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Hasina sent to makeshift jail from
hospital after 19 days
I was forced to appear at court with
incomplete treatment: Hasina
Staff Correspondent
Detained Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was taken
back to makeshift jail in Parliament Complex after 19 days
treatment in capital’s Square Hospital on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the former Prime Minister complained that she
was forced to appear at the court with her incomplete
treatment and amid mental harassment by the authorities
concerned.
The ailing AL chief was produced before the Special Judge
Court for a hearing in ‘Barge-Mounted Power Plants Scam’.
Earlier, she was discharged from the hospital at about
2.15pm, according to hospital sources.
Talking to The Bangladesh Today, Deputy Inspector General
(Prisons) Major Shamsul Haider Siddique said, "As the
hospital authorities released former Premier Sheikh Hasina,
she was produced before the court and from there, she has
been sent back to special jail as per the rules of Jail
Code."
Meanwhile, the AL President claimed, she was produced
before the court without completing her proper treatment
in the hospital. While speaking in the court, she also
accused the Caretaker Government of resorting to mental
harassment. She told the court that she cannot hear at all
in her one ear and cannot see well with her left eye and
no personal physicians were allowed to treat her at the
Square Hospital. Hasina alleged that due to ‘negligence’
of the jail authorities, her medical treatment had not
been complete and she has been taken to court by force.
Expressing her grave concern over the prevailing
situation, she said, "What has been done with me is
inhuman act. It’s nothing but mental harassment. I’m the
victim of that sort of torture." Hasina asked why she was
taken to the court straight from the hospital without
completing her treatment. "Where will I get justice? Who
will ensure me justice?" she questioned in an emotion
chocked voice during her submission in the case in front
of the crowded court at the JS Complex.
Terming the cases lodged against her as false, baseless
and fabricated, she said such cases were lodged to ruin
her political career. The court adjourned the hearing of
the case until April 3.
CA calls for reorganizing agri
system to ensure food security
UNB, Gazipur
Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin
Ahmed on Sunday called for restructuring the country’s
agricultural system in a new format to increase production
of food grains and ensure food security.
Referring to recent undesirable scenario of the world food
production, he said that in the changed situation it is
clearly understood that the strategy to replenish the
shortage of food by import is much risky.
Inaugurating a 3-day long ‘BARI Technology Transfer
Workshop 2008’ organized by Bangladesh Agricultural
Research Institute (BARI), Dr Fakhruddin said the
government has taken initiative to formulate a new
national Agricultural Policy considering the changed
perspectives at national and international levels. He
called for adopting effective and sustainable short-, mid-
and long-term planning and programmes to boost the
agricultural production.
The objective of the agricultural technology transfer
workshop is to reach the recently evolved sustainable and
useful technologies to the farmers through agricultural
extension and development workers of the government and
private organizations. BARI recently evolved 126 new
varieties of crops including short-term high yielding,
temperature and salt-tolerant and insect resistant food
grains, vegetables and crops, and 55 technologies for
production management of the crops. So far, Bangladesh
Agricultural Research Institute, the biggest and reputed
agricultural research organization of the country, has
developed 281 high-yielding varieties of crops and 293
production suitable technologies by 774 agricultural
scientists and researchers.
BARI director general M Harun-or-Rashid made a
presentation at the function on summary of the newly
evolved technologies to be transferred to the farmers.
Agriculture Adviser Dr CS Karim also spoke at the
function, chaired by Agriculture Secretary M Abdul Aziz.
Some 300 participants including agriculture and
agriculture related government officials and private
organizations and 10 farmers are taking part in the
workshop. Scientists, researchers, and civil and military
officials were present at the function held at Badruddoza
Auditorium of the Rice Research Institute. The Chief
Advisor agreed that prices of essentials rose
substantially aggravating the sufferings of the lower,
middle and limited income groups, as their income and
purchasing capacity have not increased.
He, however, said the government has sincerely deployed
all its strength and taken all possible initiatives to
keep the prices of food grains at tolerable level.
Dr Fakhruddin said huge quantity of crops were destroyed
due to two successive floods and cyclone ‘Sidr’ last year
as well as adverse weather, increasing production cost and
other reasons posed a threat to the global food and
agricultural productions. He said many developed countries
are using food grains and croplands for production of
bio-fuel for bigger profit resulting in gradual shortage
of food grains in the world market. The food exporting
countries are now turning into importing countries while
prices of food are quickly going up worldwide, he said,
adding that the thrust of this adverse situation falls on
Bangladesh.
The Chief Adviser has called upon all to put their
strength, merit and skill, imbued with the sprit of
patriotism, to face the challenges of agricultural
development to build a poverty- and hunger-free
Bangladesh.
He said not an inch of arable land should remain fallow
for over all increase of agricultural production and steps
will have to be taken, depending on the quality of land,
to ensure cultivation of any one of the crops throughout
the year. He urged to do whatever is necessary for
ensuring highest production in each unit of arable land.
After the inaugural session, the Chief Adviser went round
the exhibition of newly evolved high yielding varieties of
various crops and production suitable technologies and
farm machine technologies at the venue.
BNP
for street agitation to free Khaleda
Staff Correspondent
BNP Chairperson’s adviser Brig (retd) ASM Hannan Shah on
Sunday demanded of the interim government to reconstitute
the Election Commission (EC) as it has already lost its
credibility. Hannan Shah lodged the demand at a discussion
meeting to mark the Independence and National Day
organised by Dhaka city unit of BNP at the auditorium of
the Engineers’ Institution in the capital. "We want such
an EC which will be impartial and neutral, but this EC has
already created a chink in the confidence of the people
through its words and deeds, so a credible election can
never be possible under this set up of the EC," Hannan
alleged, adding, "this set up of the EC must be
reconstituted if a free, fair and a credible election can
be held."
As the audience was repeatedly shouting for giving action
programme to free Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman, Hannan
Shah, without making a clarion call for street agitation,
said, "the people of the country do not dare to go for any
street agitation. If necessary, they can take to the
streets. If you (the government high-ups) have the
courage, try the cases of Begum Zia and Tarique Rahman in
the existing laws, not under the Emergency Powers Rules (EPR).
He urged the party workers to be present on the court
premises on the day when Tarique Rahman will be taken for
the trial. About the much-touted minus-two formula, he
said, "the government will never be able to implement its
theory as millions of people of Bangladesh are with Begum
Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina. False and fabricated cases
have been lodged against Begum Zia."
Speaking on the occasion, Selima Rahman, joint Secretary
General, said, "Demand for the release of Begum Zia has
now become a popular demand." Calling upon the party men
and women to be united at any cost, Goyeshwar Chandro Roy
said, "There is no alternative to the unity, but hold of
the control over party must be tightened."
BDR-Businessmen
discussion
Strong monitoring cell to be formed to oversee market
price
Staff correspondent
A strong monitoring cell will be formed
in a bid to over see the market price and bring the spiral
price commodities under control.
"Activities of BDR intelligences forces will be
intensified to control both the wholesale and retail
markets. Intelligence forces will act as striking force.
They will be engaged in getting update information about
the prices of daily commodities. Stern action would be
taken against the businessmen responsible for the market
manipulation," said Col MA Halim while exchanging views
with the business leaders at a discussion held at BDR
headquarters in the capital.
Col Halim, Director of Operation Dal Bhaat (Pulses and
Rice) said, "The businessmen must have to sell the various
items of daily commodities as per the maximum retail price
and if anybody violates the rule, we must take action
against that person. Besides, we will fix the rate of some
items and as per the chart; the businessmen will have to
sell their items." The business leaders urged the
government set up a camp in every market of law enforcing
agency to monitor the market price regularly.
