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Leading News
poor navigability
19 fertilizer laden vessels stranded in the Jamuna
UNB, Pabna
Nineteen cargo vessels with 55,000 sacks of fertilizer, on
way to Baghabari river port, remained stranded in the
Jamuna River at Charsafulla in Bera upazila for about four
days due to poor navigability on the river-route.
The number of stranded vessels is rising with every
passing day in the channel of the river, as Bangladesh
Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) halted its
dredging work on Aricha-Baghabari river route for nearly
one month.
Sources said that at least a 9-foot depth is required for
smooth plying of cargo vessels but for lack of dredging
the depth came down to 6-7 feet at 11 points, including
Mohan-ganj, Nakalia, Pechokola, Harirampur and Safullapur,
on the river route. During a visit to Charsafulla on
Thursday, the UNB correspondent found that workers were
unloading the fertilizers from the stranded vessels on to
small boats along the 25-kilometre waterway from Baghabari
river port to Nakalia for transshipment.
Masters of some fuel oil carrying vessels apprehended that
the supply of diesel and other fuels from Baghabari Depot
might come to a halt any time if the navigability of the
river falls further.
They said the fuel-carrying ships are now plying on the
route amid heavy risk. If the BIWTA does not resume the
dredging work immediately, the channel will turn fully
dysfunctional for any kind of vessel.
DMP
actions fail to ease traffic jam situation
TBT Report
In order to reduce traffic jam and suffering of the city
dwellers, Dhaka Metropolitan Police is engaged in taking
several sorts of measures including setting up numbers of
traffic signal posts at different strategic points in the
capital and launching crackdown against unfit vehicles.
Despite this, the overall situations remain unchanged,
according to witness.
As part of the drive, Dhaka Metropolitan Traffic Police
seized around 27 vehicles on various charges including
ignoring traffic Act from different parts of the capital
in 24 hours ending Friday afternoon. At the same time, the
law enforces collected Tk 18,000 as fine from traffic Act
violators and picked up a driver. Apart from these, a
total of 693 cases were lodged under Motor Vehicle Act.
According to sources, around 524,000 vehicles including
1,47,000 private cars 59,000 microbuses and jeeps, 8,300
passenger buses, 8,320 minibuses, 6,272 taxicabs and CNG-run
auto-rickshaws and auto-tempos 19,591 are now plying the
city streets every day.
Besides, around 125 vehicles are getting registration on
average everyday. With an increasing number of new and
unfit vehicles are hitting the city streets, creating
troublesome tailbacks as actions against new and unfit
vehicles are absent since long, the sources said.
While talking to this correspondent, Selim Md Zahangir DC
of traffic west said traffic police with the help of the
members of different law enforcement agencies are
conducting drive against unfit vehicles and drivers with
fake license to free the city streets from traffic jam and
untoward incidents. But step has not so far been taken
against new vehicles which are creating jam too.
He said according to BRTA statistics, around 150 to 180
new vehicles are coming to the city streets everyday which
is also another main cause for creating traffic jam. Rules
and regulations against the increasing number of new
vehicle will have to be adopted as city's road space is
very limited according to the proportion of increasing
numbers of new vehicles.
DMP traffic sources said the department is facing
challenges with its inadequate number of traffic police
and officials to deal with different type of situations as
only 730 people have been recruited to DMP (traffic) in
the last six years. At present, the total number of
manpower in the traffic department in the DMP is 2,726
against the sanctioned posts 2,995.
Dhaka City Corporation is issuing licence for rickshaws,
but it does not take action against illegal rickshaws as
numbers of rickshaws are plying the city streets holding
similar registration number which is also creating traffic
jam.
Hasina
pledges to reach fruits of independence to common people
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said it is her profound
conviction that the new generation charged with the spirit
of Bangabandhu's historic speech of 7th March and being
encouraged with the true history of independence would
devote them to building Bangladesh.
She made the remark Friday evening at a seminar on 'Bangabandhu:
7th March' at the Engineers Institute auditorium, which
was organized by Banga-bandhu Memorial Trust. Hasina
reaffirmed that her government would reach the fruits of
independence to the doorsteps of the common people. She
said that the historic speech of March 7 by father of the
nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was unique, as
"he could go for Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI),
but he did not take that course. Because then he could
have been branded as secessionist."
