
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said Israel's attack
on the Gaza aid flotilla has increased the chances of war
in the Middle East.
In an interview with the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy
Bowen, he said Syria was working to prevent a regional
war. But he added that there was no chance of a peace deal
with the current Israeli administration, which he called a
"pyromaniac government".
Mr Assad also rejected claims he was arming Hezbollah
militants in Lebanon. Nine Turkish activists died during
last month's raid on the Free Gaza ships attempting to
break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
When asked if the Israeli raid increased the chance of war
in the Middle East, Mr Assad said "definitely,
definitely." "When you don't have peace, you have to
expect war every day, and this is very dangerous," he
said.
Israel has set up an inquiry into the raid after rejecting
a United Nations proposal for an international
investigation. But Turkey has said that it has no
confidence in the impartiality of the investigation. "[The
raid has] destroyed any chance for peace in the near
future," Mr Assad said.
"Mainly because it proved that this government is another
pyromaniac government, and you cannot achieve peace with
such [a] government."
Syria had been in indirect talks with the former Israeli
government of Ehud Olmert in 2008 until Mr Olmert
resigned, facing corruption charges.
In recent months US foreign policy worked on the
assumption that persuading Syria to come on board with
them would be a piece of "low hanging fruit" in the
region, our correspondent says.
But now it is becoming apparent that gaining the support
of Syria to help fix the Middle East peace process will
not be easy at all. The US has offered to drop five
year-long sanctions against Syria in return for Syria
dropping its ties with regional ally Iran. Mr Assad denied
that he was sending weapons to the Hezbollah movement in
Lebanon, which fought a month-long war with Israel in
2006.
He said he was happy to do business with the United
States, but insisted that Iran would remain an ally.
Blacklisted Iranian defence minister
dismisses UN sanctions
AFP, Tehran
Iranian defence minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Thursday
that his country was self-sufficient in weapons
production, dismissing fresh UN sanctions that restrict
arms sales to Tehran. "Iran is self-sufficient in making
and mass-producing artillery, tanks, helicopters and
warships," said Vahidi, who was placed on a US blacklist
on Wednesday a week after the UN Security Council imposed
fresh penalties on Iran.
"Not only do we not want these (foreign-made) weapons, but
we are capable and ready to export them (weapons) too,"
Vahidi was quoted as saying by state radio.
On June 9, the UN Security Council slapped a fourth round
of sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear drive,
this time tightening the noose on military and financial
transactions. The resolution bans the sale to Iran of
eight new types of heavy weapons and applies new
restrictions on Iranian investments abroad.
Shortly after the sanctions were adopted, Russia said it
would not deliver S-300 missiles to Iran, which has a
contract with Moscow and had sought the air defence system
for years. The fresh UN and US sanctions, imposed after
Tehran pressed on with uranium enrichment for a programme
that Iran insists is peaceful but the West and others
suspect is aimed at making a bomb, include a travel ban
against several officials, including Vahidi.
Kyrgyzstan: new global trouble spot
at risk of anarchy
AFP, Moscow
Known for its soaring peaks and strategic air bases,
Kyrgyzstan has become a global trouble spot where the
government's lack of authority risks a slide into anarchy.
Ethnic clashes that killed at least 191 people have
exposed the authorities' lack of control over the south
and although the unrest has subsided, the root causes are
far from resolved, analysts said.
After the chaos in Kyrgyzstan, the unrest also risks
spilling over into the introvert neighbouring state of
Uzbekistan and impoverished Tajikistan, both of which
share borders with Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan's interim
authorities led by former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva
surged to power this year after popular protests ousted
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
Even before the clashes in the south, the government
struggled to impose its authority and in May pro-Bakiyev
supporters seized key regional buildings in the south.
Its lack of authority has created a dangerous power vacuum
in a country that has seen growing Islamism in recent
years, a gap some believe can only be filled by
international peacekeepers.
"The south is almost in a state of anarchy. But if the
armed bandits, even if it is just 700-2,000 of them head
towards the north, anarchy is possible in all the
country," said Daniil Kislov, editor-in-chief of the
Ferghana.ru news website. "If the north of Kyrgyzstan is
affected, it then risks spreading to Kazakhstan, the north
of Uzbekistan, creating a major conflict in Central Asia."
The cities of Osh and Jalalabad hit by the violence lie in
the Ferghana Valley, a tinderbox region that has been
fought over for two millenia by a succession of empires.
The region is now shared between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan and its modern-day borders-inherited from
seemingly arbitrary demarcation under Stalin-do not
reflect the concentrations of ethnic groups. Alexei
Malashenko, an expert on the region at the Carnegie Moscow
Centre added: "It's anarchy in the south, the authorities
can do nothing there. And those who carried out the
massacres could go to the north."
"The spectre that we feared-a cauldron of radicalism and
extremism-has come to life."
Demonstrations in the Uzbek city of Andijan near the
Kyrgyz border five years ago were violently suppressed by
security forces, with dozens killed, according to rights
groups.
Kyrgyzstan has always been seen by far the most volatile
of the ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia and the only
one to have embraced a semblance of pluralistic democracy
in a region of authoritarian strongmen.
Meanwhile, an ethnically-mixed population, which includes
14 percent of Uzbeks and a similar number of Russians
alongside the traditionally nomadic Kyrgyz majority, has
long harboured the seeds for inter-communal unrest.
Britain 'would consider' Kyrgyz
request for Bakiyev's son
AFP, London
Britain would consider a request to extradite the son of
Kyrgyzstan's ousted president, accused of instigating
deadly riots, even if there is no such treaty between the
countries, officials said Thursday.
The Home Office refused to say whether Kyrgyzstan was
seeking the return of Maxim Bakiyev, 32, who arrived in
Britain Sunday as inter-ethnic riots raged in his home
country, killing at least 191 people.
A spokesman said there was no extradition treaty with the
former Soviet country but told AFP: "Under certain
circumstances we would consider a request... there are
provisions in place."
A statement from the UK Border Agency, a unit of the Home
Office which deals with immigration, confirmed Bakiyev's
arrival in Britain.
"On 13 June a 32-year-old man was questioned by UK Border
Agency staff after arriving at Farnborough airport without
the necessary documentation to enter the UK. We are not
able to comment further on this case," it said.
Bakiyev, nicknamed "the Prince" for his penchant for
luxury, is the son of former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek
Bakiyev, who was toppled in violent street protests in
April and subsequently fled the country.
The interim authorities in Bishkek have accused him of
being an instigator of last week's violence, while he also
faces criminal charges related to his former position as
head of the agency that controls state assets and loans.