Meanwhile, at an another discussion, retailers blamed the
wholesalers and market lessee for the price hike of daily
commodities as they said, "earlier, a section of employees
of city corporation leased out the markets to some
influential political leaders and they are charging excess
money from the retailers as rent of their shops and to
meet the expenses of the shops, the retailers are being
compelled to increase the price of essentials,".
They were speaking at a discussion meeting on ‘recent
price spiral of daily commodities’ organized by Consumers
Association of Bangladesh (CAB) at its office in the city.
President of Dhaka City Kitchen Market Association, Anwar
Sikder said, "There are middlemen who play a vital role in
increasing the prices of essentials and these middlemen
with the assistance of a section of unscrupulous
businessmen are mainly responsible for the market
manipulation."
Presenting a keynote paper, Marketing Monitoring Officer
of CAB, Mofazzel Hossain said, "The government taken a lot
of measures to curb the price spiral of daily essentials,
but so far it does not work as a section of business
leaders are gaining benefits through market manipulation,
that’s why the government will have to identify those
persons and it also will have to take punitive measures to
stabilize the price of daily commodities."
Back Page
Gas-Oil-Road Show
Prospects, process for exploration
Staff
Correspondent
In a bid to attract the
International Oil and Gas companies to participate in the
proposed third round of bidding process, a two-day
international 'Road Show on Bangladesh Offshore Bidding
Round-2008' began in the city on Sunday.
Sate-run Petrobangla organised the road show held at
Sonargaon Hotel in the city yesterday. Chief Advisor's
Special Assistant for Power and Energy Ministry M Tamim
formally inaugurated the function. Secretary of Energy and
Mineral Resources Division Mohammad Mohsin and Chairman of
Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla)
Jalal Ahmed also addressed on the occasion. A total of 120
local and international companies are taking part in the
open demonstration on the prospects of the sector and
contracting process for exploration.
Under the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) the country's
seashore area has been divided into 28 blocks for the
hydrocarbon exploration. Of the blocks, eight are located
in offshore areas of about 1,0,5000 square kilometers in
the bay of Bengal while the rest 20 blocks in deep-sea
area. The contract between the government and the
international companies will be completed by August. After
completion of the procedure of contract, joint management
comprising Petrobangla and the representatives from the
foreign companies will start seismic work.
Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser said government is
hoping it will start seismic work by October this year.
"We have formulated a number of polices including the
National Energy Policy (NEP) to facilitate the investors.
We are hoping seismic work will begin by October. The
investment in Bangladesh is now well protected," he said
Tamim said in a bid to develop the country's energy sector
and bring back the economy on the track the government has
been updating the national energy policy. "Some 24 TCF gas
will have to be discovered for meeting the growing demand
by the year 2025 with view to attaining and maintaining a
7 percent GDP growth. Some 8 billion US dollars will be
invested to explore gas field," he said adding over the
last decade, gas consumption has been increasing at a rate
of 8 percent per annum.
Regarding opposition of different quarters against
government move to lease out gas block to the foreign
companies, Tanim said, "I am ready to sit with different
organisations or professional bodies who are opposing
government's move and I want to make clear about the
government stand at an open or closed door meeting
anywhere."
Petrobangla Director Muktadir Ali said so far 17 firms
have bought promotional packages and 25 firms purchased
the information packages to participate in the bidding
process. Petrobangla invited international bidding on
February 15 asking the international oil companies (IOCs)
to submit their respective offers by May 7, 2008 for
deep-sea oil and gas exploration.
For the deep-sea blocks in the Bay of Bengal, the
contractors will get a total of 9 years to carry out
exploration. Of the time, 5 years will be given for
initial exploration and then it will be extended in two
phases. They will get 2 years as the first extension and
another 2 years as the second extension. For the shallow
blocks, a total of 8 years' time will be given to the
contractors and they will have to conduct exploration
within 3 years as initial period. Then another 2 years
will be given for extended exploration and another 2 years
for second-time extension. On completion of the
exploration, the contractor will submit a 25-year
development plan for gas field and 20- year plan for oil
field. However, they can extend the plan period by an
additional 5 years provided Petrobangla's consent.
Around ninety per cent of the power plants of the country
are fired by gas and many industries and factories are
also based on this energy. Power plants consume 42 per
cent, fertliser factories 14 per cent and the rest 44 per
cent are being used by the industries, factories and
domestic purposes.
According to the Gas Sector Master Plan (GSMP) financed by
the World Bank, the gas reserves discovered and proved
till 2006, would be able to fulfil the medium scale demand
by 2011-12. But the government will have to take various
initiatives including investigation for exploring new gas
fields to ensure smooth supply of gas by 2015.
Price
Hike of Essentials
Poor presence of customers at shops
Ainul Haque Royal
Hawkers, shop keepers, traders and businessmen, who run
their businesses from footpaths to the luxurious shopping
complexes in the city, are facing serious set back as
their sales saw a sharp decline following the abnormal
price hike of essentials specially rice, edible oil and
pulses causing endless miseries to the people.
Talking to the Bangladesh Today on Sunday, echoing the
same voices, hawkers, shop keepers, traders, and
businessmen said people from all walks of life specially
middleclass, commoners and the poor are not showing
interest to buy anything except their most essential daily
necessities due to financial crisis.
"Like in the past, people don't visit our shops for buying
luxurious or common things. Our sales are declining day by
day. A very few number of rich people visit our shops, as
a result our sales are seeing a very dull season. If such
trend continues for long time, we will have to choose
alternative option to earn our livelihood."
Different City markets like Basundhara City, Rifle Square,
Metro Shopping Malls, Eastern Plaza and Sezan Point and
departmental stores witnessed a very poor turnout of
customers yesterday, with many shopkeepers standing idle
with their merchandises on display.
Anisur Rahman, a businessman of Basundhara City, told this
correspondent, due to the price hike of essentials, the
attendance of customers at different shops in the market
has become very thin now-a-days. It is very difficult to
run our business under these circumstances. The prices of
commodities are increasing day by day but the salaries or
incomes are yet to be increased proportionately. The
people are expanding the major part of their salary to
procure food items. "No customers visited my shop till 3
pm today (Sunday). I don't know what is in my fate for
this day. Just before a month I sold different products
worth about Tk 30 thousand per day but now I am unable to
cover the daily management cost of the shop," he said.
Kibria, a shop owner, said "I had 12 employees to provide
services to the customers. Due to slow turnover of
customers, I have been compelled to spare six of them in a
bid to minimize my expenditure." Nurul Kader, a staff of
the shop, said I could not eat meat over the last two
months due to financial crisis. Nayan, a marketing
executive of Etcetera Bangladesh (ETC), told this reporter
that the people are spending around 70 percent of their
salary mainly for purchasing rice, edible oil and pulses.
It is impossible to spare money for cosmetics, showpieces
or luxurious items. For this reason, the sale at our store
has decreased largely.
Mizan, Ridoy and Kamal, footpath hawkers in the Farmgate
area, said they are compelled to sell their garments at
high price because of price hike of essentials to earn our
livelihood. A good number of customers visited our shop
but did not buy any thing. If the on-going situation
continues to worsen further, we will be unable to run our
businesses and earn our livelihood.
Public Awareness needed for Earthquake risks
Staff Correspondent
Experts at a roundtable on Sunday said a devastating
catastrophe may take place in Dhaka as it has been
identified as earthquake prone city due to geographical
characteristic and indiscriminate and unplanned
construction of high-rise and multi-storied buildings.