The Prime Minister said that Bangabandhu was very much
conscious that the secessionist movement would not receive
the support of the world leaders.
Bangabandhu was waiting to see how far the oppression of
the Pakistani military rulers could go, she said. "But
Bangabandhu gave all necessary directions for the
liberation war in his historic 7th March speech at the
Race Course maidan (since renamed Suhra-wardy Uddayan."
The Prime Minister said that on the black night of March
25, Bangabandhu conveyed the declaration of independence
through wireless of the then EPR, telegram and tele-printer.
In this connection, she said that there is a debate about
who proclaimed the independence. "It is only Bangabandhu
who proclaimed the independence, none else."
Hasina alleged that there were some Bengali officers in
the Pakistani army who killed many Bangladeshis when they
were putting barricades on roads in Chittagong. "Later,
one of them became the proclaimer of the independence.
Many Bengali officers know about this fact," she said. She
also said that only Bangabadhu has the ability to declare
the independence, none else. "Before the 7th March, many
leaders of that time had declared independence of
Bangladesh. But was Bangladesh able to gain independence?"
Hasina urged the party leaders to distribute Bangabandhu's
historic 7th March speech among the young generation so
they could know the real fact about the country's
independence.
She claimed that the speech of Bangabandhu was the most
heard speech in the world. "This speech is forever and its
attraction still remains," she said.
The Prime Minister asked the new generation to remember
that Bangabandhu never bowed down to anyone when it came
to realizing the rights of the people.
NBR to curb non-PSI items' import to protect
local industries
UNB, Dhaka
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is likely to be harsh
on inspecting the import of non-PSI items, as such import
bypassing mandatory PSI system has increased manifold
apparently to evade taxes and duties.
NBR sources said they would be more careful about the
pricing of the non-PSI imported items.
Recently, the NBR has detected that some dishonest
importers in connivance with some customs officials
increased their import of non-PSI items showing lower
prices. NBR sources said that the under-invoicing of
imported items adversely affected the growth of local
industries.
According to Chittagong Customs House sources,
air-conditioner, refrigerator, readymade garments,
cell-phones and its accessories, main parts of watches,
imitation jewellery, agricultural machine parts, motor
parts, spectacles, and electrical and electronic items are
coming in large quantities in recent times. "We have to
curb the influx of non-PSI items for the sake of revenue
generation and protecting our local industries," a highly
placed NBR official told UNB on Friday.
He said that shirts, pants, shoes and toys are coming from
China and Thailand, sarees and three-pieces from India,
and cosmetics and imitation jewellery from Singapore and
United Arab Emirates (UAE). The NBR official said that
most of the non-PSI imported items are produced locally.
According to a data from Chittagong Customs House, around
42,000 items without having mandatory PSI were imported in
the recent past. Chittagong Customs House sources said
that the Customs authority released the items after
imposing fine ranging from 10-20 percent of the imported
value.
The unscrupulous importers showed very low price for the
imported items. Despite giving the fine, they make huge
profit as they declared very low prices for the imported
items. Citing an example, the NBR high official said that
often the importers showed US$ 10 as the price of an
imported item whose value will not be less than US$ 70.
In this connection, he mentioned that due to the Import
Policy Ordinance they are bound to allow the import of
non-PSI items after imposing small fines.
Speaker for govt-opposition mutual
cooperation
BSS, Dhaka
Jatiya Sangsad Speaker M Abdul Hamid Advocate on Friday
said parliament can be more effective if the government
and the opposition work sincerely.
"The parliament will become more effective in the coming
days through mutual cooperation and tolerance between the
government and the opposition", the Speaker said while
addressing as the chief guest the art competition,
organized on the JS premises here on the occasion of the
Commonwealth Day.
The programme was jointly organized by the Parliament
Secretariat and the Commonwealth Parlia-mentary
Association (CPA) for the students of secondary and
primary level students.
