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Leading
News
Oil price-impact-BD
Sheikh Didarul Islam
Bangladesh should lessen its
dependency on oil for critical purposes like
transportation, power generation and irrigation to save a
huge amount of foreign exchange every year as the country
is vulnerable to high oil prices in the international
market.
Sources said, the country has a small quantity of
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-run vehicles and power
plants. Natural gas is widely used for domestic purposes
only. So, the use of natural gas is failing to play any
role in decreasing country’s dependency on petroleum
products.
In recent years, the annual oil imports averaged about 3
percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Rising oil prices
are impacting real GDP growth, inflation and domestic and
external balances.
In the past, oil price rises were mainly driven by supply
disruption. But in recent years, prices have been rising
because of conspicuous demand growth propelled by strong
economic growth in China and India.
An important feature is the increased use of diesel by
developing countries for transport, power and irrigation.
The depreciating US dollar has further contributed to
increasing oil demand and thus to the rise of oil prices.
Despite rising prices, low price elasticity of demand and
high income elasticity for oil have sustained increased
oil consumption.
Geo-political tensions and conflicts in some major
oil-producing regions, especially the Middle East, are
another potential cause of price increases.
Also oil supply-demand imbalances and uncertainties have
been exacerbated by a massive influx of speculative money
into the market for crude oil. Bangladesh imports about
1.30 million tons of crude oil every year for refining at
the country’s Eastern Refinery Limited.
On average, it also imports about 2.50 million tons of
refined petroleum products and lubricants annually. Of
different categories of crude oils, Bangladesh imports
Marban crude oil from Abu Dhabi and Light crude oil from
Saudi Arabia. Bangladesh purchases petroleum product
largely through state-to-state deals with Kuwait at a
premium.
In Bangladesh, the transport sector consumes about 60
percent of available diesel followed by agriculture, which
consumes about 31 percent. Oil consumption as a percent of
GDP increased from around 1 percent to 3 percent between
fiscal year 1998 and fiscal 2007.
This indicates higher oil intensity, which implies growing
dependence on oil. High growth of public transportation
and intensive irrigation has caused increased consumption
of diesel.
One of the worries about a steep rise in the price of oil
is that it will stifle economic growth.
During the period, despite the sharp increase in the
diesel price in international markets, real GDP growth in
Bangladesh trended up. The impact of higher oil prices on
the country’s economic growth is difficult to assess
because of administered prices.
The under-pricing of petroleum products poses considerable
risk to fiscal management. The administered prices have
generated substantial fiscal and quasi-fiscal costs to the
government. The fiscal cost involves budgetary allocation
for meeting the liability of Bangladesh Petroleum
Corporation (BPC).
The quasi-fiscal costs arise from government guarantees
against loans negotiated by BPC from domestic and
international banks. As of February 06, 2008, BPC had
liabilities of US 12.26 million dollars to Islamic
Development Bank, 299.50 US dollars to Bangladesh Bank and
446 million US dollars to former four nationalized
commercial banks.
If the BPC fails to pay its loan on time then the
responsibility for the payment will be vested upon the
government and that will result in fiscal implications for
the future.
In the fiscal year 2006, to meet the BPC liquidity, a
3-year bond of Taka 10 billion was issued in favour of
Sonali Bank. In the fiscal 200-08 budget, the government
assumed BPC’s liability of Tk. 75,230 million and
allocated the same in the budget as non-cash bond.
Sector Commander Forum
Terms Bangladesh a failed state
Staff Correspondent
Sector Commanders termed the
country a failed state as it has failed to bring the war
criminals to book. "The country should now put the war
criminals on trial to restore the image of the liberation
war. Otherwise, the country will remain ineffective and
failed. No initiative taken by the government to hold a
free, fair and impartial election will be successful if
the government does not ensure the trial of the war
criminals," leaders of Sector Commanders Forum told
reporters at a views-exchange meeting at RAOWA club in the
city.
Sector Commander Forum’s Chairman Air-Vice Martial AK
Khandaker (retd), former Army Chief Maj Gen AKM Shafiullah
(retd), Sector Commander Maj Gen C.R Dutta (retd),
Lieutenant Colonel Abu Osman Chowdhury (retd) and other
commanders were present.
Except the activists of Jamaat-e-Islam, they said people
from all walks of life had taken part in the liberation
war in 1971 to free the nation from the Pakistanis. "But
it is very unfortunate that Jamaat leaders engage in
national politics and are now holding various important
posts at different sectors and enjoying all facilities.
This anti-liberation force during the liberation war had
killed many freedom fighters, violated women and set
ablaze the houses of innocent people. We want to see their
trial in the soil of this valiant nation.
They stated that freedom fighters and people from all
strata of the society would resist any electoral alliance
with Jamaat-e-Islami or any anti-liberation force. "We
have launched a mass campaign across the country to build
up awareness among the people about the role of war
criminals in the wake of our independence. Most people
responded to our call and agreed with our move," the said.
They announced the Forum would hold a national convention
on March 15 at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference
Centre to intensify their move.
"We will disclose our next course of action at the
meeting. We also hold talks with the Government,
pro-liberation and democratic political parties to take a
clear stance against war criminals and anti-liberation
organizations," they further said.
They alleged no political governments in the past held
trial of the war criminals but the incumbent neutral
caretaker government should not feel any
hesitation to initiate the process of the trial. The
speakers urged the people to observe one minute blackout
from 12:00 to 12:1 to mark the horrible night of March 25,
1971.
Hannan
Shah’s new move
But BNP unity still a long way off
Staff Correspondent
In a dramatic move, Khaleda loyalist Hannan Shah has
started a new process but the much-touted unity in the
cleaved BNP is still appears to be a long way off as
Khaleda-appointed Secretary General, Khandoker Delwar
Hossain, is not a party to this unity move.
"I have initiated the unity move in BNP and it is now at
the final stage. I am hopeful of completion the unity
process successfully," BNP chairperson’s adviser Brig (retd)
Hannan Shah, who is now out of the jail on bail, told
newsmen at his New DOHS residence on Tuesday.
Before the news briefing, Hannan Shah held a clandestine
meeting with BNP joint Secretary General Nazrul Islam Khan
and Selima Rahman, who went into hiding for long soon
after the political changeover on January 11. Later, he
sat at another meeting with another joint Secretary
General Goyeshwar Chandro Roy and ex-MP Mohammad Shahjahan,
who has recently come out of the fold of Khandoker Delwar
Hossain.
According to sources, a draft resolution for taking the
reformists back into the mainstream has already been
prepared. "The unity process is being finalised
considering the status of all in a respective manner,"
Hannan Sha said adding, "Those who was expelled will have
to follow the party constitutional provision and that
would be considered sympathetically." Responding to a
query about the government stand on BNP, former army
personal said, "who wants to go to jail repeatedly."
Asked about Mannan Bhuiyan’s appeal to the High Court for
being a party against Begum Khaleda Zia writ, Hannan Shah
said, "it is a matter of the EC’s dialogue. I do not think
that Mannan Bhuiyan has stood against Begum Khaleda Zia."
Talking to this correspondent, Goyeshwar said, "I do not
want to engage myself with the unity process as there are
both merits and demerits in this unity move." In response
to a query whether Hannan Shah talked to Khandoker Delwar
Hossain regarding the unity move, Goyeshwar Roy quoted
Hannan Shah to have said, "I hope the party Secretary
General would accept the move. It will be unfortunate if
he does not accept the move." When contacted, Nazrul Islam
Khan also declined to comment anything on the issue just
saying, "I know nothing about the issue."