They also laid emphasis on coordinated massive efforts
with long-term plan to reduce damages of earthquake in
Bangladesh where 100 million people are living under risk
of the unstoppable natural hazard. They said only creating
public awareness will not be sufficient to face
earthquake, rather the main focus should be given on
rebuilding the cities with master plans.
The roundtable titled "Earthquake Risk of Bangladesh:
Preparedness and Limitations" was arranged jointly by
USAID, Care, Nirapad and Daily Somokal at the CIRDAP
auditorium in the yesterday. Dr ASM Maksud Kamal, national
expert on earthquake and tsunami preparedness under
Comprehensive Disaster Manage-ment Programme (CDMP)
presented a keynote at the roundtable.
DCC's chief urban planner Sirajul Islam said the national
building construction code'1993 has been updated in 2006,
but after then still today no ministry or department was
assigned to implement the code. He further said there was
a law enacted many years ago to appoint urban planner at
every pourasobha of the country, but the law still
remained unimplemented.
Dr Mallik said most of the buildings in the major cities
were built without following building codes. "We can not
even imagine how terrific the disaster will be." If the
earthquake shakes the capital and other metropolitan
cities severely, it will cause huge damage to lives and
properties as these buildings will not be able stand the
earthquake jolts," he added.
PWD's Executive Engineer Sirajul Haq said mysteriously the
PWD has been kept inactive for working with the mitigation
of earthquake losses. "I strongly recommend the Government
to make the PWD into such an effective institution which
will work as regulatory body and will have the authority
to demolish and reconstruction of buildings."
Speakers said geological maps for every region of the
country should be available to the government,
non-government institutions and also to the public as they
can know which areas of the country is earthquake-porne.
The speakers also said if a big earthquake occurs once,
subsequently several earthquakes of smaller magnitude
follow it surrounding the same epi-centre. So, it is
necessary to measure the magnitude of an earthquake.
Although there is a seismic survey station in Chittagong,
the government is constructing three new seismic survey
stations with sophisticated equipments like seismometers
and seismographs in Dhaka, Sylhet and Rangpur in a bid to
inform people of the extent and magnitude of earthquake.
The experts also said we will have to buildup awareness
among the city dwellers about the destructive capacity of
earthquakes and how to take protection against them.
Crime
Seven get
life term for murdering housewife
A Correspondent, Barisal
A trial court in Barisal on Sunday sentenced seven accused
to life imprisonment with each Tk fifty thousand fine or
to suffer more three years in Rigorous for Imprisonment in
default for murdering a housewife and injuring a youth.
The sentenced seven accused are Abdus Sattar Molla, Sheikh
Dulal, Sheikh Nazrul Islam, Md. Kamal Howladar, Babul
Howladar, Delwar Hossain Talukdar and Noni Gopal Samaddar,
and the last two remained absconding during announcing the
verdict. Md. Shahidullah, district and sessions judge of
Barisal announced the verdict on Sunday afternoon after
examining 14 witnesses and other evidences.
Sub Inspector Siddikur Rahman investigating the case filed
charge sheet against the aforesaid seven accused on April
15, 2001 under sections 302(34) and 307 of penal code.
Proper execution of community policing stressed
BSS, Chittagong
The monthly crime conference of Chittagong district police
held here on March 29 stressed on improving relationship
between the people and the police through properly
implementing the community policing concept.
DIG of Police, Chittagong range AKM Shahidul Haque
attended as the chief guest at the meeting held with
police super Chittagong Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan in the
chair, district police sources said.
Senior officials and officers-in-charge of all police
stations of the district police were present at the
meeting held at the conference room of police super's
office at Nasirabad in the city.
The meeting reviewed the overall state of law and order in
the district and gave directives to the officials
concerned to remain vigil in checking crimes like dacoity,
hijacking, trafficking of illegal arms and smuggling.
Addressing the meeting, the DIG of police called upon the
police officials to put in their best efforts in making
the community policing concept a success by involving the
people in a bigger way to maintain law and order.
He also made some important guidelines to the police
officials about the investigation into the pending cases
and their supervision in the investigation process.
Later, the DIG handed over crests to seven sub-inspectors
and assistant sub-inspectors of police working at
different police stations for their good performance in
arresting absconders and executing warrants in February
last, sources added.
Five injured in eviction drive at BSS building
UNB, Dhaka
At least five people were injured in a clash Sunday
morning during an eviction drive by Hossain Electric
Industries Employees Multipurpose Cooperative Society at
the ground floor of BSS building at Purana Paltan.
Police said the clash ensued at about 11 am when the
members of the cooperative society along with a platoon of
police went to evict the shops as per the court order and
they were resisted by the affected shop owners and their
employees.
Officials of Hossain Electric Industries Employees
Multipurpose Cooperative Society claimed that the shops
were set up illegally at the ground floor of the building
and they went to evict the shops following the court's
eviction notice to the owners.
The shop owners, however, said they had not received any
such eviction notice from the court.
They alleged that the staffs, in presence of police,
looted valuables of their shops in the name of eviction
and also beat some of them when they tried to resist.
The shop owners further alleged that police beat them when
the owners and their employees staged demonstration on the
road.
Some journalists working with BSS, the official news
agency, came under assault when they tried to go to their
offices housed on the 1st and 2nd floors of the building.
Female SSC examinee commits suicide
UNB, Bagerhat
A female SSC examinee allegedly committed failing to
appear at the examination at Durgapur village in
Chitalmari upazila Friday morning.
Local people said Laiju Akter, 16, daughter of day-labourer
Badrul Alam of Puranpur village in the upazila, failed to
fill in a form for the SSC exam as her poor father could
not manage money.
The catastrophic cyclone Sidr that swept over the
districts of southwestern coastal belt of the country in
last November rendered poor Badrul Alam homeless like
others.
Failing to appear at the exam on the first day Thursday
meritorious Laiju hanged herself from the ceiling of an
abandoned house in the morning.
Later, her parents after a hectic search found the hanging
body and on information police sent the body to Sadar
hospital morgue for autopsy.
A pall of gloom descended over the village following the
tragic death of the poor girl.
Husband kills wife
A Correspondent, Rajshahi
Parul Begum, 38, a house wife of Kulpara area under Shah
Makhdum thana of the city was allegedly killed by her
husband on Friday night.
Police arrested the killer husband from his house.
Police and local people informed, at around 12:00 midnight
on Friday, Ataur Rahman, husaband of Parul Begum killed
his wife by beating and strangulation at his room and
started to behave like a cracked person.
Being informed by the neighbours, police rushed to the
spot and arrested the killer husband, Ataur Rahman, and
sent the dead body to the Rajshahi Medical College
Hospital morgue for autopsy. Father of the deceased house
wife filed a case with Shah Makhdum thana in this
connection.
Two teenage girls violated
UNB, Bagerhat
Two teenage girls were gang-raped by miscreants in
Morelganj pourasabha here Thursday night.
Police said the two girls, aged around 15 and 13, came to
the municipality area from Tengratila village of Kachua
upazila at the invitation of SSC candidate Harunur Rashid,
lover of one of the two girls.
Later, Harun took his fiancée (15) and her cousin (13) to
his friend Rony's residence in the area to spend the
night. Later, Harun, Rony and their one accomplice
violated the girls by turns and fled the scene.
Local people rescued the victims in profusely bleeding
condition and admitted them to the Sadar hospital in the
morning.
Police later arrested culprit Rony. A case was filed.