Abdul Hamid said tolerance is essentially needed for the
flourishment of democracy. Describing the children as the
future of Bangladesh, the Speaker said that the interests
of the children about science and technology would play a
supportive role in turning Bangladesh into a digital
country.
Several hundred students from different schools of the
country, including the Dhaka city, participated in the
programme.
Formation of Agriculture Reforms Commission
demanded
UNB, Dhaka
Speakers at a discussion on Friday urged the government to
form an Agriculture Reforms Commission to formulate
overall agricultural reform programmes and to ensure fair
price for agricultural produce.
They emphasized on starting agricultural reform activities
through the formation of the Agriculture Reforms
Commission, as the development of the country is not
possible sidetracking this vital sector.
The demand came from a views-exchange meeting on
'Formulating Agriculture Reform Programmes and Ensuring
Fair Price for Agricultural Products', which was organized
by Nagorik Sanghati (citizens solidarity), at the Comrade
Moni Singh-Farhad Me-mory Trust in the city.
The meeting also made a five-point recommendation that
included launching of crops loan, which can be expanded to
all the unions across the country. Besides, it should be
made mandatory for the NGOs and private banks to disburse
loans to increase the flow of crops loan.
The other recommendations urged the government to procure
paddy directly from the farmers after fixing the price on
the basis of production cost, strengthen government
monitoring on market system, take long-term plan for
reducing production cost of fertilizers through increasing
the domestic production and to formulate national crops
production plan prioritizing the food security after
dividing the country into different crops zone. Chaired by
Nagorik Sanghati general secretary Sharifuzzaman Sharif,
the meeting was addressed, among others, by Shawkat Momen
Shahjahan MP, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Agriculture Ministry.
Back Page
Govt to buy modern equipment,
train 62,000 volunteers to face quakes
BSS, Dhaka
The government will buy modern equipment and train 62,000
volunteers to face earthquakes, as experts apprehend
seismic activities any time, which might cause havoc in
the cities.
"Bangladesh is located near plate boundary and within the
country there are existences of shallow active faults.
Shallow earthquakes are very dangerous because they are
very close to the built environment," said Food and
Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzak on Friday.
He was addressing as the chief guest the inaugural session
of the third International Earthquake Symposium jointly
organised by the Bangladesh Earthquake Society (BES) and
the Department of Civil Engineering of BUET at its
auditorium.
"It is estimated that 50 million people run the risk of
encountering Himalayan quakes in this area, many of them
in the densely-populated capitals of Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Nepal and Pakistan," he said.
As there was no major earthquake in the last century, Dr
Razzak said, there had not been preparedness, but now for
the last two to three years, the government has been
getting prepared for it. "We need to review our
preparations in case of a major earthquake," he said
referring to repeated quakes in the country and elsewhere
in the world.
He said the government has recently taken a number of
steps, including creating volunteers, building awareness
and purchasing modern equipment, to face a tremor. "We
have already purchased some equipment at a cost of Taka 40
crore while more are under process," he added. The
minister said efforts are on to build awareness and
preparedness in every segment of the community, including
schools and colleges. "We are going to train 62,000
volunteers to run search and rescue activities whenever
there is an earthquake," he said, adding that CDMP
procured search and rescue equipment for the Fire Service
and Civil Defence.
Another procurement of 1.7 million dollars is also under
process, while equipment worth Taka 70 crore will also be
procured soon, the minister said, adding that highrise
buildings, expansion of cities and construction of
flyovers are raising the vulnerability of the cities. "Chittagong
and Sylhet run quite a good risk of earthquakes. However,
the risk for Dhaka is comparatively less," said BES
President Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury, calling for strict
enforcement of building code.
"Dhaka got its building code only a few years back, but
its implementation is very slow. Around 90 percent
building are constructed without following the code," said
Prof Choudhury.
Among others, BUET Vice Chancellor Prof AMM Safiullah,
Pro- VC Prof Habibur Rahman, Prof TM Al-Hussaini and
General Secretary of BES Prof Munaz Ahmed Noor also spoke
at the function.
NCD increasing
alarmingly, needs prevention
BSS, Dhaka
Medical specialists and nutritionists at a seminar here on
Friday expressed deep concern over non- communicable
disease (NCD) as those are incre-asing alarmingly with the
advancement of civilization.