The interim authorities said Tuesday they had requested
his extradition.
In April he was charged with transferring at least 35
million dollars of a 300-million-dollar state loan from
Russia to a number of bank accounts.He is also being
investigated by the interim Kyrgyz government for possible
corrupt business practices related to fuel supply
contracts he handled for a US airbase, key for military
operations in Afghanistan.
Settlers building in West Bank
despite 'freeze'
AFP, Jerusalem
Israeli settlers are continuing to build in the occupied
West Bank despite a partial moratorium on new projects
that expires later this year, the Peace Now settlement
watchdog said Thursday.
Authorities do not appear to have issued any new
construction permits since the start of the year, but the
group said it had documented dozens of instances in which
settlers have begun building new structures in violation
of the ban.
"Peace Now in the past few months has recorded a
significant slowdown in building starts, but not a
complete cessation," it said in a statement."The settlers,
in cooperation with the government, had prepared
themselves for a construction freeze and hundreds of
housing units were approved in (the) two months that
preceded the decision," it added."If the government will
not renew the freeze in September, the last 10 months will
not have significantly affected the expansion of
settlements in the territories," it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reluctantly
agreed to the 10-month moratorium in November after months
of US pressure to halt settlement growth, a key
Palestinian demand for the renewal of direct peace
talks.The Palestinians have always dismissed the move as
insufficient since it did not include occupied and annexed
east Jerusalem, public buildings or projects already under
way, while Washington hailed the move as "unprecedented."
Israel cabinet votes to ease Gaza
Strip blockade
Internet
Israel has announced it will ease the land blockade of the
Gaza Strip and allow more civilian goods to enter the
Palestinian territory.
It comes amid growing international pressure to end the
embargo. An Israeli commando raid on an aid flotilla
attempting to break the naval blockade of Gaza last month
was widely condemned.
The decision was agreed by Israel's security cabinet
.Israel has announced it will ease the land blockade of
the Gaza Strip and allow more civilian goods to enter the
Palestinian territory. It comes amid growing international
pressure to end the embargo. An Israeli commando raid on
an aid flotilla attempting to break the naval blockade of
Gaza last month was widely condemned. Israel and Egypt
tightened the blockade after the Islamist Hamas movement
took control of Gaza in 2007.
The decision to ease the land blockade, agreed by Israel's
security cabinet after a two-day meeting, will see the
expansion of the number of products Israel will allow into
Gaza via border crossing points. The naval blockade will
remain in place. The new Israeli-approved product list
includes all food items, toys, stationery, kitchen
utensils, mattresses and towels, Reuters news agency
quotes Raed Fattouh, Palestinian co-ordinator of supplies
to Gaza, as saying.
The only item singled out in an Israeli government
statement is a plan to allow in construction materials for
civilian projects, but only under international
supervision. Israel has blocked the supply of materials
like cement and steel, arguing that Hamas could use them
to build weapons and fortifications.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in
a statement that Israel would: "liberalise the system by
which civilian goods enter Gaza"; "expand the inflow of
materials for civilian projects that are under
international supervision"; and "continue existing
security procedures to prevent the inflow of weapons and
war material". It added: "The cabinet will decide in the
coming days on additional steps to implement this policy."
It also said that Israel expected the international
community to work toward the immediate release of Gilad
Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas fighters on
the Israel-Gaza border in 2006.
EU hits Iran with tougher sanctions
over nuclear row
AFP, Brussels
European leaders decided Thursday to impose new sanctions
on Iran over its nuclear programme, going further than the
UN's latest punitive measures to pile pressure on Tehran,
diplomatic sources said.
The new EU sanctions would include a unique ban on new
investment, technical assistance and transfers of
technologies to Iran's key gas and oil industry, according
to the text.
Iran has the world's second-largest reserves of natural
gas and is OPEC's second largest oil exporter. Global
energy majors have come under increased international
pressure over their activities in the country.
Iranian banks and its elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps are also targeted by the new measures.
The move came the day after the United States added
Iranian individuals and firms to a blacklist and one week
after the UN Security Council slapped its fourth set of
sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt nuclear
activities.
In an agreed text the EU leaders expressed their
"deepening concerns about Iran's nuclear programme."
Mandela and Winnie attend
great-granddaughter's funeral
AFP, Johannesburg
A grieving Nelson Mandela and his ex-wife Winnie
Madikizela-Mandela mourned at the funeral of their
great-granddaughter Thursday after she was killed in a car
accident on the eve of the World Cup.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of 13-year-old
Zenani Mandela, whose death just hours before the opening
ceremony of the World Cup made the country pause from its
festivities to mourn with the Mandela family.
Mandela entered through a rear door and walked slowly to a
seat in the front row, with his wife Graca Machel at his
side. The former president is 91 and in frail health, and
his public appearances have become increasingly rare.
His former wife, Winnie, 73, arrived separately,
accompanied by their daughter Zindzi. Winnie and Zindzi
embraced as they arrived at the Methodist chapel and
entered slowly, arm in arm.
Madikizela-Mandela was also among the seven people on the
front row on the left side of the small brick chapel,
seated just behind the organist.
An overflow tent was set up to accommodate the crowd at
the funeral, which was held at Zenani's school and
followed a private burial service earlier Thursday
morning.
Business/Economy
PM urges
Sweden to invest in ower, gas and energy sectors
BSS, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday called upon
Swedish entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh's power,
gas, energy, information technology and agro-based
industry sectors for overall development of the country.
The Prime Minister made the call when the outgoing Swedish
Ambassador to Bangladesh, Britt F Hagstorm, paid a call on
her at Ganobhaban here.
During the meeting, they discussed a wide range of
bilateral issues along with expansion of trade and
business between the two countries and negative impact of
climate change, said Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul
Kalam Azad after the meeting.
The Swedish ambassador appreciated the Prime Minister's
active role on climate change during the COP-15. They also
discussed the 1.20 crore dollar Sweden-Bangladesh Fund to
face the climate change consequences.
In the meeting, Sheikh Hasina sought Sweden's support on
the climate change issue in favour of Bangladesh during
the upcoming COP-16 meeting in Mexico this year.
They also discussed the possibility of expansion of
bilateral trade between the two countries when she (Sheikh
Hasina) said that Bangladesh's export was 221 million
dollars to Sweden in the last 2008-2009 fiscal.
The Prime Minister requested Sweden to import Bangladesh's
quality readymade garments, footwear, handicrafts,
shrimps, ceramics and medicine.