Youth beaten to death
UNB, Dinajpur
A youth was beaten to death by his friends over a trifling
matter at Fakirpara Moholla in the district town Saturday
night. The dead was identified as Hamidul Islam, 18, son
of Noor Alam of the area.
Local sources said Hamidul had an altercation with his
friends over playing carom at about 9:00 pm. At one stage,
they severely beat up Hamidul, leaving him seriously
injured.
Hamidul was taken to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital
where doctors declared him dead.
A murder case has been filed with Kotwali police station.
Female drug peddler held
A Correspondent, Rajshahi
The Rapid Action Battalion in Rajshahi arrested a female
drug peddler with heroin at Godagari area in Rajshahi on
Saturday night.
The arrested was identified as Rehana Khatun, 35, wife of
Sentu Mian of Shaharagachi village under Godagari.
According to the RAB sources, acting on a tip-off a RAB
team launched drive in the Shaharagachi village on
Saturday at around 8:30 pm. They arrested Rehana Khatun
along with 10 grams of heroin.
A case was filed with the Godagari police station against
the drug peddler, after RAB handed over her to the police
on Sunday.
Police produced her before the court on Sunday and the
court send her to jail.
Editorial
Where is the Economy
Taking Us All?
Over
the last one and a half year our currency has depreciated in
real value by at least 50 percent; that is we are unable to
buy the same amount of goods and services with Tk.100.00 that
we did about one and a half year back. This is but one of the
effects of inflation, making all our lives miserable. Prices
of everything - from rice to rods - have increased by as much
as 100 percent or more. The Emergency Government is blaming
everything on world-wide inflation and rise in commodity
prices in the international markets, while everyone else is
blaming the Government for not doing enough to mitigate the
effects of inflation and rise in prices. Everyone is right but
the Emergency Government is not ready to listen to "everyone",
least of all to the millions of people forced to bear the
brunt of an economy in decline at the best and a
disintegrating economy at the worst.
In Bangladesh the entire economy is linked to the prices and
availability of staple food the demand for which is inelastic,
that is everyone wants to eat rice unless of course one is
starving and is forced to eat anything in order to survive. If
price of rice increase, prices of all other goods and service
spirals upward in an uncontrolled manner; uncontrolled because
in a more or less market economy it is impossible to monitor
the supply, demand and prices of everything as is evident from
price increase in such items as LPG gas, educational
materials, construction materials, transportation fares etc.
That our economy is linked to food has been forcibly brought
home after the floods and cyclone destroyed much of our crops
of a single season; food shortages occurred and prices rose
quickly and steeply. The Government at first refused to
recognize that any problems would arise from these
devastations to agriculture and so refused to intervene by
immediately importing food commodities. When it did decide to
import food, major producers and exporters of cereals,
panicked by rumors of world-wide food shortages, restricted or
even banned exports; supply in international markets shrunk
and prices started going through the roof making it impossible
to import anything. Therefore, when people in the streets
sarcastically comment that the Fakhruddin government is bent
on making us all fakirs, they are expressing stark realities.
The net effect of all this is that people are beginning to
question the reason for existence of this Emergency Government
and are stridently demanding a return to representative
government, even if it means handing over the reign of
government to the AL or BNP, the self-same political
dispensation which the Emergency Government had tried so hard
to discredit and de-legitimize through its anti-corruption
drives.
Pressed by unbearable economic hardships, the people are
restless, dissatisfied and angry; pressed by EPRs,
anti-corruption and reforms, political parties are divisive,
frustrated and increasingly confrontational - it will not be
long before the people and the political parties get together
in an explosive mixture that would be both intransigent and
violent. Therefore this two-year stint of the Emergency
Government has been nothing but marking time in the same place
and all this talk of "reforms" are leading us to nowhere but
to similar conditions that the Emergency started off from on
11 January 2007. Maj Gen Golam Quader's claim that the
Emergency Government is "in full control" is nothing but
bluster.
Corruption in Hospitals
As
the health sector as a whole is very much among the most
corruption-ridden sectors of the country, it is nothing
surprising that corruption is rampant in the city's Suhrawardy
Hospital. According to a report published in The Bangladesh
Today on Sunday, this hospital has earned a reputation of
harassing patients who come to its premises for treatment of
various ailments. Soon after arrival at the hospital premises,
patients fall prey to the touts, cheats and a section of the
hospital staff. Some organised groups start trying to convince
the relatives of the patients to transfer them to some private
clinics.
This is a common scenario in almost all public hospitals in
the country, because these are plunged in mismanagement,
irregularities and anomalies. The patients hardly get proper
medical treatment in these hospitals as in many cases
medicines meant for the patients are smuggled out and the
doctors and nurses seldom pay enough attention to the ailing
people. It is due to these reasons that those who can afford,
go to private clinics and the helpless poor patients alone who
are unable to meet the high cost of treatment in private
clinics and hospitals come to the public hospitals only to be
neglected, deceived and disappointed.
The government allocation for people's health care in our
country is perhaps the lowest in the world. Even then,
whatever is allocated is not properly utilised for the medical
care due to corruption and mismanagement. This trend must be
stopped. Government must take stern action to stop corruption
in the hospitals to ensure better medical service to the
ailing people.
Analysis
System Error, Reboot in
Progress
The trouble came to a head when Bear Stearns,
the fifth-largest investment bank in the United States, seemed
on the verge of outright collapse.
Lee Hudson Teslik
Twice
this month U.S. stock indices posted their biggest one-day
gains in five years-only to surrender them again in sell-offs,
dragging global markets down in their wake. Yet March's most
dramatic financial tribulations weren't on Wall Street.
Rather, they were hundreds of miles down the Eastern seaboard,
in Washington, DC, where the U.S. Federal Reserve responded to
financial turmoil with a series of aggressive policy
interventions.
The trouble came to a head when Bear Stearns, the
fifth-largest investment bank in the United States, seemed on
the verge of outright collapse. The Fed swooped in (WSJ),
assuming the risk of Bear's bad debt to convince another
banking giant, JPMorgan Chase, to buy the beleaguered company
at a heavily discounted price. The Economist declared the move
pragmatic-it saved Bear from defaulting on some $10 trillion
of derivatives contracts, the argument goes, and thus served
to stop the financial bleeding at its source. But other
analysts questioned the wisdom of the move, noting that U.S.
taxpayers will bear the burden of the bailout (ABC News).
The Fed didn't stop at the Bear-Morgan deal. The board opened
an umbrella over all of Wall Street, agreeing to lend directly
to brokers through a new lending facility at the reserve bank
of New York. Less than a week before, the Fed had announced a
different new lending service, one of the many steps (RGE
Monitor) the Fed has taken to boost liquidity since December.
The Fed also sharply dropped the interest rate it charges
banks, adding to its quickest monetary loosening in decades.
Final judgment of the Fed's wild week will hinge on whether
these policy maneuvers restore confidence in credit markets.
Analysis here varies markedly. The Fed's most urgent
short-term mandate, some say, is to prevent the kind of panic
that might have been stirred by a Bear Stearns implosion. An
analysis from Dow Jones says many traders think the Bear
Stearns breakdown brought the financial system precariously
close to systemic collapse-and that the Fed prevented this
outcome by adding emergency liquidity just when it was needed.
But with so many problems remaining, economists hesitate to
cheer too loudly. First and most basically, there may still be
a lot of bad debt out there, infecting the portfolios of the
world's biggest banks. Indeed, analysts say the debt situation
could get worse before it gets better, particularly if U.S.
property values continue their downslide and force more
homeowners to default on mortgages. The Financial Times adds
that defaults could spread beyond mortgage loans, to credit
card debt or auto debt, potentially broadening the crisis.