They said the communicable diseases are decreasing
gradually but the NCDs like cardiovascular disease,
cancer, diabetics and hypertension are increasing that
causes 60 percent deaths in the country every year.
Unbalanced and unhealthy food habits, inadequate physical
exercise and use of tobacco are mainly responsible for
increasing NCDs, the legendary physicians of the country
said. Non-Communicable Disease Forum (NCD-F) organised the
seminar with the assistance of non-government organisation
Emine-nce at Hotel Sheraton here.
With Prof Dr Rafique Uddin Ahmed, President NCD-F, in the
chair, the function was addressed, among others, by State
Minister for Health and Family Welfare Captain (retd) Dr
Mujibur Rahman Fakir, National Professor Brigadier General
Dr Abdul Malik, Prof (Emeritus) and former advisor to the
caretaker government Sufia Rahman, National Prof Dr Nurul
Islam, and Nutritionist of FAO Dr Lalita Bhattacharjee.
Dr Dewan S Alam of ICDDR'B presented a keynote on Non-
Communicable Disease Prevention and Control: Role of Diet
and other Life Style Modifications while another paper
titled Effect of Climate Change in Non Communicable
Disease: From Chronicle to Certainty was presented by Dr A
M Zakir Hossain.
The speakers called for raising awareness about cancer so
that patients can visit the doctors at primary level of
the disease. They strongly proposed for taking decision on
tobacco as it creates many diseases, including
cardiovascular disease, cancer and hypertension. In some
Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, the
young people are not allowed to buy tobacco products, the
speaker said, adding that Bangladesh government should
think about it.
Giving utmost importance on prevention, the medical
specialists said NCD does not come in a day and suggested
for maintaining a healthy lifestyle during all phases of
life to prevent NCDs.
Govt working to improve quality of
education: Nahid
BSS, Sirajganj
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Friday said the
government is working for the improvement of the quality
of education in the country.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the
foundation-laying ceremony of Advocate Mazharul Islam
Science Buil-ding at Shahjadpur Gove-rnment College.
Presided over by the college Principal Azadur Rahman, the
function was also addressed by Chayon Islam MP, Makbul
Hossain, MP, Shafiqul Islam, MP, and former Rajshahi
University Vice- Chancellor Dr Abdul Khaleque, said an
official release. The education minister said, with the
advancement of science and technology, the lifestyle and
social and administrative activities would change in
future.
Therefore, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has declared to
build a digital Bangladesh by 2011 to prepare the new
generation for the future, he added. Nahid said to
implement this plan, the education ministry has undertaken
various programmes, including compulsory internet services
in schools and colleges. He stressed on developing a
corruption-free and efficient education system in the
country.
Tribal youths launch
attack in Rangamati
BSS, Rangamati
A group of tribal youths launched an attack in the
Rangapani area of Rangamati Sadar at the dead of night
Thursday.
The armed youths raided the village and started searching
for Jana Sanghati Samity leader Ankur Chakma and other
leaders of this organisation and Pahari Chhatra Parishad.
They vandalized the house of Ankur and fired one round of
gunshot. None was injured as the inmates had fled the
scene.
The attackers tried to snap telephone connections in
Rangapani.
Ankur Chakma said he had saved himself by hiding in a
corner of his house during the attack. Police and army
visited the area.
Superintendent of Police Masud-ul Hassan said police
recovered some empty cartridges from the spot. Jana
Sanghati Samity district General Secretary Bodhisatta
Chakma said that a communal group has launched the attack.
He said that group is trying to create anarchy in
Chittagong Hill Tracts to gain vested interest.
Call to reduce
public-private collaboration gap
BSS, Dhaka
Reducing the gap between the government and private
sectors in ensuring e-service delivery to people was top
of the agenda at a seminar on the second day of 'Digital
Innovation Fair-2010', first of its kind in the country.
Top-ranking government officials, policymakers, private
entrepreneurs, IT experts sha-red their views at the
seminar styled "Sustaining e-service Delivery with
Appropriate ICT HR in the government" on the sideline of
the three-day fair at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Novo Theatre here.