Mentioning the excellent bilateral relations exist between
the two countries, Sheikh Hasina expressed the hope that
the ties would be further strengthened in the years to
come.
The Swedish envoy thanked the Prime Minister and her
government for extending allout support during his stay in
Bangladesh.
Among others, Ambassador-At-Large M Ziauddin and Prime
Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad were prese.
EU
leaders to finalize new 10-year dev blueprint
Xinhua, Brussels
EU leaders plan to focus on measures to prevent the Greek
debt crisis from occurring in other bloc countries rather
than just adopting a development blueprint for the next 10
years during a summit that starts on Thursday.
The leaders from the 27 EU members during the summit were
also expected to finalize five headline targets set for
2020 as the bloc's new economic strategy to replace the
failed Lisbon Strategy.
Europe 2020, the new strategy, sets the agenda for "a
smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe" for the next
decade and aims at giving new impetus to the economic
development of the union.
"Tomorrow's European Council should signal to people that
we have a new perspective for growth, with the Europe 2020
strategy," and consensus appeared to have been built
around the targets, including the targets of achieving a
greater degree of social inclusion, Jose Manuel Barroso,
president of the European Commission, said at a plenary
meeting of the European Parliament.
At their spring summit in March, the EU leaders agreed on
headline targets in the field of research and development,
energy efficiency, and climate change, but left out
clear-cut targets in education and poverty reduction.
The targets agreed upon include raising the employment
rate to 75 percent, increasing research and development
investment to 3 percent of the gross domestic product, and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent. At a
meeting held earlier this month to prepare for Thursday's
summit, EU finance ministers said that progress has been
made in determining the tangible targets in education and
poverty reduction.
Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council, said
Tuesday in an invitation letter to the leaders that "we
can now adopt the new strategy and start concentrating on
implementation." "I hope we will be able to approve our
conclusions on all of these issues without much
discussion," van Rompuy said.
Apart from adopting Europe 2020, the EU leaders were also
to discuss ways of enhancing economic governance of the
bloc, and hear an interim report of a task force led by
van Rompuy on the topic.
"We have embarked on a far-reaching exercise of fiscal
consolidation and modernization of our budgetary and
economic surveillance," Barroso said.
Myanmar to introduce new taxation system
Xinhua, Yangon
The Myanmar Ministry of Finance and Revenue is planning to
introduce a new self- accessment system (SAS) with its
taxation procedure to replace the former official
assessment system (OAS), the local weekly 7- Day News
reported on Thursday.
In line with the international system, business
enterprises are set to declare their official amount of
income and profit and pay themselves the accessed tax and
so do the employees, the report said.
Meanwhile, Myanmar private entrepreneurs and media
enterprises are urged to pay commercial tax in accordance
with law.
"The existence of accountability, fairness and
transparency between the State Finance and Revenue
Department and tax payers is beneficial to the country, "
economists said.
Some media maintained that regardless of the rate of
commercial tax prescribed for business undertaking, it
shall be paid either getting profit or suffering loss.
Citing some taxation rate for goods items trading, the
Weekly Eleven said earlier that 10 percent are levied on
food, newspaper, journal and magazine, printed book,
literature, plastics goods, garment, coffee, agricultural
implement, electrical goods, soap and shampoo, while 20
percent on construction materials, communications
accessories, motor and spare parts, gold and jewelry, and
25 percent on furniture, computer and its accessories.
High tax ranging from 30 percent to 200 percent is
normally levied on some special goods such as cigarette,
fuel, domestic whisky, beer, liquor, movie and video
business, and jade and gem.
Collective effort needed for global recovery:
Russian scholar
Xinhua, Moscow
Boosting global economic recovery depends on the
collective effort of the entire world, a Russian scholar
says.
In an interview with Xinhua, Vladimir Portyakov, head of
the Center for Prognosis of Russia-China Relations, noted
recent remarks from Western media labeling China, whose
economy demonstrated a leading performance in the crisis,
as the largest beneficiary from the turmoil.
Whenever something went wrong in the global economy, and
whenever someone had to shoulder international
obligations, the West would always point fingers at China,
Portyakov said. "It seems as if the better or worse of the
global economy completely rests on measures adopted by
China," he said. "I feel that many governments just envy
the success of China. They tried to blame China and the
Chinese government for their own failures in anti-crisis
measures and other domestic problems."
Portyakov, also deputy director of the Far East Institute
in the Russian Academy of Sciences, said world economy
recovery is "a matter of the entire international
community." "The Chinese are unable to pull all the weight
by themselves." Claims that China's economy develops at
the expense of other countries are fabricated to pressure
China into taking more international obligations, he said.
"As China has been emphasizing, it cannot bear burdens
beyond its actual capabilities," Portyakov said.
Anti-crisis measures adopted by China differ from those of
the United States or Europe, he said.
Malaysia issues licences to five
foreign banks
AFP, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia has issued commercial banking licences to five
foreign banks, including French giant BNP Paribas, the
country's central bank announced Thursday.
The move came as part of government efforts announced in
April last year to liberalise the financial sector,
allowing nine new banking and insurance licences and
easing foreign ownership limits for non-commercial banks.
As well as BNP Paribas, the banks that have been issued
licences are Indonesia's PT Bank Mandiri (Persero), the
National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and Japan's Mizuho Corporate
Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Bank Negara said in issuing the licences that it had taken
into account the banks' "financial strength, track record,
expertise, business plan and potential contribution"
towards the development of Malaysia's financial sector.
Toshiba, Fujitsu to merge mobile
phone business
AFP, Tokyo
Technology giants Toshiba and Fujitsu said Thursday they
will merge their mobile phone businesses in Japan to
create the nation's second-largest cell phone maker.
The two firms have decided to join hands to strengthen
their handset development, particularly in terms of making
smart-phones. Toshiba will transfer its mobile phone
business to a new company set for launch in October, in
which Fujitsu will acquire the majority of shares,
effectively taking control of the Toshiba unit.
"Our handset business is profitable and strong as it is,
but we can't assume it will remain so," said Fujitsu
spokesman Etsuro Yamada.
"Competition is also coming from the outside," he said in
a reference to the popularity of the iPhone in Japan. "For
us, this (merger) agreement is one of our restructuring
steps," said Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori. Japanese
cell phone makers are realigning their partnerships, as
they look to shore up their market share in the saturated
and competitive domestic mobile phone sector while trying
to expand overseas.
Britain unveils post-crisis
overhaul of financial regulation
AFP, London
Britain on Wednesday unveiled sweeping changes to its
system of financial regulation, abolishing the framework
set up by the last government which faced criticism for
failures during the economic crisis.