With a daunting task at hand, the Wall Street Journal reports
policymakers are now looking beyond short-term cash injections
and considering long-term regulatory fixes. Doing this
effectively will mean walking a tightrope. Over the past
decade, economists say a system of loose credit and endless
leverage led to a murky "shadow banking system" (IHT) beyond
the purview of regulators. But experts also warn against going
overboard. One analyst comments in the FT that a regulatory
backlash against banks could have "costly" and "unintended
consequences." Examining the underlying financial system, the
Economist article cited above says: "This system worked;
indeed, at its simplest, it still does, spreading risk,
promoting economic efficiency and providing cheap capital."
( Lee Hudson Teslik is an Assistant Editor with the Council
on Foreign Relations. Source: www.cfr.org)
Azerbaijan: Independent Islam and the State
The challenge is to stop any groups bent on violence, while
ensuring freedom of religion.
Claims
that major terrorist acts were foiled in Azerbaijan at the end
of 2007 have prompted discussion about the extent to which
Islamic extremism is a genuine threat in the oil-rich land.
Azerbaijan is a secular state with an overwhelmingly moderate
(predominantly Shiite) Muslim population. Since the break-up
of the Soviet Union and independence in 1991, independent
Sunni and Shiite groups have emerged which refuse the
spiritual authority of the official clergy. Some are
political, but very few, if any, appear intent on employing
violence to overthrow the state. The government, however,
expresses concern about these "independents", and tries to
control them, including through repression. Its strategy risks
radicalizing peaceful activists and believers.
After 1991 Azerbaijan became a target of religious movements
vying for influence. Missionaries and charities from Iran, the
Middle East and Turkey, as well as individuals from Russia's
north Caucasus came to proselytize. Some reportedly were
linked with militant Islamist networks, including al-Qaeda.
Many were expelled, and only Turkish groups now continue to
work relatively unhindered by the state.
Largely inspired and funded by foreign groups, independent
religious communities have grown much more rapidly than
official mosques. Salafism, largely unheard of in Azerbaijan
twenty years ago, has gained a foothold mainly in Baku and the
north. Groups of Shiites who refuse to recognize the
state-promoted spiritual leadership has also become more
numerous, but only a few could be considered political and
even fewer militant. Nevertheless, the government is
suspicious of all independent expressions of Islam. It tries
to control such groups through the State Committee for Work
with Religious Organizations (SCWRO) and the Caucasus Board of
Muslims (CBM) and generally represses manifestations of
independence rapidly. Peaceful followers of groups outside
CBM's control are by their own accounts regularly harassed and
detained.
The government justifies its tough approach by citing a need
to combat extremism and prevent terrorism, and it claims
significant success. In the early 1990s, the state was
relatively weak, and some extremist groups were apparently
active. As the state has strengthened, it says it has become
much more proficient at arresting and sentencing extremists.
Whether those so treated actually had operational links with
extremists is doubted by independent observers.
The government has employed excessive means to control
peaceful religious activities and trials of alleged extremists
are often held behind closed doors using evidence collected
under duress. Independent religious communities as well as
members of the political opposition say the authorities
exaggerate the Islamic terrorist threat to gain the West's
sympathy and tolerance for its undemocratic proclivities. The
government's tactics at least run the danger of pushing
otherwise peaceful groups towards jihad; radicalization, if
not yet overt violence, is becoming visible among a minority
of the Salafi community. The challenge is to stop any groups
bent on violence, while ensuring freedom of religion.
The government has taken some steps to strengthen cooperation
with believers by improving religious education for young
clerics and reforming CBM. It is trying to cultivate a
home-grown Islam, based on local values and traditions, to
halt encroachment of foreign beliefs, but it should extend its
efforts to include non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
independent communities in a broad debate on state and
religion. Most importantly, it needs to devise a method of
dealing with independent groups that does not criminalize them
and is more respectful of religious rights.
(The above is a media report dated 25 March 2008,
circulated by the International Crisis Group. Source: www.
Crisisgroup.org)
Merchants of Lethal Deceit
For poll after poll has proven that the
inhabitants of Afghanistan and Iraq see themselves as worse
off today than before the acts of aggression began.
Tariq A. Al-Maeena
Five
years into the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, US
President George Bush claims it's been worth the haul. And
although he claims he sheds tears for every one of the 4,000
soldiers he has sent to their death, little or no mention is
made of an estimated one million or more innocent Iraqi
civilians who have lost their lives as a result of his grand
adventure.
Remember the proponents of the aggression then? One of the
strongest, Tony Blair of UK, is now keeping himself as far
away from Bush as possible, and privately conceding that this
adventure was a "horrible mistake". Was he led into this
deceitful adventure by the smooth-talking neocons of the Bush
administration and the gentle prodding by Bush himself?
Whatever happened to Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and Donald
Rumsfeld, those active cheerleaders of a murderous and
unlawful invasion of countries that harbored no ill will
toward the United States or the American people?
Now facts have proven that this carnage was built on an
orchestrated deception, first among Bush's constituents
through selective manipulation of the media, and later by
presenting false evidence to the world community, the United
Nations.
These past five years will remain embedded in the minds of
those who had lost their loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan
with pain and anguish. For it was under the US commander in
chief's instructions that US soldiers used their most brutal
practices among the prisoners by systematic acts of rape,
sodomy and torture. They dehumanized their captives. Abu
Ghraib and Guantanamo have become synonyms for gross human
rights violations.
This continued and sustained assault on these two countries is
a violation that has for the most part remained unchecked.
Most nations are noticeably quiet on US transgressions in the
region. It has not, however, failed to create deep chasms of
animosity and suspicion of Bush's intentions. His talk of
"spreading democracy in the Middle East" is now met with
derision.
For poll after poll has proven that the inhabitants of
Afghanistan and Iraq see themselves as worse off today than
before the acts of aggression began. And really, what was it
that Bush was after?
There were no weapons of mass destruction. Nor was there any
sign of ill will in either country toward the United States.
Was it the oil? Well maybe, but there was always the specter
of an Israeli lobby dictating terms and manipulating things.
Many of those smooth-talking neocons who convinced their
constituents of a doomsday situation if Iraq was not invaded
are not around today parading in front of the world's media
with their false assertions. Perhaps they are keeping a low
profile for fear of being charged for these crimes against
humanity in some tribunal sometimes in the future.
For, if you strip away all irrational rhetoric, what is
happening in Iraq and Afghanistan is indeed a crime. A war
crime to match the Israeli aggression and occupation of
Palestine! How closely were the two operations orchestrated
with Bush and Sharon in power?
And while one languishes in a vegetative state, the other is
free to continue his acts of violence unchecked and
unfettered.
And not satisfied with the amount of innocent blood already
spilled, he is now pushing for another bloody adventure, this
time against Iran.
Iran is an Islamic state, and Bush should think long and hard
before contemplating any such moves. He lacks credibility when
he talks about Iran's threat to the region and his evidence is
dismissed as a joke.
The people in this region have seen and heard enough. The real
threat has never been Iran. The real threat has been the
willingness of some to believe what Bush says.
While Bush and his remaining neocons work covertly with the
Israelis in an effort to convince the world body of the threat
Iran poses, such alarmist talk has indeed been falling on deaf
ears in the region.