After talking to Khandoker Delwar Hossain who is now
staying in Singapore for treatment, BNP acting Office
Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed told The Bangladesh
Today on Tuesday night, "I have just talked to the party
Secretary General who is now out of the country and he
told me that he has no involvement with this unity move."
"There will be no unity until and unless the so-called
reformists cancel their illegal committee which was formed
in an illegal meeting on 29 October at Saifur’s
Residence," Khandoker Delwar Hossain was quoted to have
said.
Govt
considering sending Hasina abroad for treatment.: Matin
Staff Correspondent
The Government is considering sending Awami League
President Sheikh Hasina abroad for treatment. "If
necessary we will send Sheikh Hasina abroad for
treatment", said Home Adviser M A Matin while answering
queries from journalists after a review meeting of ADP of
the Shipping Ministry at the Secretariat on Tuesday.
"I have instructed IG Prison to take a lady doctor today
(Tuesday) to Sheikh Hasina to assess her health condition
at the makeshift jail in parliament complex", the Home
Adviser said, adding if Sheikh Hasina wishes to bring a
specialist to examine her health, it will also be
arranged. Asked about sending her abroad for treatment,
Matin said, "Let a report on her health condition come to
us and if necessary we will form a high powered medical
board to examine her health". The Government would take
steps in accordance with the recommendations of the
medical board, he assured, saying if necessary she would
be sent abroad for treatment. On the Government’s measures
to provide treatment to Sheikh Hasina, Matin said, "We
sent the AL President to Square Hospital as she wishes to
go there for treatment". Sources said Hasina is suffering
from various health problems, including ear and eye
complications.
Asked whether the Government would take steps to send
Khaleda Zia abroad for treatment, the Home Adviser said a
medical board would be formed to examine her health
condition, if necessary. He also said the Government would
consider on humanitarian ground whether the political
leaders, who are ill, would be sent abroad for better
treatment. Earlier, ailing Awami League general secretary
Abdul Jalil was released on 30-day parole on humanitarian
grounds in view of his critical condition.
Meanwhile, the Awami League has demanded of the Caretaker
Government to send detained party president Sheikh Hasina
abroad for her better treatment as early as possible.
"According to the doctors’ advice, Hasina’s better
treatment is a must. Without sending her abroad - as per
she (Hasina) desires to go for treatment – better and
exact treatment for her eyes and ears is not possible in
the country at all," said AL leaders on Tuesday evening.
Back Page
Roundtable on
Candidates for Elections
Staff Correspondent
Political leaders, members
of civil society, economists and lawyers on Tuesday urged
the political parties to nominate clean, qualified and
honest candidates for the upcoming general election to
make the parliament effective.
"In a bid to make the parliament effective, political
parties should nominate bonafide and qualified candidates
for holding a black money and muscle power free elections.
On the other hand, the candidates who will be given
nomination must be acceptable to all," they opined at a
roundtable on "What type of candidate we want in the
upcoming election" organized by Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (SUJON)
at the National Press Club in the city on Tuesday.
Mozaffar Ahmed chaired the discussion. Jatiya Party
Presidium member GM Kader, Mofazzel Karim, Awami League
leader Advocate Rahmant Ali, former adviser to the
caretaker government SM Shajahan also addressed the
roundtable.
"We are calling upon the political parties to nominate
qualified and honest candidates for contesting the
upcoming general election. If the political parties do not
nominate qualified and honest candidates, how will the
people choose qualified candidates who will work for their
development," Mozaffar Ahmed said adding nomination
business should be stopped
"Through nomination business many black money holders
applying muscle power, had become the members of
parliament. As a result, these groups were engaged in
looting state properties and money instead of doing
welfare for people of their respective areas," he said.
Mozaffar Ahmed said the aim of election should not be
designed for paving the way for assumption of power by any
quarter.
"So the political parties should begin mass contact with
the people. Apart from capital Dhaka, political parties
will have to go to the remote areas for knowing the grass
root level people's opinions. Political parties will have
to stop relations with bureaucrats" he added.
GM Kader said the persons who have no quality to lead the
nation or take responsibility of their local people,
should be declared disqualified.
"We want qualified and honest candidates for contesting
the parliament election. The power based politics should
also be stopped in a bid to establish election oriented
democracy," he said.
Media must serve public interests: Geeta Pasi
UNB, Dhaka
US Charge d' Affaires in
Dhaka Geeta Pasi on Tuesday urged the country's
journalists to report fairly keeping in mind that the
media serves the public interests.
"Journalists and editors have a responsibility to
themselves (above all), their news agencies, and their
audience to report fairly, accurately, and independently,"
Geeta said.
She was addressing a function marking the 50th founding
anniversary of Bangla Service of Voice of America (VOA) at
a city hotel in the afternoon.
Former Chief Adviser to caretaker government Justice
Habibur Rahman attended the programme as chief guest.
The 27th director of the Voice of America, Dan Austin, and
Bangla service chief Iqbal Bahar Choudhury, among others,
attended the function. The present and former broadcasters
and reporters of the worldwide radio station were present.
Geeta Pasi said the media plays a critical role in a
democracy as its lifeblood because it acts as a primary
source of information to the people. "A free press helps
make citizens responsible through information."
Geeta lauded the role of VOA's Bangla service saying that
over the past half century it provided accurate and timely
information on current events, education and culture to
millions of listeners. "We're very proud that Bangladesh
boasts the second highest single country VOA audience in
the world," she said.
Geeta further said VOA has increasingly highlighted the
growing role of Muslims, including those of Bangladeshi
origin, in the United States and the American people
through its superb programming.
Referring to VOA Fan Club in Bangladesh, Dan Austin said
VOA broadcasts programmes for an audience of about 115
million people every week around the world.
"We do that in 45 different languages but nowhere, nowhere
else do we have a such a response, such a rapport with the
listening audience what you have done with the Fan Clubs
to help your communities, help your country," he said.
Austin also appreciated the role of VOA fan club when the
country's southwestern districts were hit by Cyclone Sidr
in November last year.
Nor’wester disrupts power supply
UNB, Dhaka
A major part of the Dhaka city, including the southeastern
area, plunged into darkness as the season's first nor'
wester swept over early hours on Tuesday.
Official sources said 3 grid sub-stations at Maniknagar,
Narinda and Bangabhaban have tripped as soon as the storm
started at about 3am.
It took several hours to restore power supply to the
areas. The consumers in Motijheel, Wari, Tikatoli, Narinda
and Lalbagh suffered the worst where electricity restored
after 12 hours at about 3pm.
Some areas under DESCO also faced the similar sufferings.
A top DESCO official told UNB that their 19 distribution
feeders out of 40, which cover the eastern and northern
parts of the city -Mirpur and Gulshan - were tripped by
the storm.
"But, within minutes to few hours we have been able to
restore the power supply", he said.
A DESA official claimed power supply to the Bangabhaban,
the President's palace, was restored immediately through
alternative arrangement.
Edible oil Price
Hike
Govt efforts to ensure
sales at fixed rates
UNB, Dhaka
Amid brouhaha on the business front, the government
directed divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners
to ensure that edible oils (soybean and palm oil) are sold
at the prices fixed earlier.
As a prompt follow-up action, the deputy commissioners
have already started making market-monitoring visit, said
an official release on Tuesday.
The businesspeople concerned assured sale of edible oils
at the rates fixed in a meeting held at Commerce Ministry
on February 25 with Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur
Rahman in the chair.
At the meeting, the soybean price has been fixed at Tk 103
per kilogram at mill gate while palm oil at Tk 96 per kg.