UNDP-funded Access to Information (A2I) Prog-ramme under
the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Science and ICT
ministry have co-organized the fair that began Thursday
inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The government kept insulated itself at a time when the
world is looking for collaboration, they pointed out and
said only synchronization between the government and
private bodies can help make people digitally advanced.
Administration Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister HT
Imam spoke as the chief guest while Secretary of the
ministry of Establishment Iqbal Mahmood was in the chair.
Executive director of Bangl-adesh Computer Council (BCS) M
Mahfuzur Rahman presented the keynote paper on the topic
of the seminar.
President of Bangladesh Association of Software and
Information Services (BASIS) Habibullah N Karim, president
of Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) Mustafa Jabbar and
additional secretary of the ministry of finance Syed
Monjurul Islam were the panelists.
HT Imam said the government used to provide huge services
for all but the people are being deprived of getting those
as they does not know about the government provided
services. Admitting the fact that the government kept
itself insulated, he said private sector is also identical
and that is why communication between the two sectors is a
must.
People in private sector are not hanker after to
collaborate with the government because of the
government's salary structure, he said adding that there
might be a long-time agreement between the government and
private bodies.
DMP starts registration of GDs online
UNB, Dhaka
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Friday formally started
registering general diaries (GDs) online to reach legal
services to the doorsteps of people by using the
information technology.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Home Minister Sahara Khatun
inaugurated the online GD registration at her office.
Meanwhile, a workshop on "Online Citizen Help Request" was
held at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police HQs today. DMP
Commissioner AKM Shahidul Haque moderated the workshop.
A DMP press release said that people can take advantage of
the online facility by filing GDs for loss of passport, ID
cards, bank cheque book, certificates or any type of
documents as well as in providing information about
different crimes.
To avail the service, one would have to log in to
www.dmp.gov.bd and click the link "Citizen's Help Request"
for filing a general diary. In the first phase, 41 police
stations under the DMP would provide such online services
and other police stations across the country in different
phases.
Nuclear treatment centres to be set
up
BSS, Bogra
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) will set up a
number of nuclear treatment centres to reach nuclear
treatment facilities at the door-steps of the people in
remote areas of the country.
Nuclear health care facilities are being given to the
people of the country through 14 nuclear treatment centres
including an institute, Chairman of the BAEC Dr Md.
Mosharraf Hossain told the inaugural function of the 15th
national conference of Society of Nuclear Medicine
Bangladesh at a city hotel here today.
Director of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital,
Bogra Brig Gen Md Shafiqul Islam attended the function as
the special guest with Chairman of the society Prof MA
Kabir in the chair. Vice Chairman of the society Dr Rokan
Uddin, General Secretary Dr Rayhan Hossain and Director of
Nuclear Treatment Centre, Bogra Dr Selim Ansari, among
others, addressed the function.
Editorial
Upholding the dignity
of Parliament
People
across the country have been reassured by the bold stand taken
by the Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Advocate Abdul Hamid to
protect the dignity of the House and restore discipline
therein. Seeking cooperation of both treasury and opposition
benches in running parliament smoothly, the Speaker Thursday
urged them not to make any unconstitutional, un-parliamentary,
filthy and aggressive remarks at this sacred place. "If any
lawmaker makes such speech, his or her microphone will be
switched off immediately," the Speaker warned. Abdul Hamid
also urged all lawmakers to extend their hands of cooperation
towards making the Jatiya Sangsad truly effective to fulfill
the hopes and aspirations of the people.
Mentioning Wednesday's incident in the JS as unexpected, the
Speaker said, "I earnestly hope that such incident will not
take place again. He said that many hard remarks could be
presented beautifully and in a soft tone. But the image of the
parliament as well as that of the lawmakers was tarnished due
to use of unparliamentary and filthy languages in the House on
Wednesday. Speaker Abdul Hamid in a rude reminder said
parliament is not the right place for fistfight or wrestling,
as the two sides traded invectives and spoke ill of each
other's paramount leaders who were both slain long time ago.