George Osborne, the new Conservative finance minister,
said in a keynote speech that powers would be handed back
to the Bank of England and regulator the Financial
Services Authority (FSA) would be axed. The so-called
"tripartite" system-which shared responsibility for
regulation between the Bank of England, the FSA and the
finance ministry-would be ended, he said. It was set up by
the previous Labour administration. "What we are proposing
is a new system of regulation that learns the lessons of
the greatest banking crisis in our lifetime," the
chancellor said during the speech in London.
Doha Round’s success depends on
India, China and Brazil: US
PTI, Washington
Alleging that some key global players were acting as a
roadblock in international trade negotiations, a top US
trade official has said the success or failure of the Doha
Round depends on countries like India, China and Brazil.
"On Thursday, the key roadblock is the continued
resistance of some important partners to engage in
sustained, meaningful negotiations," said US Deputy Trade
Representative Demetrois Marantis during his speech on
Wednesday at the 25th annual World Trade Day in Rhode
Island.
"The success or failure of the Doha Round depends on
whether advanced developing countries like China, India
and Brazil accept the responsibility that comes along with
their growing roles in the global economy," he said.
The Obama administration is gearing up to host the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 2011. "It has
been nearly two decades since we last hosted the APEC a
grouping that includes 21 economies which, on Thursday,
represent more than half the global economic output and
almost half the world trade," he said.
"We have an exciting opportunity to better integrate our
economies by cutting red tape, dismantling trade barriers,
and promoting trade in clean energy goods and services,"
he added.
"Through 2011, we will also take APEC to Americans by
holding a series of ministerial and senior officials
meetings around the country, including a meeting of
ministers responsible for small and medium-sized
enterprises," Marantis said.
The US is also moving forward on other trade initiatives.
"Three pending US free trade agreements with Korea,
Colombia and Panama are also important opportunities to
grow well-paying jobs here at home. That is why USTR is
working to address outstanding concerns with these
agreements and find ways to move them forward," he said.
"On the free trade agreement with Panama, we have engaged
in extensive discussions with Panama on unresolved labor
and tax transparency issues. Several labour reforms are
already in force," he said.
With encouragement from the United States, the Colombian
government has already taken a number of steps to address
issues relating to violence against unionists, besides
concerns regarding its labour law regime.
"Our trade agreement with Korea promises the most economic
and jobs potential. We are consulting with Congress and
other US stakeholders to determine how best to address
outstanding concerns and move forward," Marantis said.
Market tensions may curb global
economic growth
AFP, Washington
The IMF has warned the Group of 20 countries that recent
financial market turmoil may hurt the global economic
recovery from recession, according to a report published
Wednesday.
"Financial market volatility has risen dramatically in
recent weeks, funding costs have increased, and risky
assets have been sold off across all regions," the
International Monetary Fund said in a report presented to
G20 finance chiefs in early June. The IMF said the
developments reflect increased investor concern about
Europe's public finances, mounting policy uncertainty and
"revised market expectations about the strength of
economic recovery and future growth prospects."
"Unless promptly addressed by credible policy action,
financial market stresses could have material effects on
growth," the IMF warned in the report prepared for a June
4-5 meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank
governors in Busan, South Korea. The report to the G20
leading advanced and emerging economies noted a
multi-speed recovery across the globe.
National
‘Genome sequence initiative would
increase per acre jute production’
BSS, Dhaka
The overall jute production would reach more than three
tonnes per acre instead of two tonnes due to the
innovation of genome sequencing of jute.
The core group of scientists revealed it at a press
conference at the agriculture ministry here this morning.
The genome sequence technology would help grow jute in
saline and drought prone areas in the country throughout
the year which ultimately would increase net production of
jute, they pointed out.
Even the technology would help increase the diversified
use of jute along with export of jute goods like sacks,
cushion and rope.
Talking about the benefit of the genome sequence
technology in jute, Director General of Bangladesh Jute
Research Institute (BJRI) Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed said the
existing jute varieties produce fibre with high lignin
that makes it difficult to use in textile industries.
But decoding of the jute genome would help develop high
quality fibre with low lignin content, said the DG of BJRI,
adding that fungus is a great threat to jute cultivation
and genome sequencing will allow to develop jute varieties
that are resistant to fungus infection. The official,
however, said the technology in the long term would
eliminate expensive and toxic pesticides.
Maqsudul Alam, a Bangladeshi scientist now working in the
University of Hawaii and leading in sequencing the jute
genome, said that he is not ready to disclose it clearly
"but we are in a competitive stage and it has created a
platform for us."
Maqsudul earlier decoded the genome of papaya in the
United States and rubber plant in Malaysia. Jute is the
second largest fibre in terms of cultivation next to
cotton. Bangladesh is the world's second largest jute
producer after India, and the world's largest exporter of
the fibre.
Professor Dr Hasina Khan of Biochemistry and Microbiology
Department of Dhaka University, Nuh-ul-Alam Lenin and
Mahboob Zaman, managing director of DataSoft, among
others, attended the press conference.
Govt to consider new
salary structure and service age of the researchers: Matia
BSS, Dhaka
Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury on Tursday said
that the government will consider a new salary structure
and service age for the researchers aiming at encouraging
them to pursue research work.
The minister said this at a press conference held at the
conference room of the ministry on the occasion of
innovation of draft genome sequence of jute here this
morning.
The government would also revise the retirement age of the
scientists and research personnel compare to other public
service holders and initiatives in this regard has already
been taken, the minister added.
Besides, the research outcome would also usher in a great
benefit for the farmers within a couple of years as the
research will bring high yield, saline tolerant and
pathogen resistant jute within the reach of the farmers,
Matia mentioned.
Briefing the journalists, Matia Chowdhury said the
government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would not
hesitate to provide necessary fund to complete the
research. She said the government is encouraging research
but discourages the economy of wastage. Criticizing the
role of the previous government in research, she said the
previous government did not take any initiative to
encourage agricultural research, rather they demoralized
the scientists as a whole.
Terming the successes of research in jute sector, Matia
said, "I hope that the completion of the genome sequence
research in jute sector is a major breakthrough and the
farmers would get the full benefit of it."
Besides, the minister highlighted that the new research
would turn the country's jute-yarn based textile industry
into profit making industries in future. Earlier, the
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has made the announcement of
Bangladesh's scientific achievement in parliament on
Wednesday.
Researchers from Dhaka University (DU), Bangladesh Jute
Research Institute (BJRI) and software company dataSoft in
collaboration with Centre for Chemical Biology, University
of Science, Malaysia and University of Hawaii, decoded the
genome.