Soybean-oil price has been fixed at retail level at a
maximum of Tk 106.50 per kg while the maximum retail price
of palm oil is Tk 99.50 per kg. In case of exception in
the selling price of oils, people have been asked to
inform the Commerce Ministry "immediately".
The government has also asked the Chairman of the Trading
Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to send daily report to
the Ministry after spot visit to the oil-selling outlets
or markets.
Earlier on Monday, the government banned export of soybean
and palm oils for six months to ensure its "sufficient
supply on the domestic market". Edible oil prices have
made a phenomenal rise in recent times, and many conscious
circles suspected market manipulation by some big
businesses-apart from price rises on the international
market-behind the spirals.
Even just after the fixation of the rates, the cooking-oil
prices reportedly marked a rise.
KSA Road Accident
4 bodies brought back home
Bdnews24, Dhaka
The bodies of four Bangladeshis, among the 11 killed in a
road accident in Saudi Arabia on Jan 31, reached Dhaka on
Tuesday morning, 32 days after the accident.
An official of the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia,
Mizanur Rahman, told bdnews24.com from Riyadh on Monday:
"We managed to receive clearance from the Saudi government
to return the four bodies back." "The remaining bodies
will be returned to Bangladesh as soon as possible," he
said, adding that the embassy had yet to get sponsors in
the Saudi kingdom to send the bodies back.
A flight BG-050 of Bangladesh Biman carrying the coffins
of the four Bangladeshis reached Zia International Airport
around 9:30 am. The deceased were overseas workers Arifur
Rahman of Srirampur upazila in Narail, Abdul Quader of
Gabtoli in Bogra, Harun of Begumganj in Noakhali and Selim
Bhuiyan of Pakundia in Kishoreganj.
Crime Watch
Money looted
Staff Correspondent
A huge amount of money was looted by a gang of miscreants
from in front of Agrani Bank branch at National Press Club
in the capital on Tuesday.
According to police, Korban Khaja, an employee of the
Education Directorate went to Agrani Bank at about 10 am
and drew Tk 12 lakh and 24 thousand for office purpose.
Akramul Haque, deputy director of secondary and higher
secondary education directorate, lodged a case but none
was arrested till the filing of the report last night.
Police suspect that, on the basis of secret information, a
gang of four to five muggers went to the bank to steal the
money.
2 muggers lynched in Ctg
UNB, Chittagong
Two alleged muggers were lynched by mob when they tried to
rob two officials of a sales agent at Sholashahar in the
city Tuesday.
Babul, 35, died on the spot while his accomplice Kamal,
34, succumbed to his wounds soon after taken to Chittagong
Medical College Hospital.
Witnesses and police said Nurul Alam and Sumon of Jinnah
Rakib Company were walking down to the nearby South East
Bank to deposit money. As they reached in front of
Purbokon office four muggers in two motorbikes intercepted
them at about 2:30 pm and tried to snatch away the money.
Pedestrians came sharp to the alarming cries and held two
of the muggers. They were beaten black and blue resulting
in death of Babul. Police rescued Kamal in a precarious
condition and rushed to the hospital. Two others managed
to flee with the motorbikes.
Police later seized the motorbikes and a pipe gun with
three bullets abandoned at distance places.
Abducted school girl rescued
A Correspondent, Barisal
Barisal Kotwali Police recovered an abducted schoolgirl
and arrested her lover Manzur Morshed Rony from
Shitlakhola area of the city on Monday night.
Police sources said Rony, 18, and his associates abducted
a SSC examinee school girl (Airin Alam Sina, 14) from her
way to private tuition on January 30, 2008 morning.
Irani Akter, mother of the victim, lodged an abduction
case against the abductor and his associates with Barisal
Kotwali police station on that day.
The abductor and his associates gave threatening against
the family members of the victim and after long one month
chasing police recovered the victim and arrested the
abductor on Monday night from the house of the abductor.
The victim and the abductor claimed that they fall in love
and got married after their guardians denied to accept
their relationship.
Acid hurled at woman
A Correspondent, Faridpur
Mrs. Farida Begum, 26 and mother of a son, was critically
injured as acid was hurled at her by her brother-in-law at
Boli Vadra Dia village under Saltha thana in Faridpur
district yesterday.
Heated by a long enacted family clash, brother-in-law, Md.
Hasan Sordar hurled acid on his sister-in-law. The victim
was admitted to Boalmari Govt. Hospital in the district.
Man gunned down in city
UNB, Dhaka
A local leader of Sechchasebok League was gunned down in
the city's Shahjahanpur area Tuesday noon.
The Victim was identified as Kawser Ali, 35,
vice-president of Bangladesh Sechchasebok League, Ward
no-43 unit. He was residing at 453/2 Shahjahanpur.
Russel, younger brother of the victim, said four gunmen
riding on two motorcycles intercepted Kawser near his
house at about 1:30 pm and sprayed bullets on him.
Kawser was rushed to Dhaka Medical College hospital where
the doctors declared him dead.
He received nine bullets on different parts of his body,
hospital sources said.
The body was sent to the DMCH morgue for autopsy. Reason
behind the killing could be known immediately. Kawser, son
of M Hazrat Ali, was owner of 'Ali Enterprise' at
Shahjahanpur area.
One gets life for murder
BSS, Comilla
One person was sentenced to life term imprisonment by a
court here for murdering a rickshaw puller six years ago.
The convict was identified as Mohammad Kader Hossain, son
of Jharu Miah of Mohichail village under Chandina upazila
in the district. The court also fined him Tk 5,000 in
default to suffer three more months in prison.
Additional district and Sessions Judge of Comilla Mohammad
Ismail Hossain delivered the judgment on Monday.
The prosecution story in brief is that, the convict Kader
murdered elderly rickshaw puller Mobarak Hossain, 60, and
took his rickshaw at around midnight on January 24 in
2002. Chandina thana police arrested Kader on suspicion.
Kotwali thana police recovered the body of Mobarak and
filed a case against Kader and his friend Shaheen. After
examining 14 witnesses and relevant evidences the judge
pronounced the verdict. Another accused of the case was
acquitted as charges brought against him could not proved.
Smuggled clothes seized
BSS, Comilla
Members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in separate drives
seized huge quantities of smuggled Indian clothes on
Saturday and Sunday.
BDR sources said a team of the border guards conducted a
drive at Alekhar Char area under Kotwali thana on Saturday
and seized 3,015 pieces of saree worth about Tk 1.20 crore,
517 three pieces worth about Tk 12.92 lakh and huge number
of shawls worth about Tk 1.45 lakh.
In the separate drive on Sunday, the BDR raided Sripur
village under Sadar Dakkhin upazila and seized 526 Indian
saree worth about Tk 12.24 lakh.
The seized clothes have been deposited to the custom
authorities.
42 persons nabbed in Rajshahi
BSS, Rajshahi
Police arrested 42 persons on various charges from
different areas in city and nine upazilas of the district
on Monday.
Of them 16 were picked up from different areas in the
metropolis while 26 others from nine upazilas of the
district. Police also seized 522 bottles of contraband
phensidyl during different raids at various places in the
district. However, none could be arrested in these
connections.
The arrested persons and the seized goods were sent to the
court after recording cases in these connections.
Traffic police lodged 40 cases under the motor vehicles
ordinance and seized four motorbikes and a truck for
either without registration or valid documents during
drives against the non-registered motor vehicles from
different parts of the city during the time.