As for the tears Bush says he sheds for the fallen, everyone
knows they are as fake as the evidence he presented to justify
his wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Source:
www.arabnews.com
Viewpoints
An African country
hurries to the fore
Needless to say, "abolishing" absolute poverty
by raising the incomes of the poor above a dollar a day is no
big deal on its own.
Jonathan Power
For once the
optimists have been proved right- and it's happening in that
"dark, backward" continent, Africa. The ex British colony of
Tanganyika and Zanzibar, renamed Tanzania after their union in
the 1960s, is exceeding by a significant margin the economic
projections of the International Monetary Fund made a mere
three years ago. That was towards the end of the term of
former socialist journalist, Ben Mkapa, the president who dug
Tanzania's capitalist foundations. Jakaya Kikwete has been
president barely two years but in that time the economy has
jumped from an annual growth rate of 6% to 7.5%. David
Robinson, the resident head of the IMF, expects it to hit 8%
before long, which would be higher than any other country in
the world, except China and India (and Angola which is almost
exclusively an oil economy). In fact mainstream economic
experts here see no reason why it shouldn't make 10% within
three or four years. Thanks to the seeming magical qualities
of compound interest those rates of geometric progress should
double tax revenues within seven years and triple them within
ten. Combined with the continuous influx of large quantities
of aid and the government's commitment to education and health
improvement this should enable absolute poverty- earning less
than a dollar a day- to be largely abolished by 2020. Assuming
the present government doesn't lose its way, either because of
massive corruption or misplaced policies, Tanzania will
probably be the first country on the African continent to
achieve this goal.
Tanzania at present is one of the poorest countries in Africa.
This growth is starting from a low base. Yet the same could
have been said of South Korea or Thailand- the "Tiger
Economies"- forty years ago. High growth rates, compounded,
work to turn the graph of growth near to vertical after a
decade of continuous progress.
Needless to say, "abolishing" absolute poverty by raising the
incomes of the poor above a dollar a day is no big deal on its
own. But if it is combined with universal primary and
secondary education, health clinics, delivery rooms and safe
running water in every village, contraception in the 90%
range, which are all reasonable and doable goals given the
rate of growth, then both the present and the future of the
very poor will be very different. There will be still great
income inequalities- as there are already only a decade after
the rigorous socialism of Tanzania's founding president,
Julius Nyerere, has been shunted aside- but they will matter
less if the bottom 30%- mainly peasant farmers- are seeing
visible improvements in their quality of life.
Under Julius Nyerere there was little corruption. Today it is
a corroding curse. But Kikwete seems to be giving the system a
big shake. Recently he sacked the governor of the central bank
where an enormous scam involving hundreds of millions of
dollars was uncovered. Shortly after the prime minister was
asked to resign, leaving under a cloud of suspicion. Auditing
across the board is being stepped up and this year the
government auditors will present their report on time, a
remarkable step forward for Tanzania.
Then there is the "Chinese problem". Chinese investment and
aid is warmly welcomed by Tanzania. So is its hunger- along
with India's- for raw materials that is pushing up the prices
of the country's great variety of crops and minerals. But
Chinese and Indian competition in low cost manufacturers is
eating a hole in Tanzania's incipient industrialisation. There
is no way now that the country can replicate the success of
the Asian Tigers by industrialisation.
My own view is that that need be no barrier to continuous
growth. Tanzania's agricultural growth rate is half that of
Nigeria's and must be improved upon. But now, as commodity and
food prices move upward, the terms of trade are shifting for
the first time within memory in favour of the farmer. If the
government does not try to protect the urban consumer- who is
already beginning to shout for help- from this new trend, then
the farmers will- and have already started to- produce more
maize, cashew nuts, soya, pyrethrum etc. as prices rise in
respond to the Asian pull. (The very poor, the bottom 20%, in
the towns, can be helped by special subsidised food shops, but
they must not be accessible to the majority.)
Tanzania can grow for a long time if it gets its agriculture
off the ground. Industrialisation is a false panacea.
Australia and Chile proved the point long ago that you don't
need to industrialize to get reasonably wealthy. I can report
that wide ranges of opinion from the president himself, to the
head of the IMF, to aid donors, are increasingly convinced of
this point. If such a policy is implemented then the Tanzanian
lion (there are no tigers in Africa) can start to roar.
(Jonathan Power is an internationally renowned freelance
columnist. Copyright Jonathan Power. Dateline Dar es Salaam;
March 28th 2008. E-mail: JonatPower @aol.com or phone: +46 46
706 510879)
Building Ecotopia: Organic Cotton,
Hemp and Bamboo
Due to the comfort and durability of cotton, it
is one of the most popular natural fiber choices. Cotton has
been used for garments for centuries.
Chuck Hall
When
building Ecotopia, the principles of sustainable living touch
every aspect of our lives. Dressing 'green' is an important
part of living an Ecotopian lifestyle. The first thing you're
going to want to look for when dressing sustainably is
products made from fibers that are organically grown. Just
because a garment is made from natural fibers doesn't mean
that the fibers were grown in a method that is safe for the
environment. About one-fourth of the insecticides used
worldwide go into commercially grown cotton alone! So it is
critical to make sure that you are purchasing garments made
from organically grown fibers if you want to protect the
environment.
Due to the comfort and durability of cotton, it is one of the
most popular natural fiber choices. Cotton has been used for
garments for centuries. The United States and Turkey are the
world's largest producers of organic cotton, so there is a
ready supply available in the U.S. for manufacturing greener
garments, but countries around the world, including Canada and
Australia, are rapidly catching up. When choosing cotton
clothing, it is important to make sure that it is grown
organically. It takes nearly half a pound of chemicals to grow
enough cotton for one t-shirt when the cotton isn't grown with
organic techniques. Think about that the next time you visit
your favorite t-shirt shop!
Hemp is another readily sustainable crop. Hemp plants are
highly productive, easy to cultivate and more tolerant of
insects and other pests than cotton. It has been used to make
ropes and garments for centuries. Unfortunately, although hemp
cannot be used as a narcotic and has no hallucinogenic
properties, it went out of favor in the 1930s in the United
States for political reasons due to its resemblance to its
cousin, marijuana. Apparently the U.S. government is afraid
that Drug Enforcement Agents wouldn't be able to tell the
difference between commercial hemp and marijuana! There has
been a renewed interest in this natural plant fiber due to the
fact that it is so easy to grow and its fibers are so durable,
so restrictions are easing up somewhat, but because of the
short-sightedness of the United States in this area, China
remains the world's largest exporter of hemp. So if you buy
hemp clothing, it will probably come from China or India,
another large exporter of this fiber.
Believe it or not, bamboo is rapidly becoming a fiber of
choice in the green clothing industry as well. It is
hypoallergenic, absorbent, fast-drying, durable and naturally
anti-bacterial. It is also very breathable and quite
surprisingly comfortable to wear. Bamboo is a very
fast-growing plant, as any gardener can tell you, making it
easy to replenish. It is therefore another highly sustainable
crop plant.
(Chuck Hall is an internationally renowned columnist
writing on climate change and environmental issues. Chuck by
email at: chuck@cultureartist.org.)
Turkey's secular
fundamentalist threat
The chief prosecutor also formally
recommended that Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, President
Abdullah Gul and 69 other leading politicians be banned from
politics five years.
Alfred Stepan
NEW
YORK - The chief prosecutor of Turkey's high court of appeals recently
recommended to the country's constitutional court that the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) be permanently banned. Only last
July, the AKP was overwhelmingly reelected in free and fair elections to
lead the government.