Along with the scientists, the press conference also
attended, among others, by the ministry's high officials.
Proper implementation of RTI Act stressed
BSS, Rajshahi
Speakers at a meeting here Wednesday called for successful
implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act for
institutionalization of democracy in society.
They viewed that the RTI Act could be an effective tool
for ensuring free flow of information and right to
information of the mass people who play the vital role in
the nation-building process. In this context, they
expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the present
government for enacting the law and urged the authorities
concerned to take effective step for its full
implementation after amending its existing loopholes.
They made the observation while addressing the meeting on
"Right to Information Act-2009 and RTI Rules and
Regulations- 2009" organized by the local unit of
Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST) at a local
restaurant.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Rashed Sultana
addressed the session as the chief guest while Additional
Chief Judicial Magistrate ABM Mahbubul Haque, Additional
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ruhul Amin, former chairman
of Rajshahi Education Board Prof Nurul Alam and Civil
Surgeon Dr Jahurul Haque as special guests. "We have no
way but to bring the people under the updated information
to attain economic emancipation and make the nation free
from the vicious cycle of poverty", said Rashed Sultana
adding that all should have to play a responsible role to
achieve the cherished goal.
In this regard, she viewed that implementation of RTI act
is one major initial step to build a Digital Bangladesh.
She illustrated that the law has covered most of the
elements of good governance including transparency,
accountability, participation, effectiveness and
democratic process improvement.
Chaired by BLAST local unit President Advocate Nazmus
Sadat, the session was addressed, among others, by Deputy
Director of Divisional Information Office Bidhan Chandra
Das, Deputy Jailer Abdullah Ebne Tofazzal Hossain Khan,
General Secretary of bar association Jamshed Ali, General
Prosecutor Rabiul Alam Kakar and Principal of Rajshahi Law
College Ali Akbar Pramanik.
The speakers said the media could play a vital role in
effective demand creation on behalf of the information
seekers and in putting pressure on the supply side.
Likewise, they said the local government representatives
have a vital role to play for raising awareness among
general people on RTI and to demand information and assert
their rights to information.
Preparedness to reduce disaster risks stressed
BSS, Rangpur
Speakers at a workshop held at Rajibpur in Kurigram
stressed the need for ensuring necessary awareness,
preparedness and education for the common people to reduce
risks of natural disasters in eradicating poverty.
They also said that coordinated efforts of all including
the government and non- government organizations and
public representatives are a must for faster
socio-economic development of the people living in the
backward and disaster-prone char areas. Non-governmental
organisation CSD organized the workshop under the
assistance of the European Union on Munshipara Non-
government Primary School premises under Rajibpur upazila
of Kurigram district Wednesday.
Union parishad chairmen and members, upazila level
government and NGO officials, professionals, members of
the local disaster management committees of different
unions in the upazila and the community leaders and the
elite took part. Chaired by Executive Director of CSD Abu
Hanif, the orientation was attended by UNO of Rajibpur
upazila Abdul Kader as the chief guest.
Female vice-chairman of Rajibpur upazila Hafiza Begum,
Upazila Agriculture Officer Sirajul Islam, participating
union chairmen and members and officials and executives of
the government departments and NGO addressed. The speakers
said that comprehensive steps should be taken to cope with
the changed situation following the ongoing global climate
changes at alarming rates causing adverse impacts on
agriculture, environment, ecology and bio-diversity. They
stressed for making the char people properly aware of
natural disasters and its proper management for reducing
risks, destruction and losses, available government
services, creating awareness on education, health,
sanitation and environment.
3 killed, 4 injured in
lightning in Sirajganj
UNB, Sirajganj
Three people were killed and four others injured by
lightning in separate incidents in Chouhali and Tarash
upazilas Wednesday morning.
Locals said Samia Begum, 35, wife of Alek of village Char
Shoiljana in Chouhli upazila died on the spot and Mariam
Khatun, 55, wife of Khorshed Mistri, Amena, 20, wife of
Sanowar Hossain, Sakina, 30, wife of Salam and Juran Ali,
50, of village Omarpur in the upazila sustained serious
injuries when lightning truck them in the morning. In
separate incidents Mazeda, 18, daughter of Khalil Hossain
of village Mulkandi in Enayetpur thana and farmer Bazlar
Hossain, 35, of
village Bastul in Tarash upazila died on the spot as they
were struck by thunderbolts.
Another report from Manikganj adds: A farmer was killed
and a housewife injured in lightning strike at Trishundi
village in Shibalaya upazila on Wednesday morning.
The deceased was identified as Tara Mia, 32, son of Kamar
Ali of the village.
Locals said Tara Mia died on the spot when a thunderbolt
hit him at about 9am while he was working in his paddy
field.
Women empowerment in SMCs can accelerate rooting out
school drop outs
BSS, Rangpur
Speakers at a training course held at Chilmari upazila of
Kurigram have said that women empowerment in the School
Management Committees (SMCs) can accelerate rooting out
school drop outs in the remote areas.
The primary school going students will be benefited more
from the School Feeding Programme (SFP) of the World Food
programme (WFP) if the female members of the respective
SMC were properly trained and their leadership was
strengthened, they said.
The SFP has been meeting the nutritional deficits of the
primary school going students side by side with playing
important roles in reducing the number of dropouts faster,
especially in the disaster- prone and poverty-prone
backwards areas, they said.
They said this at the Leadership Development Training
Course for Female Members of the SMCs organised under the
ongoing SFP and Food for Education Programme (FEP) of the
WFP at Koyarpar Bir Bikram Government Primary School (GPS)
Wednesday.
Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS), implementing
organisation of the SFP, organised the course participated
by the female members of the SMCs, headmasters, presidents
of the SMCs of the beneficiary schools and elite of the
upazila.
Chaired by president of the SMC of the school Abdul Aziz,
the workshop was attended by President of Chilmari upazila
unit of Awami League and Chilmari Upazila Chairman Shawkat
Ali Sarker Bir Bikram as the chief guest.
Assistant Upazila Education Officer of Chilmari Masumul
Islam and Programme Manager of RDRS from Kurigram Azizul
Haque attended the workshop as the special guests.
Field Monitors of the SFP Nur Amin, Lipi Begum and Feroz
Ahmed, Headmaster of Nrishingbhanj GPS Kamal Hossain and
Headmaster of the school Kajal Kumar Saha and attending
female SMC members addressed.