Editorial
A Government in
Abeyance
While
the Emergency Government is wallowing in complacency for
having survived for one year and for having pushed through
what it considers to be 'reforms' and 'anti-corruption
measures', the Nation along with all of its people are
floundering in a sea of problems. The Emergency Government is
doing nothing that a normal government does, that is :
formulate and implement policies which will meet the economic,
social, political, defence, foreign-relation and other major
and minor needs of a Nation.
That the Emergency Government has no workable economic policy
is evident from the chaos that is prevailing in every sector
of our economy - be they financial, industrial, agricultural,
private or public and the general people have to pay the price
for that in terms of galloping prices, inflation and scarcity
of essential food commodities; the ADP, a major component of
the stimulus to our economy is non-implementable; the NBR is
claiming a massive increase in revenue collection but that is
being offset by increased expenditures on imports of food,
fuel and fertilizers and on post-flood and cyclone
rehabilitations.
That the Emergency Government has no social policy is evident
from the confusion, corruption and chaos in our education
sector; health-care is riddled with corruption and
inefficiency; public transportation system does not exist and
what does exist accounts for thousands of deaths and injuries
every year and finally crimes of all sorts keep on increasing
without the law-enforcement agencies being able to do much
about it.
That the Emergency Government has no political policy is
evident from the fact that it has been unable to convince
anyone least of all the voters that it will infact hold the
promised free, fair and acceptable election at the end of
2008. The electoral rolls are on their way to completion; the
government wants to hold elections under the emergency while
the political parties want the immediate lifting of the
emergency; the EC wants local government elections before the
national election while political parties want it the other
way round; the Government has tentatively announced that it
wants to hold dialogues with political parties but is now
reluctant to go about it while political parties insist that
such a dialogue is essential before elections; the political
parties want an immediate date for elections while the EC
insists that it is not yet ready to announce that date. All is
confusion and obfuscation.
As for defence and foreign policy, the less said, the better.
The Military or rather components of it such as the Army, Navy
and Air Force decide by themselves what that ought to be and
nobody least of all the Emergency Government know what that
defence policy is. Based on these fragmented policies each
service decides its own structures and procurement policies;
the Government's role being reduced to merely sanctioning
those. What goes for foreign policy is even more remarkable :
the Emergency Government and its Adviser for Foreign Affairs
are constantly confronting us with continuous exhibitions of
foreign visitors telling us that everything that this
Government is doing is "fantastic" and this is besides what a
motley group of foreign ambassadors and high commissioners
keep telling us about how we ought to run our own State. The
last in foreign policy initiatives has been the visit of CAS
Bangladesh Army to India which our Foreign Ministry is touting
as the "historic" breakthrough in our relationship with India
but all we have got so far is a number of horses which will
take a million takas to maintain and which we cannot eat; what
the Indians have got in return, the Foreign Ministry is
reluctant to tell us.
Thus and therefore, we are struck with both government and
governance in abeyance; how long that state of affairs will
continue is difficult to say but certain it is that the next
government will be left with the difficult task of getting our
governance on the road again after an enforced suspension of
two years.
Analysis
Which Idea Will Dominate the
21st Century?
The big question before us is not so much which idea will
dominate the 21st century. It is whether we can challenge the
idea of dominance and save humanity.
Sundeep Waslekar
The
most influential force in the world is the idea. Gods,
priests, kings, dictators, democrats, terrorists, anarchists
all need an idea to justify themselves. It is on the strength
of one idea that we once believed that the world was flat and
scientists had to work hard to prove that it was actually
round. We again believe in a flat world from a completely
different perspective.
It is on the strength of the idea of nationalism that we
fought two world wars and killed over a hundred million
people. It is on the strength of the idea of nationalism that
large segments of the world's population gained freedom from
their colonial masters. The idea of evolution drives
scientific research today. The idea of post-humanism may drive
scientific research tomorrow.
In the last century, the ideas of capitalism and communism
competed with each other to dominate the human mind. Also, the
idea of freedom and authority competed with each other at the
same time. Many people bracketed capitalism with freedom and
communism with authority, though capitalists supported
authoritarian regimes in Panama, Chile, El Salvador, Pakistan,
Congo, the Philippines, among other countries while communists
supported freedom movements across Asia and Africa. Francis
Fukuyama proclaimed the permanent victory of democracy and
free market (representing freedom and capitalism) in the world
as the Berlin Wall collapsed in Europe, even though vast
tracks of Latin American, African and Asian continents were
still ruled by dictators and economies. Obviously to some
people in the West, including an honorary Westerner like
Fukuyama, the West was the world. No wonder the West was
attacked, giving birth to the idea of clash of civilizations.
Obviously to some people when the West is attacked,
civilizations clash. When the West attacks others, it is just
boring colonization.
While the conflict between freedom and authority and
capitalism and communism is still not solved in at least two
third of the world, one idea seems slowly to unite a growing
number of people from north and south, east and west. It is
the idea of sustainability. I would personally credit the Club
of Rome for raising the question of sustainability through its
Limits to Growth. Never mind that computer projections about
future resource supplies have been proved wrong. The
underlying idea that growth is not sustainable with an
infinite assault on the earth's resources has seized people's
imagination. It encourages villagers in Himalayas to hug trees
to save them from timber companies. It encourages Wangari
Mathai to plant a million trees and Al Gore to give a thousand
presentations on climate change. It has led to a treaty on
emissions (even though it may not have been signed by the
world's largest emitters), triple bottom-line auditing,
clean-tech investments, green technologies, renewable energies
and eco-tourism. It is slowly leading to a change in our
lifestyle.
The idea of sustainability is so far understood in the
environmental context. The practices that lead to
environmental damage also often lead to social conflicts and
violence - ask farmers in China and India or Sudan and South
Africa. Stein Tonnesson, director of Peace Research Institute
Oslo, fears that in future we may see environmentally driven
trade wars. Others worry about conflicts over water and
emissions. We may see the concept of sustainability expanding
as linkages between climate change and social change are
better understood.
We can expect sustainability to be the dominant idea of the
second decade - perhaps also the third decade - of the 21st
century. Will it be the idea that dominates most of the 21st
century? I doubt it.
The sustainability idea is perhaps the last idea that concerns
the human civilization that we know today. In the second half
of this century, science and technology may change the very
nature of humanity through dramatic developments in outer
space exploration and GNR technologies (genetics, nano-technology
and robotics). Human being of tomorrow may not be human being
at all. They may be artificial designer humans or some
combination of humans and machines. They may be able to go
deeper into space and perhaps live there. They may even be
able to connect to other beings in other galaxies. The issues
we will debate then will be very different from the issues we
debate today.
I don't know which ideas will dominate in the world where
humans co-exist with post-humans. I just hope that such a new
world - which I will not be around to see - is different from
our world in one very fundamental way. All the ideas that
humans have developed so far - perhaps with the exception of
sustainability - are ideas that compete for dominating the
world. Thus, underlying all such conflicting ideas is the idea
of dominance. If sustainability takes a deeper root from its
current scope, it may finally compete with the idea of
dominance that has characterized human history. If it does not
and if somehow the human race still manages to move to the
world of human and post-human co-existence, desire for
dominance might convert human being into demons. The big
question before us is not so much which idea will dominate the
21st century. It is whether we can challenge the idea of
dominance and save humanity.
(Sundeep Waslekar is the President of the Strategic Foresight
Group. Source: www.strategicforesight.com)
The
Nightmare Scenario
Bubbling inflation already limits the options of monetary
policymakers, and many have shied away from cutting interest
rates to boost markets.
Lee Hudson Teslik
Global
markets seem increasingly spooked by a drumbeat of bad news.
New U.S. housing data shows single-family home prices have
fallen about 9 percent in the last year, and declines are
accelerating (CNN). Despite steep rate cuts by the U.S.