"If you want to fight or do wrestling with each other, please
go to Paltan Maidan. Or you can also use the field in front of
the parliament for this purpose. You can go there after
rubbing oil on your body and wearing only underwear," he said.
The Speaker said on swearing that he wants to uphold the
dignity of the House and maintain discipline.
The role of the Speaker may appear to some people as too hard.
But it is not without reason and he is justified. The Speaker
is the guardian of the House and so he has every right to be
tough to uphold the dignity and sanctity of the parliament
which represents the nation. The way the members have been
behaving for the last few days and particularly on last
Wednesday was unbecoming of the people's representatives and
totally unacceptable. Every Parliament has some rules and
norms and the members should abide by those. Rhetoric, war of
words and pandemonium are common in almost all parliaments
across the world, but no where the violation of the
Parliamentary rules of procedure, norms and dignity of the
House is allowed. So the Speaker is completely right in
pointing out that the members may be locked in wrestling
outside, if they want to do so, but not in the House and that
unparliamentary, filthy, aggressive remarks cannot be made in
the Parliament. Speaker Abdul Hamid deserves thanks and
appreciation as he has boldly played the role of the Speaker
with sincerity.
It is encouraging that senior members from both the treasury
bench and the opposition have responded positively to the call
of the Speaker and agreed to maintain restrain and discipline
and make the Parliament effective through constructive
contribution. We hope that they will remain true to their
words and the Speaker will guide them in turning the
Parliament into what it is meant for. We also share the
people's expectation that the lawmakers will behave and act as
true public representatives and never resort to character
assassination of the rivals. Lastly, we hope that after the
new beginning as has been mentioned by a senior opposition
member, the lawmakers will henceforth speak only for the
people and their causes.
Pure and safe!
It
is known to everyone that the capital Dhaka faces a severe
water crisis and many of the city dwellers are forced to
consume dirty, contaminated and stinking water which causes
health problems to them. This is an old story. But what is new
is that the Managing Director of Dhaka WASA wants the people
to believe that the stinking water also is 'pure and safe'.
MD of WASA has said "a total of 13 percent of water is being
supplied from Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant while 87 percent
of pure and safe water is being supplied from ground level
through setting up deep tube wells. According to the scope and
nature of the Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant, water of the
Shitalakhya river will be changed for drinking form but there
is no normal flow of water in the river except the water which
is coming from different areas of the capital through drains.
As a result, Sayedabad plant's water is spreading odors.
Despite this, it is hundred percent pure and safe for health
as it is rectified through laboratory experimentation."
How can the water coming through drains be 'hundred per sent
pure and safe' is the question raised by many. Does the WASA
official think that the people are foolish enough not to
understand the difference between safe water and contaminated
water? The claim is baseless and unacceptable. Rather, the
truth remains that citing the ploy of treatment, WASA is
forcing the people to consume unsafe, fetid water.
Analysis
Defending the indefensible
Democracy cannot function without a forceful,
vociferous opposition. At present, there is none in Pakistan.
The government is getting a free cakewalk.
Ameer Bhutto
Conventional
wisdom dictates that whereas it might be in the interest of
opposition parties to promote conflict and controversy to
destabilise incumbent administrations, governments go out of
their way to diffuse tensions and conflagration, even in times
of great upheaval and turmoil, to present a veneer of calm and
stability, if for no other reason then for their own survival.
But, under the Zardari administration, where neither
convention nor wisdom applies, the situation has been
strangely reversed: the PML-N is preaching restraint to
preserve the status quo while the government, and particularly
Zardari himself, is itching to wage unnecessary foolish
battles that are chipping away at the foundations of the
system, inching the country towards chaos. If the currency of
democracy and rule of law has lost all its value to the extent
that the institutions meant to safeguard the system of
representative and responsible rule can be undermined with
such impunity, then is there no one to explain to Zardari
that, regardless of the fate that might befall the nation, he
himself is liable to become a victim of his own reckless
manoeuvers?
Quite often, it becomes not only unavoidable but essential to
pick a fight. But two fundamental principles apply: firstly,
be on the right side to serve national interests to win public
sympathy and support and, secondly, do not pick fights you
cannot reasonably expect to win. And if you lose, have enough
honour and integrity to admit your failure and step aside.