Technical and Vocational Education Week begins June 20
BSS, Dhaka
The government will observe 'Technical and Vocational
Education Week 2010' from June 20 to 26 for the first time
in the country for creation of mass awareness and
development of trained manpower.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate the
education week at a function at Bangabandhu International
Conference Centre in the morning on Sunday, said Education
Minister Nurul Islam Nahid at a press conference at the
education ministry.
He said the main target of the observance of the week is
to create eagerness among the people toward technical and
vocational education, improving standard of technical and
vocational education and encourage science and technology
and at the same time to enhance dignity of technical
professions.
The minister said various programmes have been chalked out
in Dhaka and at the district and upazila levels in
observance of the week.
The programmes include rally, seminar, roundtable
discussions, exchange of opinion with local people,
publication of supplements and souvenirs, display of
curriculums in educational institutions, blood donation
and tree plantation.
Nahid expressed the hope that the observance of the week
would encourage the students of technical and vocational
institutions and change the attitude of the people toward
this education.
Shawkat for allocating fund to disabled people
BSS, Dhaka
Deputy Speaker Shawkat Ali on Thursday expressed his
solidarity with the demand of giving state recognition as
well as allocating fund in the national budget for sports
for the people with disability.
He said this while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of
T- 20 cricket match of blind people and carom, chess and
table tennis-2010 at the Physical Training College at
Mohammadpur in Dhaka.
Shawkat said sports boost up the confidence and
self-respect of the physically challenged people, which
will help them to be successful in other sectors.
He urged all to work together for ensuring respectful life
of the physically challenged people.
Chaired by president of National Disabled Society Major (retd)
M Yead Ali Fakir, the function was also addressed by
Advocate Mir Shawkat Ali Badsha, chairperson of Asia
Pacific Disability Forum (APDF) and president of Nation
Disabled Forum Khandaker Zahurul Alam, secretary general
of National Disabled Society S A Baten and Rabeya Sultana
of Action Aid spoke.
The speakers urged the members of parliament to raise
their voice in the house in favour of realizing the rights
of disabled people.
Sports
Uruguay beats South Africa 3-0
AP/UNB, Pretoria
Diego Forlan scored two goals to help give Uruguay a 3-0
victory over South Africa on Wednesday and push the World Cup
host team closer to becoming the first to go out in the first
round.
Forlan first scored from a deflected 25-meter (yard) shot in
the 24th minute and converted a penalty in the 80th to give
Uruguay its first World Cup victory since a group game at the
1990 competition. "Obviously, as a forward I like to score
goals, but the important thing is to win," Forlan said. "The
team is good. We also played well against France. We're very
solid." Alvaro Pereira added the third goal in injury time,
heading the ball off his knee and into the net from Luis
Suarez's cross. Uruguay has four points from two games in
Group A and is closing in on a spot in the next round, while
South Africa has one and needs to beat France on Tuesday to
have any chance of staying in the competition.
South Africa goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was sent off for
giving away the penalty when he tripped Suarez in the area in
the 79th. For South Africa, it was a grim reminder that sheer
enthusiasm doesn't match up to well-organized play from a
vastly more experienced football nation.
The game followed the pattern of this World Cup as another
match of misplaced passes and defenders tightly marking
forwards, stifling dribbles and shooting opportunities.
Siphiwe Tshabalala, who-se goal against Mexico gave South
Africa hope of reaching the next round, was high and wide with
two ambitious long-range efforts.
South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira warned his players
to keep a close watch on Forlan, but he found plenty of space
to get free to set up the chance for himself, sending a shot
which clipped South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena before
dipping over Khune. The stunning strike had the small clusters
of Uruguay fans at Loftus Versfeld cheering and waving their
flags, and it silenced both the South African followers and
their vuvuzelas. Uruguay looked more dangerous after that and
Edinson Cavani turned a cross from Suarez wide of the near
post before the South Americans appealed strongly for a
penalty early in the second half. Suarez was brought down by
Bongani Khumalo just inside the corner of the area but referee
Massimo Busacco ruled it out. There was little for the South
Africans to cheer and, when Katlego Mphela finally got clear
of his markers, he tamely headed well wide of the near post in
the 66th minute.
Khune was replaced in goal by Moneeb Josephs and Steven
Pienaar was the outfield player to go off to leave the side
with 10 men. In the other Group A match, France and Mexico
face each other Thursday in Polokwane.
Germany
wary of Serbia despite big opening win
AP/UNB, Port Elizabeth
After producing the best performance in the first phase of
World Cup group matches with its emphatic 4-0 win over
Australia, Germany is being extra wary of Serbia.
"It's (Serbia's) last chance to stay in the tournament and
we'll have to be very careful and concentrated," Germany
assistant coach Hansi Flick said of Friday's match. "Australia
was no measuring stick and Serbia is a very good team, with
players in top clubs in Europe. We'll have to improve what we
did well against Australia."
And so the Serbians face a double dilemma in the Group D
match:
the Balkan team is coming off a mediocre performance in losing
1-0 to Ghana, while Germany was at its clinical best against
Australia to boost its claims to the title. Another loss will
almost certainly end Serbia's chances of progressing.
Serbia coach Radomir Antic said his squad had lost some
confidence in its opening match, but was capable of rebounding
against the Germans.
"We are facing the team that has shown the best football so
far, in my opinion. I was impressed with their game," Antic
said Wednesday. "We know we have to rise to the occasion.
That's the trademark of real champions."
Serbia's only claim to a win over Germany at the World Cup
came when the country was part of Yugoslavia, which beat West
Germany in the 1962 quarterfinals in Chile.
"This upcoming match is really a historic match for us," Antic
said. "But Germany should also inspire us to regain the
passion and joy in our game. We were too tight against Ghana,
we failed mentally. All our players have to raise their
level."
The teams were scheduled to have a training session Thursday
at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, but FIFA told both sides
Wednesday that heavy rain over the past two days had damaged
the pitch too much for practice at the venue.
The German squad has decided to delay its trip. The players
will have their final training session near their base outside
Pretoria before flying to Port Elizabeth on Thursday afternoon
instead of at noon as initially planned.
Serbian striker Milan Jovanovic, who is set to join Liverpool
from Standard Liege, said the loss to Ghana "affected our
mood" and that Germany's big win over Australia didn't help.
Rooney,
England aiming to make a mark on World Cup
AP, Cape Town
For all the attention on Wayne Rooney and his bid to break
his England goal scoring drought, the focus on Friday's
World Cup match against Algeria will almost certainly be
on the goalkeepers.
If a draw against the United States was barely acceptable,
only a win over Algeria will do for an England squad that
is expected to progress from Group C.