Federal Reserve, which Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says are
likely to continue, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has
fallen 10 percent from October 2007 highs. World markets, too,
are feeling the pain amidst concerns over rising inflation and
worries that U.S. banks might hold substantially more bad debt
than analysts initially thought. Panicky predictions come a
dime a dozen in a bear market, but of late, some highly
respected economists have broached particularly frightening
scenarios.
Nouriel Roubini, a professor at New York University's Stern
School of Business, recently wrote in his widely read RGE
Monitor blog that current financial woes create the "rising
probability of a 'catastrophic' financial outcome." Responding
to Roubini, Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf agreed that
the United States risks "the mother of all meltdowns." The
first step-Wolf and Roubini both say-would involve deepening
problems in the U.S. housing market. Roubini envisions "the
worst housing recession in U.S. history," with home values
falling 20 percent to 30 percent across the United States,
bringing $4 billion to $6 billion in economic losses. This, he
says, could prompt continued blowups at major financial
institutions as more of their debt-backed securities implode.
Repeated financial blowups could wreak havoc on market
psychology and fuel a deepened recession, Roubini says, adding
that this could bring defaults on loans well beyond the
housing market.
Wolf adds a different element of gloom, saying the U.S.
Federal Reserve is not as well equipped to deal with this kind
of scenario as most people assume. The available policy fixes,
he says, are all "poisonous"-like the U.S. government assuming
the burden of some combination of bad debt and inflation
through bailouts. Analysts say bubbling inflation already
limits the options of monetary policymakers, and many have
shied away from cutting interest rates to boost markets,
citing upward price pressures as a more serious concern. These
circumstances raise the specter of stagflation (BusinessWeek)-the
phenomenon characterized by a lengthy period of high
inflation, high unemployment, and low growth rates. Climbing
oil prices add to the risk. CFR's Brad Setser worries that a
"less than-ideal-global policy mix" might keep trade
imbalances large, as debtor countries like the United States
implement expansionary policies to support output while
creditor countries, particularly those who link their currency
to the U.S. dollar, adopt lending controls and tighten fiscal
policies to keep their economies from overheating. All told,
Roubini predicts a meltdown could lead to global financial
losses of $1 trillion, which would suck as much as $10
trillion out of the world's credit markets.
A number of economists say the chance of a doomsday scenario
remains small-but is growing. Laurence Meyer, a former
governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve, said in a recent CFR
meeting that the Fed typically considers low-probability
meltdown risks and makes short-term rate cuts to try to ward
off a disaster. Meyer says recent rapid rate cuts-the Fed had
cut its benchmark rate by seventy-five basis points at the
time of the meeting, and slashed another fifty basis points
thereafter-represent just such a precaution. Even so, the
economic storm clouds seem likely to dominate discussion among
Washington policymakers. One stimulus package has already
passed. Another, linked more closely to the housing sector, is
now in the wings.
(Lee Hudson Teslik is Assistant Editor of Council on Foreign
Relations. Source: www.cfr.org)
Time
Limits on Foreign Workers
One labor minister even went so far as to liken the presence
of foreign labor as representing "dangers worse than the
atomic bomb or an Israeli attack.
Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady
Over
the past few months, there has been growing support from
amongst some Gulf Cooperation Council governments to introduce
some form of "time-limits" on the residency of expatriates
working in the Gulf. The reasons seem many - to preserve local
culture, demographic composition, promote national labor
policies and reduce foreign labor dependency.
One labor minister even went so far as to liken the presence
of foreign labor as representing "dangers worse than the
atomic bomb or an Israeli attack." While the esteemed minister
has the right to express his personal opinion, this is taking
it a bit too far. A more rational debate ought to now take
place on what is a matter of concern to all regional economies
and societies, as well as for the foreign guest workers
themselves, who so often seen to be cut off from any debate on
the matter.
The issue of foreign workers and how they are treated and
eventually replaced must be approached with care and caution.
This could become one of the most contentious issues in the
years ahead. Most analysts have tended to discuss the matter
in purely statistical terms and have refused to delve more
deeply, beyond numbers of expatriates, to assess the potential
economic implications should the national policies of
"localization" - replacing foreigners with nationals - be
mishandled.
It is difficult to speak of, say, a Saudi or UAE labor market,
in the sense of a unified, open market where a single price is
paid for a specific amount of labor. Instead in all the GCC
countries, the labor market is characterized by segmentation
into nationalities and different labor skills. Within such
groups, pay scales are determined relative to labor markets in
their country of origin. A more liberal labor mobility system
is a necessary prerequisite for a labor market that would
eliminate pools of unemployed expatriates in the Gulf.
At the same time, the labor market experiences price
distortions because of the arrival of further expatriate
workers under the current "Iqama" or Kafeel system. Already
there is some public debate in Saudi Arabia to replace the
current individual or company sponsorship system, with one
that is fully managed and controlled by contracted companies
to provide labor pools. This frees local companies and
individuals from the headaches of administration, and simply
focus on one main aspect - seeking to employ the most
qualified expatriate from the available pool at market prices.
Chasing runaway maids or absconding workers would be a thing
of the past, and become the legal responsibility of such
contracted labor supply companies. The discussions of imposing
a time-limit on all foreigners working in the Gulf is not very
clear whether it applies to all categories of workers. Some
GCC labor ministers have stated that only non-skilled foreign
workers would be affected.
This would most certainly be the case, given past experiences
of imposing blanket decisions on all foreigners, as happened
when the Kingdom imposed personal taxation on foreign workers
in 1987, only to rescind the measure, after one series after
another of foreign skilled workers were exempted due to
resignations.
The same would happen again if an arbitrary time-limit was
imposed on all categories, for which successful foreign
worker, would uproot himself to work temporarily in the Gulf,
only to be thrown out after an artificially imposed time
period?
The issue of "localization" and finding suitable jobs for Gulf
nationals is a matter of national priorities, given their
youthful population. In the final analysis, this can be solved
through the application of fundamental economic forces,
whereby Gulf employers will chose nationals or foreigners
based on their economic efficiency and work contribution, and
not because of nationality or "wasta." Market forces will
drive nationals to acquire new skills and seek new jobs that
were shunned before, and society as a whole will come to
accept such menial jobs as being as important as "prestigious"
jobs. It will take time, but this is how all societies have
evolved.
Saudi Arabia has never accepted as permanent the immigrant
communities in their midst; they have always planned that
labor imports would be a temporary phenomenon. Saudi Arabia
hopes, eventually, to repatriate all foreign nationals,
although the Kingdom accepts the inevitability of some
selective immigration and naturalization. Both options were
discussed in 2004, when the Shoura Council debated granting
Saudi citizenship to expatriates who met certain stringent
requirements.
The Saudi authorities do not seem to have been caught off
balance by the large numbers of foreign workers present in the
country, and the Kingdom has shown a remarkable capability in
managing this large flow that sets them apart from any nation
in the world that utilizes migrant labor. Foreign workers were
meant to fulfill their obligations, receive their payment and
return to their homeland. At no point, over the past three
decades, did Saudi Arabia, unlike some other GCC countries,
feel totally overwhelmed by expatriates, or feel that they had
lost control of the management and administration of this mass
of people. This relationship sometimes puts a strain on the
expatriate workforce. Most of them are in a temporary
situation. They feel like they are in a hotel; they can never
entertain the illusion of being at home. This feeling of
isolation is magnified by the security threats faced by some
Western communities following domestic bombings and acts of
terrorism. National groups stick together, even though, with
some exceptions, they did not know each other before. Together
they are a collection of solitudes.