The chief prosecutor also formally recommended that Prime Minister Recep
Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul and 69 other leading politicians be
banned from politics five years.Clearly, banning the AKP would trigger a
political crisis that would end Turkey's efforts to join the European
Union in the foreseeable future and threaten its recent strong economic
growth.
So the chief prosecutor's threat should not be taken lightly - all the
more so given that the constitutional court has banned 18 political
parties (including the AKP's predecessor party) since the current
constitution was introduced in 1982. Indeed, the recent call to ban the
AKP is directly related to its efforts to change Turkey's
constitution.The underlying charge in the chief prosecutor's indictment
is that the AKP has been eroding secularism. But the origins of the
current constitution, and its definition of secularism, are highly
suspect.
Turkey's existing constitution was adopted in 1982 as a direct product
of the Turkish military coup in 1980. The five senior generals who led
the coup appointed, directly or indirectly, all 160 members of the
consultative assembly that drafted the new constitution, and they
retained a veto over the final document. In the national ratification
referendum that followed, citizens were allowed to vote against the
military-sponsored draft, but not to argue against it publicly.As a
result, the 1982 constitution has weaker democratic origins than any in
the EU. Its democratic content was also much weaker, assigning, for
example, enormous power (and a military majority) to the National
Security Council. While the AKP has moderated this authoritarian
feature, it is difficult to democratise such a constitution fully, and
official EU reports on Turkey's prospects for accession repeatedly call
for a new constitution, not merely an amended one. With public opinion
polls indicating that the AKP's draft constitution, prepared by an
academic committee, would be accepted through normal democratic
procedures, the chief prosecutor acted to uphold the type of secularism
enshrined in the 1982 constitution, which many commentators liken to
French secularism. Yet, the comparison with what the French call laicité
is misleading.
Certainly, both French laicité and Turkish secularism (established by
modern Turkey's founder, Kemal Atatürk) began with a similar hostility
towards religion. But now they are quite different. In Turkey, the only
religious education that is tolerated is under the strict control of the
state, whereas in France a wide variety of privately supported religious
education is allowed, and since 1959 the state has paid for much of the
Catholic Church's primary school costs. In Turkey, Friday prayers are
written by civil servants in the 70,000-member State Directorate of
Religious Affairs, and all Turkish imams also must be civil servants. No
similar controls exist in France. Similarly, until the AKP came to power
and began to loosen restrictions, it was virtually impossible in Turkey
to create a new church or synagogue, or to create a Jewish or Christian
foundation. This may be why the Armenian patriarch urged ethnic
Armenians in Turkey to vote for the AKP in last July's elections. Here,
too, no such restrictions exist in France.
The differences between French and Turkish secularism can be put in even
sharper comparative perspective. In the widely cited "Fox" index
measuring state control of majority and minority religions, in which
zero represents the least state control, and figures in the thirties
represent the greatest degree of control, all but two current EU member
states get scores that are in the zero to six range. France is at the
high end of the EU norm, with a score of six. Turkey, however, scores
24, worse even than Tunisia's authoritarian secular regime.Is this the
type of secularism that needs to be perpetuated by the chief
prosecutor's not so-soft constitutional coup?
What really worries some democratic secularists in Turkey and elsewhere
is that the AKP's efforts at constitutional reform might be simply a
first step towards introducing Sharia Law. If the constitutional court
will not stop a potential AKP-led imposition of Sharia, who will?
The writer is professor of Government and Director of the Centre for
Democracy, Toleration and Religion at Columbia University. ©Project
Syndicate, 2008. www.project-syndicate.org.
Source: www.jordantimes.com
International
Pakistan’s new
Prime Minister reiterates commitment to fighting terror
AFP, Pakistan
Pakistan's new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said
Saturday fighting terrorism would be his government's top
priority, but offered to negotiate with those who renounce
violence and give up weapons.
In his first policy statement since securing unanimous
backing of MPs in the 342-member lower house of
parliament, Gilani termed terrorism the biggest threat to
his nuclear-armed nation.
The assurance appeared aimed at calming US concerns about
any weakening of Pakistan's key role in the "war on
terror" after the shift of power from its staunch ally
President Pervez Musharraf to the newly elected powers led
by slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's party.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant
Secretary of State for South Asian affairs Richard Boucher
held intensive talks with the new leadership here this
week to assess their commitment to counter terrorism.
"The fight against terrorism is our own fight because it
has claimed innocent lives of children and young men of
Pakistan," said Gilani, 55.
Pakistan is reeling under an unprecedented spate of
violence which has killed more than 600 people this year.
The turmoil is blamed on Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants
hiding in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
"Our first priority will be restoration of law and order
and elimination of terrorism from the country," Gilani
added.
"Unfortunately some people have made violence a means to
express their views. I appeal to all those people to
abandon the path of violence and join us in the journey of
democracy.
"We are ready to talk to all those people who give up arms
and are ready to embrace peace," Gilani said to loud
support from MPs.
He also promised a special package of political and
economic reforms for the tribal areas as part of
government's broad-based strategy to fighting terrorism
and extremism.
"There is a dire need for a sustained political, economic
and social reforms in our tribal areas. Poverty and
illiteracy have led to the growth of terrorism in these
areas," Gilani said.
"In order to overcome these social ills we will give a
special package to these areas which will be an important
pillar in our strategy to fighting terrorism."
Security analysts say Gilani's offer of talks to
surrendering militants does not represent a new initiative
as a similar approach followed by Musharraf in the tribal
belt failed to contain the unrest.
Musharraf's allies lost elections last month, and Gilani
told US President George W. Bush earlier this week that a
broader approach to the "war on terror" is necessary,
including political solutions.
A senior partner in the new coalition government, former
premier Nawaz Sharif, warned the US envoys, who spent four
days in Pakistan, that parliament would review Musharraf's
"one-man" strategy against Islamic extremism.
Sharif said he told them that it was unacceptable for
Pakistan to become a "murder-house" for the sake of US
policies.
Syria’s Assad denies meddling in Lebanon at boycotted
summit
AFP, Syria
Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad denied on Saturday meddling in
Lebanon as he hosted an Arab summit boycotted by half of
the region's leaders, many of whom blame Damascus for the
political crisis in Beirut.
"I would like to make a point with regards to Syrian
interference in Lebanon. It is the contrary which is true
because pressure has been exerted on Syria for over a year
to interfere in Lebanon's affairs" but we have refused to
do so, Assad said.
"They have their nation, their institutions, their
constitution," he said in an opening address to the
leaders of Algeria, the Comoros, Kuwait, Libya,
Mauritania, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Sudan,
Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders stayed away
after Washington urged its allies to think twice before
attending the summit of the 22-member Arab League,
accusing Syria of blocking the election of a new president
in Lebanon.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak sent a statement to the
summit urging Damascus to contain Arab rifts.
Syria must "open the way for a new phase (in Arab
relations) and contain disputes and differences," said the
statement, distributed by the Egyptian embassy.
"Improving Arab-Arab relations needs intense efforts ...
and it is natural for the presidency of the summit to lead
these efforts and pave the way for the new phase," Mubarak
added.
The seat earmarked for Lebanon itself was left vacant, but
Syria trumpeted the absence of US allies as a triumph over
Washington's influence.
"They (the United States) did their best to prevent the
summit but they failed," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid
Muallem told reporters ahead of the two-day gathering.
"Their aim is to divide the Arab world."
Several Arab officials have expressed frustration at the
West's "interference" in Arab affairs.
"There has been US pressure on Arab countries to reduce
their participation," Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman
Shalgham told reporters in Damascus on Saturday.