But the Algerians know about upsets, otherwise they would
not be at the World Cup. Both teams suffered from dire
goalkeeping errors in their opening matches.
Slovenia took the lead in the group through a 1-0 win
because of Algeria's Fawzi Chaouchi's costly mistake.
That, though, was a minor glitch compared with the fumble
from Robert Green, which allowed the United States an
equalizer and cost England a victory in the 1-1 draw at
Rusten-burg. It even called into question the coaching
acumen of Fabio Capello, who had been lauded as England's
genius tactician during preparations for South Africa
until that draw. Green's horrendous blunder led news
bulletins in Britain and was the subject of endless
criticism, putting his starting spot at risk despite
initial support from within the team.
It also overshadowed a mediocre opening game by Rooney,
who was considered until recently as second only to Lionel
Messi among the forwards expected to star in South Africa.
"For us to do well, I need to play better than I did,"
Rooney said. Despite an impressive season for Manchester
United, Rooney has not scored for England since a World
Cup qualifying win over Croatia last September.
That is weighing on his mind, and is certainly going to
make it even tougher for Algeria's goalkeeper. Chao-uchi
hurt his left knee in training on Tuesday, saving coach
Rabah Saadane from having to make a choice about replacing
him.
Cameroon and Denmark in ‘do or
die’ clash
AFP, Pretoria
It is a case of last chance saloon for Cameroon and
Denmark when they meet in a World Cup Group E clash at the
Loftus Versfeld stadium here on Saturday.
Having lost their opening matches, both sides know that
defeat in their second game of the group stages could
spell the end of their interest in this year's tournament.
If the Netherlands and Japan were to draw in the other
group game, then a defeat would see either Cameroon or
Denmark eliminated.
But with two rivals already on three points, anything
other than a victory will leave either side still with a
mountain to climb in order to reach the knock-out phase.
And that's something that has not been lost on Indomitable
Lions midfielder Enoh Eyong Takang who believes the
Africans must improve in many areas from their opening 1-0
defeat to Japan.
"It really is a do-or-die game. We must win it if we want
a chance to progress," he said. "The atmosphere in the
squad is good and we're now looking forward to that game,
while not forgetting the errors we committed in the match
against the Japanese.
"We have to get the strike force going. We will have to
score on Saturday."
That was something they failed to do against the Japanese
despite dominating the second half.
Proteas eye another series win over Windies
AFP, Basse-Terre
South Africa look set to continue their dominance over
West Indies in Tests, and formalise another Test series
victory, when the second Test opens on Friday at Warner
Park.
The South Africans lead the three-match series 1-0, after
they completed a 163-run victory inside four days in the
opening Test last Sunday at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad.
The Proteas have not lost a Test series against the
Windies, since a 52-run defeat in Barbados 18 years ago
marked their return to Tests, following isolation from
international cricket.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith wants to keep this proud
record in place, and land a victory that would also help
to keep his team in the No.1 position in Tests.
"I am sure the West Indies are very frustrated," said
Smith after the first Test. "We knew that our ability to
maintain pressure on them was going to be tested, and we
were able to do what we wanted to do, and that was to keep
our foot on their heads."
For West Indies, expectations are much lower but it is
hard to see from where the inspiration will come, and
their captain Chris Gayle is well aware of the challenge
that confronts them.
"We are looking forward to the Test, where we know we have
to look for a victory and stay in the series," said Gayle.
"As I said before the start of the series, it won't be
easy for us. The South Africans are an experienced team,
and they are playing well at the moment.
Higuain hat-trick star as Argentina triumph
AFP, Johannesburg
Real Madrid star Gonzalo Higuain became the third
Argentina footballer to score a World Cup hat-trick as the
former champions overpowered South Korea 4-1 Thursday.
The 22-year-old followed in the footsteps of Gabriel
Batistuta, who claimed hat-tricks in the 1994 and 1998
tournaments, and 1930 star Guillermo Stabile.
Higuain struck three goals less than a day after Diego
Forlan of Uruguay grabbed a brace following 16 earlier
matches in which no footballer managed more than one.
Former champions Argentina will become the first
qualifiers for the last-16 phase if Nigeria defeat or draw
with Greece in Bloemfontein later on day seven of the
quadrennial international football showcase.
After Park Chu-young conceded an own goal, Higuain headed
his first goal on 32 minutes, tapped the ball over the
line on 76 minutes and completed his treble with another
header 10 minutes from full-time.
Lee Chung-yong was the Korean marksman in first-half
stoppage time and they squandered a great chance to
equalise midway through the second half at Soccer City
before the late collapse.
"I think we fought well against a side who boast several
stars and we have learnt a lot. Our next match against
Nigeria is extremely important and will decide whether we
reach the round of 16," said Korean coach Huh Jung-moo.
Greek coach Otto Rehhagel has no intention of abandoning
his defensive strategy although only a win will suffice
against Nigeria at a Free State Stadium that organisers
hope will be fuller than when Japan beat Cameroon.
"Maybe one day when we have Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka and
Lionel Messi in the team, then we can certainly play
attacking football," said the German, who will forever be
idolised in Greece after guiding them to a surprise Euro
2004 title.
Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback was given a second chance -
as a replacement for the sacked Shaibu Amodu - to be at
the World Cup after failing to get his native Sweden
through.
He accepts the must-win challenge facing the "Super
Eagles" who need three points to retain a realistic chance
of making the second round for the third time in four
appearances.
"I'm really looking forward to it even as it is...
probably a must-win to go through to the second round. I
see it as a positive challenge and I think having talked
to the players they look upon it the same," Lagerback
said.
Tradition strongly favours France ahead of a Group A
showdown with Mexico in the northern city of Polokwane as
"Les Bleus" have won five of six previous encounters and
drawn the other.
But a French team held goalless by Uruguay six days ago
must be wary of rivals seeking to make it into the second
round for the fifth consecutive tournament.
Uruguay soared to the top of the group Wednesday with a
surprisingly easy 3-0 triumph over a toothless South
African team set to become the first World Cup hosts not
to reach the second round.
Greece beats Nigeria
2-1 at World Cup
AP/UNB,
Bloemfontein
Greece earned its first World Cup win Thursday, coming
from behind to beat 10-man Nigeria 2-1 in Group B on
Thursday.
Vassilis Torosidis scored the winning goal in the 71st
minute after a mistake from Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent
Enyeama to make history for Greece, which had lost all
four of its previous World Cup matches.
Nigeria had taken the lead in the 16th minute at Free
State Stadium when Kalu Uche's curling free kick from 35
meters (yards) deceived everyone.