Source: www.arabnews.com
Viewpoints
Global Security and
Economy in the Next Decade
Strategic Foresight Group has identified 20
emerging issues that will influence global security and
economy in the next decade, approximately from 2011 to 2020.
The first five are ranked on the basis of impact potential and
probability. The remaining 15 are mentioned thematically.
Most
Significant Issues
1. Prosperity of the Periphery: Globalization has enabled
wealth creation at a fast pace and will continue to do so in
the next two decades. The question is whether prosperity will
be concentrated in urban centers, coastal areas, and certain
other privileged geographies or whether it will spread to the
periphery.
2. Competitive Extremism: The world is entering an era
of competitive extremism where extremist belief systems -
based on religion, ethnicity, nationalism, sub-nationalism,
and ideology
- compete with one another in all parts of the world,
gradually replacing the threat of terrorism, but creating a
much, much larger monster in its place.
3. Rise of Multi-Polarity: The United States, which has
been at the centre of global affairs for much of modern
history since Second World War, will still continue to occupy
the centre-place but will see its role as a single great power
being replaced by a multi-polar world driven by the resurgence
of Russia, China, Iran and independence of the European Union.
4. Global Financial Crisis: The financial imbalances
between major debtor and creditor nations pose the risk of the
collapse of the global financial system, leading to extreme
protectionism, autarchy, trade wars and perhaps a worldwide
military confrontation.
5. Water Scarcity in Emerging Economies: The scarcity
of water in emerging economies like China, India, South Africa
and Turkey may put breaks on their growth, create food
insecurity, have a destabilizing social impact and impair the
world economic growth.
Technologies and Resources
6. Revolution in the Cell: Will major breakthroughs in
biology, biotechnology and genetics, initially in North
America and Western Europe, spread to emerging economies
through a high rate of technology diffusion? Or will they
provide a new platform for North-South politics, new political
debate based on bio-ethics and bio-terrorism?
7. Spread of Clean-tech: Climate change is an
established concern. The debate of the future will be about
sustainable response to climate change, with Clean-tech
leading the way. Currently concentrated in North America and
Western Europe, will the new economies leap into the new
economy with astute investment strategies and R&D efforts? Or
will there be a North-South divide on this issue?
8. Fear of Pandemics: The sensitivity of political
leaders to the fear of one or more pandemics breaking out
globally is expected to be heightened. Will such a pandemic
ever happen crippling the world economy or will the fear
divert health budgets from chronic diseases affecting millions
of people to an unknown future disease that might never
threaten humanity in any case?
9. Critical Information Infrastructure: With global
networks integrating critical information infrastructure, the
security of our information systems is crucial. The
consequences of an accidental or a planned attack on critical
information infrastructure will be monumental.
10. Competition in Space: Will space be a sphere of
competition between the United States, Russia, European Union
and China, along with new entrants like Japan and India? Or
will we rather see cooperation in our celestial exploration?
11. Spread of Nuclear Weapons: With the spread of
nuclear energy and an increase in illicit trade in fissile
material and technologies, the proliferation of nuclear
weapons will be a natural consequence.
12. Energy Security: As not only hydrocarbon resources
but also uranium reserves face the risk of depletion in the
next three or four decades, energy security, already in pubic
discourse, will occupy a much more significant place in global
politics.
Troubled Geographies
13. US-Iran Strategic Cooperation: The hostile
relationship between the United States and Iran may see a
gradual thaw, rapprochement, development of strategic
cooperation, if a war does not provide a permanent setback in
the meanwhile. Just as the US-China relations suddenly made a
U-turn, similar breakthrough in the US-Iran relations might be
on the anvil.
14. Arab and Islamic Renaissance: Despite apparent
despair, many new initiatives may turn the Arab and Islamic
countries into spheres of dynamism, progress, knowledge,
providing a new win- win basis for relationship between the
Western and Islamic countries.
15. Middle Eastern Drama: Until a decade ago, the
conflict in the Middle East was between Israel and the PLO.
Now new players (Hamas, Hezbollah) have entered the arena and
Iran is moving from margins to the centre. China and Russia
are also likely to join the fray. The drama seems set to get
more and more complicated with the entry of new actors.
16. Chinese Countryside: China's history is replete
with examples of how peasant revolutions have brought down the
empire from time to time. Will the simmering discontent in the
farm sector in today's China lead to the repetition of
history? Or will the policies of 'harmonious society'
articulated by the current leadership be able to pre-empt such
a risk?
Concepts and Ideas
17. Demographic Imbalance: Since rich countries will
experience an ageing problem and poor countries will have
youth bulge, innovative global policy tools, including managed
migration, will be significant.
18. Erosion of Sovereignty: The concept of sovereignty
of state, carefully nurtured since the Peace of Westphalia in
1648, is undergoing change - due to assault from above and
below and due to voluntary surrendering of sovereignty at the
horizontal level.
19. Spread of Soft Power: Since most countries realize
the devastating consequences of military confrontation -
especially one involving nuclear weapons - there will be
dramatic increase in the use of soft power to further national
goals. While advanced and industrialized countries are
familiar with this strategy, in the future we will see
emerging countries like China, India, South Africa, Turkey,
Saudi Arabia, and others using it.
20. Dominant Global Philosophy: For decades socialism
Vs capitalism dominated the global philosophical debate. Since
the early 1990s, the clash of civilizations theory influences
intellectual basis of the current policy discourse. Will it be
relevant in the future? Or will there be return to
socialism-capitalism discourse? Or will there will a new
philosophical framework, such as Nature Vs Machine, or humans
Vs post-humanism? The basis of our philosophical debate will
under- pin the architecture of global governance, security and
economy.
(Source: www.strategicforesight.com)
Can no one stop these child killers?
This mindless bloodletting
with bodies of children, youths in their prime and desperate
men and women carrying their loved ones in their arms are not
most pleasant to look at.
Aijaz Zaka Syed
WE
FACE this battle in the newsroom almost on a daily basis.
Every time there's a slaughter of the Palestinians - which is
almost every day - we in the news business face this
predicament: To publish or not to publish?
I agree with many of my colleagues that these gory pictures of
the carnage, this mindless bloodletting with bodies of
children, youths in their prime and desperate men and women
carrying their loved ones in their arms are not most pleasant
to look at.
In fact, given a choice that's the last thing most of us would
want to see when we pick up the newspaper in the morning.
We want to begin our day on a positive note, don't we? While
we breakfast with our families and see our lovely children
prepare for the school, we are not really looking forward to
such disturbing pictures of other people's dead children.
Many of my journalist colleagues and most media networks
around the world are sick and tired of going on and on about
the 'Palestine problem'. They are suffering from what you
would call 'coverage fatigue.'
How long can you go on publishing the same kind of annoying
pictures and irritatingly familiar stories? As a colleague
said the other day: "What's new about the Palestinians getting
killed? They've been dying for the past sixty years, my
friend!"
One of my bosses chided me for running the report about 14
Palestinians - four of them children - getting killed in an
Israeli raid last week on front page. "Instead we should have
positive local stories on Page 1," he emphasized. I couldn't
argue with him because, as they say, the boss is always right
- even when he isn't.
I couldn't tell him that there is not a more LOCAL story than
this one. This is our own story, whoever we are and wherever
we live. This is the story of the good versus evil and the
truth versus falsehood. This is our own struggle for justice,
freedom and dignity. After all, what is it that the
Palestinians are fighting for? They are fighting for basics
like liberty and right to live a life of dignity in their own
country, in the land that they inherited from their ancestors.