"We as Arabs do not interfere in European summits. It has
become a farce and this situation must be remedied by a
joint Arab effort," he said.
Baghdad curfew extended indefinitely
AFP, Baghdad
The curfew in Baghdad, which was to be lifted on Sunday
morning, has been extended for an indefinite period, as
violent clashes between Shiite fighters and security
forces raged in the Iraqi capital, state television Al-Iraqiya
reported.
"The Baghdad military command has decided to extend the
curfew in the Iraqi capital for an indefinite period," the
television report said. The capital's military command had
originally imposed the curfew covering pedestrians and
vehicles from late Thursday till 5:00 am (0200 GMT) on
Sunday .
The curfew was imposed after fierce clashes broke out in
the capital between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US
troops, mainly in the sprawling impoverished district of
Sadr City in east Baghdad.
They erupted after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched
an assault on Shiite fighters in the southern city of
Basra on Tuesday.
At least 75 people have been killed and nearly 500 wounded
in the firefights over the past five days in Sadr City,
and nearly 260 people countrywide.
Meanwhile, according to BSS, Reuters says, two U.S.
soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad
on Saturday, the U.S. military said.
Earlier the U.S. military said that a U.S. soldier was
killed as a result of wounds sustained from a roadside
bomb attack south of Baghdad on Friday.
Following are the latest figures for soldiers and
Civilians killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March,
2003:
US-LED COALITION FORCES:
United States 4,007
Britain 176
Other nations 134
IRAQIS:
Military Between 4,900 and 6,375
Civilians Between 82,591 and 90,115
Think-tank estimates for military under Saddam Hussein
killed during the 2003 war. No reliable official figures
have been issued since new security forces were set up in
late 2003. From www.iraqbodycount.net (IBC), run by
academics and peace activists, based on reports from at
least two media sources.
The IBC says on its Web site the figure underestimates the
true number of casualties.
The U.S-led military coalition toll includes casualties
from Iraq and the surrounding area where troops are
stationed.
Nepal royalists warn of civil war if king ousted
AFP, Kathmandu
Allies of Nepal's embattled
king have warned that the Himalayan nation could slide
back into civil war if landmark elections next month lead
to abolition of the monarchy.
Several prominent royalists insisted many people in the
deeply traditional Hindu-majority nation wanted the
239-year- old institution to stay and were opposed to the
rise of former Maoist rebels, in interviews with AFP.
The April 10 polls will be a culmination of a peace deal
between the republican Maoists and mainstream secular
parties that ended a decade-long insurgency aimed at
toppling the monarchy that claimed 13,000 lives.
The ex-rebels and the parties have already agreed King
Gyanendra will have to go after the polls to elect a body
that will rewrite Nepal's constitution.
But Major General Bharat Keshwer Simha, a long-time royal
aide who accompanied the royals on foreign visits for
decades, forecast a violent backlash in the impoverished
nation wedged between India and China.
"If the Maoists can take up arms and come to power, Hindus
will also take up arms. It will be worse than the Maoists'
war and many people will be killed," he said.
Kunda Dixit, editor of the English language weekly Nepali
Times, agreed the king would not take the abolition of his
dynasty lying down.
"Given the personality of the king, he's not the type that
is going to step down quietly," Dixit said. But he saw the
monarchists' dire warnings as a last-ditch bid to try to
derail the elections that will lead to the abolition of
the institution.
"Things are pretty volatile and can be stoked-all it would
take is a few acts" to force cancellation of the polls, he
said.
Diplomats close to the process have consistently warned
that the political peace is fragile with all sides ready
to resort to violence. On Saturday, a mosque bombing in
the south killed two people and stoked communal tensions.
King Gyanendra, 60, was vaulted to the throne in 2001
after the massacre of his popular brother Birendra and
most of the rest of the royal family by a drink-and-drug
fuelled crown prince.
Conspiracy theories linking Gyanendra and his unpopular
son Prince Paras to the massacre have made the king "the
most unpopular man in Nepal," said Dixit.
At the same time "the people make a distinction between a
vote for the person of the monarch and the institution of
monarchy," Kunda said. "The latest polls have shown about
half the population would prefer to keep some kind of
symbolic monarchy," he said.
Rice in Mideast to boost peace
talks
AFP, Jerusalem
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was holding talks
with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Sunday on her
second trip to the region this month to try to bolster the
faltering Middle East peace process.
She is expected to push both sides to abide by their
commitments under an internationally-drafted roadmap for
peace and in particular for Israel to ease restrictions on
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
"I will spend a good deal of time on issues concerning the
West Bank and issues concerning the ability to provide
better life for people of the West Bank, including ways to
improve movement access," Rice told reporters travelling
with her.
"The improvement of life on the ground is the piece that I
think really has to be pushed forward very heard," she
said.
Rice started her visit on Saturday with a working dinner
with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and is due to meet
senior Israeli and Palestinian officials on Sunday,
including Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
"I am not coming to insert American ideas into the
process. I think they are doing a lot of work on their own
but I do want to talk to them to get some sense of how it
is going," Rice said.
Rice will encourage renewal of regular meetings between
Olmert and Abbas, suspended in the wake of a deadly
Israeli blitz in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip last month.
The peace talks were revived at an international
conference in the United States in November after a
seven-year hiatus, with both leaders vowing to try to ink
an accord by the end of 2008.
But negotiations have since made little visible progress
and were marred by Israel's settlement activity in the
occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, a deadly attack on
a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem and Gaza violence.
Despite the setbacks, a senior Israeli official this week
said the two sides have made considerable headway, as
chief Israeli negotiator Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and
her Palestinian counterpart, former premier Ahmed Qorei,
continued holding intensive meetings.
On Sunday, Rice will hold a three-way meeting with Israeli
Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian prime minister
Salam Fayyad, at which she is expected to press the two
sides to carry out their roadmap commitments.
Under the roadmap-drafted in 2003 by the so-called Middle
East Quartet of the United States, Russia, the United
Nations and the European Union-Israel is to freeze
settlements and the Palestinians are to stop violence.
Russia warns against US NATO drive for Georgia, Ukraine
AFP, Moscow
The US-led drive to bring Georgia and Ukraine into NATO
may seriously harm Russia's ties with Washington and NATO,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said late Saturday
in televised comments.
"As for the upcoming (NATO) summit in Bucharest, I am
convinced that the US administration firmly decided to do
all it can so that Georgia's and Ukraine's membership in
the NATO became unavoidable," Lavrov said.
Washington "took the course of forced, swift inclusion of
Georgia and Ukraine in to NATO," Lavrov added.
"If Ukraine's and Georgia's NATO membership becomes a
practical issue, it will have serious consequences, and
not only for our ties with the United States, but for our
relations with NATO as an organisation," Lavrov warned.
Georgia hopes, along with Ukraine, to be invited at a NATO
summit next week to sign up to NATO's so-called Membership
Action Plan (MAP), which helps aspiring countries prepare
for future entry.
Up to a dozen countries, led by Germany, are known to be
sceptical. Russia vehemently opposes the NATO ambitions of
its two neighbours and Soviet-era vassals, and has accused
the Western alliance of trying to encircle it.
The sceptics are wary of provoking a further row with
Moscow on top of a dispute over US plans to deploy an
anti- missile system in the Czech Republic and Poland.
NATO nations have expressed deep concern about the state
of emergency Georgia imposed in December to end opposition
protests, as well as its frozen conflicts with separatist
Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Bush off to Europe to rally Afghanistan support,
farewell Putin
AFP, Washington
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