But the game changed in the 33rd when Nigeria midfielder
Sani Kaita was shown a straight red card for kicking
Torosidis on the touchline.
With Kaka struggling, Robinho ready to take over
AP/UNB, Johannesburg
With Kaka struggling, Robinho is willing to change the way
he plays to help Brazil gain more creativity at midfield
at the World Cup.
Kaka is not at his best after a season plagued by
injuries, and his lackluster performance in the opening
match against North Korea may give Robinho the
responsibility to lead Brazil in the team's second Group G
match against the Ivory Coast on Sunday. Robinho moved
into Kaka's midfield position when the Real Madrid
playmaker was substituted in the 78th minute of the
opener, and he may have to do the same against the Ivory
Coast if Kaka is not fit to play the entire match again.
"There is no problem if Dunga wants me to play that way,"
Robinho said. "We have several players who can substitute
Kaka if needed, but I've played like that before so it
would be fine for me."
Kaka and Robinho arrived in South Africa as Brazil's
biggest stars, but Kaka is the man responsible for
commanding the midfield and creating scoring opportunities
for the strikers. With him struggling, Brazil had
difficulties getting past the solid North Korea defense
and only won 2-1 after Maicon broke through with a
55th-minute goal from a tight angle. Robinho was Brazil's
most dangerous player against North Korea, playing well
when he was up front and when he moved back to midfield.
"Dunga practiced the team with me playing back and I'm
adapted to it," Robinho said. "That's how I play with
Santos sometimes, coming back to get the ball and creating
plays for my teammates." Robinho moved to midfield after
Dunga replaced Kaka with striker Nilmar, but the coach
also has the option of using Julio Baptista and Elano in
Kaka's position if needed. He also tried right back Daniel
Alves at midfield recently.
"Brazil has many quality players and Dunga can try several
different formations without compromising the team,"
Nilmar said. Kaka is struggling to find his form after
sustaining groin and thigh injuries that forced him to
miss several matches with Real Madrid this season. He was
still treating the left thigh ailment when he arrived in
South Africa and is having a hard time regaining his
rhythm.
"Kaka is still very important in our team," Robinho said.
"He can be decisive even if he is not well."
Robinho doesn't have a problem taking over Kaka's position
if needed, but he knows he will have extra pressure if he
is chosen to command the Brazilian midfield.
"I know that I'll have to play like I played in the first
match or even better," the 26-year-old Robinho said. It is
Robinho's second World Cup, but the first in which he has
a leading role. He was a reserve and played only a few
minutes when Brazil fell to France in the quarterfinals of
the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Slovenians in for real battle, warns US star Howard
AFP, Johannesburg
Group C tabletoppers Slovenia are going to have to battle
to the last minute if they are to overcome the United
States in Friday's World Cup clash and progress to the
second round said US goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Slovenia are top of the group after an opening 1-0 triumph
over Algeria while the USA held England to a 1-1 draw last
Saturday.
A Slovenian victory over the Americans at Ellis Park will
send them into the last 16 and Komac was in bullish mood
on the eve of the game when he declared: "We are going to
win this match".
Howard, who has shaken off a rib injury from the England
game to take his place in the US goal, said the Slovenian
needs to back up his words.
"Talk is cheap," said the 31-year-old Everton goalkeeper.
"He has got to stand toe-to-toe and they have got to stand
toe-to-toe with us for 90 minutes. And if he's still
standing, then I'll take my hat off to him."
The US squad are under no illusions they are playing for
their World Cup survival and defeat is not an option.
"If we lose we're pretty much done," admitted Fulham
forward Clint Dempsey, whose goal in the 1-1 draw against
England has gone down in World Cup folklore after
goalkeeper Robert Green's fumble.
"We can't lose this next game. We have to get something
from it."
US coach Bob Bradley is expecting a tactical battle at
Ellis Park with opposite number Matjaz Kek.
Compared to the frantic pace of the draw against England,
Bradley expects his players to have to show more patience.
"The Slovenia game might be more of a chess match," said
Bradley.
"They are a hard-working team.
"They are organised and have the ability to sit back a
little more and still get you on the counter."
Bradley was pleased at how his young team coped well with
seven players making their first World Cup appearance and
kept their focus despite falling behind to the goal from
England.
"The mentality of the group is strong," Bradley said.
Boudebouz ready to be unleashed on English
AFP, Margate
Algerian captain Anther Yahia has called for his side to
be more adventurous against England in their second World
Cup Group C match against England on Friday and the raw
young talent of Ryad Boudebouz could provide just that
quality.
The 20-year-old like Yahia and several others in the squad
is French-born - he hails from the eastern French town of
Colmar - and has only 45 minutes of international
experience gained in friendlies against the Republic of
Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.
However, Boudebouz, who plays his club football for French
First Division side Sochaux, is already being hailed as
the rising star of the Algerian national side and the
present one needs something special to recover from their
opening 1-0 defeat by Slovenia.
"Ryad has fitted into the squad really well," said
team-mate Madjid Bougherra.
"He is a talented player who represents the future of the
national side. Whether he is a starter or a substitute, he
brings this craziness, this nonchalance."
His talent has also been appreciated by two former
Algerian playing greats Lakhdar Belloumi and Salah Assad
which has given him great pleasure.
"It is very pleasing that everyone is counting on me,"
said Boudebouz.
"I must not disappoint them. If I come on, it is to add
something to the team on the pitch. The coach (Rabah
Saadane) has told me to go out and play my natural game."
Cautious Parreira must gamble against France
AFP, Johannesburg
A shattered South Africa World Cup squad rested on
Thursday while coach Carlos Alberto Parreira pondered how
to avoid Group A humiliation.
Diego Forlan-inspired Uruguay outclassed the hosts 3-0 in
freezing Pretoria late Wednesday and sent them plunging to
the bottom of the table with just one point and a June 22
Bloemfontein fixture against France to come.
A nation that dreamt of a second round place after holding
Mexico six days ago woke nursing a massive hangover as the
Uruguayans brutally exposed Bafana Bafana (The Boys)
defence and midfield frailties.
Parreira, a World Cup-winning coach with his native Brazil
16 years ago, blamed the Swiss referee for a late
second-half penalty Forlan converted to become the first
footballer to score twice at the 2010 tournament.
"The referee 'discovered' a penalty. It was the worst
performance of the tournament (by a referee)," said the
200,000-dollar-a-month coach who entered the match
boasting an unbeaten 13-game record.
But most of the 50,000-capacity crowd at Loftus Versfeld
would beg to differ and side with the post-match
assessment of Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, however
painful.
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