These are basic things that we all have and take them for
granted. We take them for granted because we haven't had to
struggle for basics. We inherited these rights thanks to our
good fortune of being born in a free country.
And why are the Palestinians dying? They are dying because
they want to live in dignity. They refuse to submit themselves
to tyranny and the disgrace of occupation.
Like you and me, the Palestinians too want to live in peace
and security - in the comfort of their homes, with their loved
ones. Like us, they too want their children to get the best of
education and grow up to enjoy a life better than theirs.
But do the Palestinians have a choice? They have no choice but
suffer under the most ruthless and vile occupation regimes the
world has ever known while the world looks the other way. The
so-called international community that the editorial pundits
and diplomats keep telling us about is too bored to act.
What can the international community do anyway when the United
Nations has dispensed with the pretence of passing regulation
resolutions urging Israel as well as the Palestinians to
"exercise restraint?" Excuse me? You are telling both the
oppressor and the oppressed to exercise restraint? How are the
oppressed supposed to exercise restraint? By not being a
victim? But does it really matter? In any case, what have the
UN and the INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY done so far to stop the
world's longest-running ethnic cleansing campaign? Ban Ki-Moon,
the current UN head, acts as if he's in the pay of the United
States, not the UN. And what's the point of crying over the
Western and US indifference. Has it made any difference? None,
as far as I know.
And do we in the media have a choice? If this conflict has
gone on for nearly 70 years now and the Palestinians continue
to die like flies, should we stop reporting about it?
Should the media stop doing its job of telling the truth as it
is for the fear of offending the sensibilities of our
sensitive readers? If we do not speak out against this
ceaseless genocidal campaign against a helpless and
defenceless people, who will? Especially if the Middle East
media doesn't take a stand on the issue, who will? Just look
at the series of attacks on Gaza this week. Sixty Palestinians
were killed on March 1, scores of them children and many of
them less than a year old.
The day before that, on February 29, 18 people were killed,
four of them children; one of them was a six-month old baby.
And the day before that…it goes on. In fact, this week, news
agencies dispassionately inform us, has been the deadliest for
the Palestinians since 2002. That's it. Just another
statistic. That's what the Palestinians have become, a mere
statistic.
The world has grown inexorably weary of this endless
bloodletting and killing of innocents and women and children.
Children too young to know why they are dying.
But the killing machine called Israel never stops. It
continues to kill - kill and kill...until the Palestinians
give up their land or become a minority in their own land. The
six-month old Mohammed Bourai is yet another young Palestinian
who would never know what his crime was. He sleeps in peace as
his young, silently-mourning father cradles him in his arms.
What father can bear such a sight? And what kind of people are
they who do this to children as young as this?
Is there no one who can stop these child killers? Where is the
international community when we need it so badly? Whatever has
happened to the world's conscience? Why is it silent? And how
long will it maintain its silence? Silence is crime. Silence
is complicity. As the Prophet warned, those who see evil and
do nothing about it also share the responsibility.
Source: www.khaleejtimes.com
Comment
More forceful action needed
It is indefensible if the
UN Security Council fails to adopt an appropriate resolution
on the latest Israeli violence against the Palestinians in
Gaza. As it convenes today to consider an Arab-sponsored draft
resolution condemning the Israeli attacks and calling for an
immediate ceasefire, the Security Council should, for once,
exercise its responsibility and prerogative, and force Israel
to cease its barbaric onslaught on the Palestinians.
So far the council appears paralysed, as usual, unable to take
forceful measures to stop the Israeli attacks that have taken
a heavy toll on Gazans.
During an emergency meeting of the council, the "deeply
concerned" members stopped short of adopting a formal
resolution condemning the Israeli attacks, only agreeing to a
statement censoring the violence between Israel and the
Palestinians. It failed to condemn Israel for its
disproportionate use of force that killed scores of
Palestinians, including many children.
The Arab states asked for an emergency meeting by the council
that, so far, only met behind closed doors, fearing a US veto
of any meaningful decision on Gaza in a public session.
His Majesty King Abdullah recently warned in the US that if
the rare opportunity for peace this year slips away, the
parties and the international community may never recover such
occasion. The King has also called for an immediate end to the
hostilities, an injunction the UN Security Council manage to
lamely just barely issue.
Israel cannot be so obtuse as not to comprehend the words of
the King who told his audience at Princeton University that
ultimate Israeli security and stability cannot be attained by
erecting walls or making repeated incursions into Palestinian
territories.
Starving the people of Gaza and imposing a blockade on them
will only deepen poverty and despair, creating the perfect
environment for extremism. A genuine, fair, comprehensive
peace is the only way to security and stability for all.
As tragic and terrible as the last round of violence between
Israelis and Palestinians is, it must not be allowed to get
out of hand and disrupt the timid peace efforts that
purportedly aim to reach an accord this year.
Extremists on both sides seem bent on thwarting all attempts
at seeing a breakthrough on the peace front. The Security
Council must assert its power, if it still has any, and
officially order an immediate stop to the carnage in Gaza.
When the pain will be somehow dulled, the thought of two
states side by side and at peace should spur the parties to
renew efforts to see this goal through.
Source:
www.jordantimes.com
International
Israel
continues Gaza strikes after deadly blitz
AFP, Gaza City
Israeli warplanes early Tuesday carried out
raids on the north of the Gaza Strip, killing two
Palestinians and wounding two others, a Palestinian
medical source said.
Israel had vowed on Monday to keep hitting Gaza even as
troops pulled out of the Hamas-run territory after clashes
that killed more than 120 Palestinians and dealt a major
blow to Middle East peace talks.
A first raid against Gaza City killed one person while the
second further north killed one and wounded two. The
victims were not immediately identified.
A military spokesman in Tel Aviv told AFP that the Israeli
air force had "attacked a group of terrorists who were
preparing to fire rockets at Israel."
An Israeli military source said a rocket fired from the
Beit Hanoun district north of Gaza City on Tuesday had
smashed into a house in the southern Israeli town of
Sderot, but nobody was hurt.
"We are not prepared to show any tolerance, period. And we
will respond. Our reaction is not limited to a specific
operation or day," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a
meeting of his Kadima party in Jerusalem on Monday.
"The operation will not end before we achieve our goals
and our first goal is a significant reduction of Qassam
and Grad rocket fire against Israeli civilians," he said,
referring to rockets used by Gaza militants.
In northern Gaza, residents ventured from their homes to
pick through the rubble after the deadliest Israeli
military blitz on the territory in years.
"My whole life I have never seen massacres like this,"
cried Aisha Abid Rabah, 82, raising her hands to the sky
as she sat on a demolished door in the northern town of
Jabaliya that bore the brunt of the Israeli strikes.
The bloody assault earned Israel international
condemnation and caused moderate Palestinian president
Mahmud Abbas to cut contacts with the Israelis, though on
Monday he reiterated his willingness to seek a truce.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, holding talks in
Israel, urged the Palestinians to resume peace talks
despite the bloodshed.
"We have a process that cannot be stopped, that must be
recuperated," Solana told CNN. He said Abbas "has to be
the one that returns to the table of negotiations".
Meanwhile US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived
in Cairo in her latest bid to boost peace efforts which
have been stalled since the two sides formally relaunched
peace talks at a US conference in November.
Since a dramatic escalation in violence last Wednesday, at
least 121 Palestinians, including 22 children and dozens
of militants, have been killed, according to Gaza health
ministry statistics. More than 350 were wounded.
Ahmadinejad calls for US-led forces to quit Iraq
AFP, Baghdad
Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on a landmark visit to
Iraq, on Monday urged US-led foreign forces to leave the
war-ravaged nation, saying without them the region will
"live in peace."
"Without the presence of the foreign troops, the region
will live in peace and brotherhood," said Ahmadinejad, who
also announced the signing of seven pacts with Iraq in
areas such as trade, industry and transport.
"We believe that the forces that came from overseas and
travelled thousands of kilometres to reach here must leave
the region, and must hand over responsibility to people of
the region," he said, without directly naming the United
States.
Ahmadinejad's salvo came on the second day of his visit to
Iraq, the first ever by an Iranian president, in a sign of
growing rapprochement between the two neighbours which
fought a bloody war in the 1980s that left one million
people dead.
The US military has 158,000 troops stationed in Iraq and
Washington is keen to curb the rising influence in Iraq of
its arch foe Tehran, which US commanders have accused of
training and arming Shiite militias.
Ahmadinejad brushed off the accusations.
"American officials talk too much," he said. "We don't
care to hear their statements, because the Americans are
giving statements based on false information.
"We are going to give them some friendly advice. We
believe that directing accusations at others does not
solve American problems. They should solve their problems
elsewhere."
Ahmadinejad on Sunday blamed Washington for bringing
terrorism to the Middle East, saying: "Six years ago there
was no terrorism in our region. As soon as strangers put
their foot in the region, the terrorists came here."
On Saturday, US President George W. Bush accused Iran of
fomenting the violence in Iraq and called on it to "quit
sending in sophisticated equipment that's killing our
citizens."
Ahmadinejad brushed aside the charges and mocked other
foreign leaders, including Bush, who arrive in Iraq on
unannounced visits.
"When they come to Iraq, they come secretly and their
visits last only a few hours. We are hiding nothing," he
told a Baghdad news conference.
New UN resolution will ‘complicate’ nuclear issue: Iran
AFP, Tehran
Iran warned on Monday that a
new UN Security Council resolution against Tehran over its
nuclear activities would only complicate the standoff with
the West, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"Any irrational and unlawful act will not help resolve
Iran's nuclear issue. It will complicate the dealings
around this issue and it will become more difficult," said
Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation deputy head, Mohammad
Saeedi.
The UN Security Council was set to tighten sanctions on
Iran later on Monday, in its latest bid to force Tehran to
suspend uranium enrichment that the West fears is aimed at
producing a secret nuclear weapon.
"The path of the Security Council and any new resolution
lacks legal credibility," Saeedi told IRNA in Vienna,
where the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was
also meeting on Monday.
"Supporters of any new resolution should be held
accountable for their illegal act," he said, adding that
reports by IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei presented a
"clear picture" of Iran's nuclear programme.
Tehran insists its nuclear case should be closed after the
IAEA said in its latest report that it had made good
progress in a four-year probe into Iran's nuclear
programme.
The UN watchdog, however, said it is still unable to
confirm the nature of Iran's nuclear programme and
complained that Tehran continued to defy UN demands to
suspend uranium enrichment.
Iran topped the agenda of a meeting on Monday of the board
of governors of the IAEA, whose chief ElBaradei pressed
Iran to clear up allegations that it was involved in
covert nuclear weapons work.
Iran vehemently denies seeking atomic weapons, insisting
it only wants to enrich uranium to lower levels to make
nuclear fuel for its rapidly increasing population.
The focus of the Iranian debate is likely to be recent
intelligence, shown to the IAEA board last week,
suggesting Tehran was involved in military research that
pointed to the development of non-conventional weapons.
Tehran has dismissed the allegations as baseless and the
intelligence used to back them as fake.
Saeedi said that "Tehran has submitted its assessment of
the claimed studies and Iran has no remaining commitments
in this regard."
China warns Taiwan of ‘heavy price’ on referendum
AFP, Beijing
China on Tuesday warned
Taiwan would pay a "heavy price" if a referendum next
month on United Nations membership succeeded, saying peace
between the two sides was at risk.
"If Chen Shui-bian authorities stubbornly move down the
path (to a referendum), they will pay a heavy price,"
Chinese parliamentary spokesman Jiang Enzhu told
reporters, referring to the Taiwanese president.
Chen has defied repeated warnings from Beijing and pushed
ahead with plans for a referendum, alongside March 22
presidential polls, which calls for the island to seek
membership to the United Nations under the name of Taiwan.
"The Chen Shui-bian authorities pushing forward the
referendum on UN membership under the name of Taiwan is a
serious step towards seeking de jure (legal) independence
for Taiwan," Jiang said.
"If the Chen Shui-bian authorities should succeed, it will
gravely undermine cross-straight relations, undermine the
interests of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits
and threaten peace and stability in the... straits."
Taiwan, under its official name the Republic of China,
lost its UN seat to the mainland in 1971 and is now only
recognised diplomatically by around 20 countries.
The two sides split in 1949 following a civil war, and
Beijing has threatened to invade the island if
independence is ever formally declared.
UNSC set to adopt Iran sanctions
AFP, United Nations
The Security Council tightened UN sanctions on Iran Monday
for refusing to halt nuclear fuel work as six major powers
offered to resume talks with the Islamic Republic to end
the standoff.
Fourteen of the council's 15 members voted in favor of
Resolution 1803, sponsored by Britain, France and Germany,
which slapped a third set of economic and trade sanctions
on Iran in 15 months. Indonesia abstained during the vote
which was presided over by Russia, the council chair for
March.
But Libya, South Africa and Vietnam, which joined
Indonesia in expressing reservations about the need for
fresh sanctions at a time when Iran is cooperating with
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), voted in
favor in the end.
After the vote, the six powers trying to scale back Iran's
nuclear ambitions issued a statement calling for new talks
between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's
nuclear negotiator.
"We have asked Javier Solana to meet with Dr. Saeed Jalili,
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council,"
British ambassador John Sawers said on behalf of Britain,
China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
The six reconfirmed and pledged to expand a 2006 offer of
economic and trade incentives to Iran in exchange for a
freeze of its uranium enrichment activities which the West
fears is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.
US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said his
government was "pleased to see the Security Council has
recognized the continuing threat posed by Iran's nuclear
program through this vote on additional sanctions."
Speaking ahead of the vote, Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad
Khazaee blasted what he called an "unjust and irrational
decision" which he said "undermines the integrity and
credibility" of the council.
Accusing the resolution's Western sponsors of pursuing "a
politically motivated agenda," he said his country would
not comply with demands it views as not "legitimate."
"Any irrational and unlawful act will not help resolve
Iran's nuclear issue. It will complicate the dealings
around this issue and it will become more difficult," said
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization deputy head Mohammad
Saeedi.
The Security Council vote came as IAEA chief Mohammed
ElBaradei pressed Iran to clear up allegations that it was
involved in covert nuclear weapons work.
"I urge Iran to be as active and as cooperative as
possible in working with the agency to clarify this matter
of serious concern," ElBaradei told the IAEA's 35-member
board of governors in Vienna.
The resolution gives Iran three months to comply with UN
and IAEA demands to suspend uranium enrichment and
reprocessing to help restore international confidence in
the peaceful nature of its nuclear program or face new
sanctions.
It includes an outright ban on travel by officials
involved in Tehran's nuclear and missile programs, and
broadens a list of individuals and entities subject to an
assets freeze.
It calls for inspections of shipments to and from Iran if
there are suspicions of prohibited goods and urges states
to "exercise vigilance" in entering into new commitments
for public-provided financial support for trade with Iran,
including the granting of export credits.
It also urges vigilance in dealing with "all banks
domiciled in Iran, in particular Bank Melli and Bank
Saderat and their branches and subsidiaries based abroad."</ |