This government continues to plod along in the quagmire of its
own follies that are pushing the country to the very edge of
chaos and then periodically retreats with a mere "oops!"
without accepting responsibility for the harm done.
If this government must pick a fight, then why did it not pick
a fight with Musharraf? Here was a man guilty of not only
destroying all traces of honesty in politics, but running
roughshod over the constitution for eight long years, causing
immeasurable harm. The American journalist Ron Suskind in his
book 'The Way of the World' claims to be in possession of
audio tape recordings of telephone conversations between
Musharraf and Benazir, in which Musharraf issued a thinly
veiled threat that her security would depend on the extent of
her cooperation with him. Yet, he was allowed to walk free
because of a deal sponsored by foreign powers that guaranteed
his safe passage. Why not fight the murderers of Benazir
Bhutto, particularly since Zardari claimed that he knew who
they were? Why have they been let off the hook without even an
FIR being filed, while the UN inquiry commission's work is
deliberately sabotaged by denying them security clearance? Why
not fight the foreign powers to whom the government pays
obeisance and routinely sacrifices our national sovereignty to
serve their interests? This government's reported tacit
acquiescence to drone attacks that routinely violate our
airspace and kill innocent citizens as well as its meek
submission to foreign envoys who act increasingly like
viceroys has turned Pakistan into an imperial colony. But of
course the government will not bite the hand that props it up.
Why not fight to improve the economic conditions that are made
worse due to difficult requirements imposed by donor agencies?
Why not fight and eliminate anti-democratic laws enacted by
Musharraf? Instead, all the fights and false bravado are
reserved only for innocent citizens and institutions that
uphold the rule of law and safeguard democracy.
Nobody harboured any illusions that the current lot would
resign to clear itself of the charges that range from
corruption to murder after the Supreme Court struck down the
NRO. But as long as it continues to stay in power, the
implementation of the NRO verdict will be quite literally
impossible. How can it be expected to prosecute itself or its
leader with any degree of fairness? Not only that, but the law
ministry is flirting with a very obvious contempt of court by
flatly refusing to reopen the Swiss cases and forbidding NAB
from taking any action in this regard. But even if the law
ministry condescends to approach the concerned Swiss
authorities to reopen the cases, how can it be counted upon to
diligently pursue the cases when the prosecutor owes
allegiance to the government and functions on its
instructions? And now with the former chairman of NAB out of
the way, the government can appoint its handpicked man in that
post ensuring his total compliance with the government's own
interests.
Instead of initiating constructive programmes of nation
building, if any such programmes were ever there on its agenda
at all, this government has only plunged headlong into one
crisis after another. And it is no baffling mystery when you
consider that instead of relying on sound political minds with
well thought out agendas, it leans upon the advice of
ministers who are under trial for corruption and bribery and a
henchman in Punjab who can only be described as the Punjabi
reincarnation of Jam Sadiq Ali. Such minders can do no better
than lead the government into a dead end. What is astounding
is that the government tries to peddle off its humiliating
retreats and surrenders as feats of great accomplishment, such
as the restoration of the judges against the backdrop of the
long march or the recent appointment of judges in accordance
with the chief justice's recommendations just a day prior to
the Supreme Court's hearing on the matter.
People expect the prime minister to play a constructive role
beyond repeatedly bailing Zardari out of trouble. He finds
himself in the impossible position of having to defend the
indefensible and is reduced to repeating promises he knows he
does not have the power to fulfill. If he takes the lead to
champion what is right and true, the nation will follow him.
But he seems either incapable of such grand gestures or
unwilling to risk his job. Instead of providing leadership, he
throws the ball into parliament's court on every count. On the
issue of the restoration of the judges, he said only
parliament could restore them, until forced to do so with one
stroke of his pen in the middle of the night. He claims that
Musharraf cannot be prosecuted until parliament so desires, a
dangerous precedent to set since every criminal would
henceforth demand similar action from parliament before he
could be held accountable for his crimes. Recently, he said
only parliament could authorise the appointment of judges on
the recommendation of another judge, until forced to back down
once again. Perhaps he was not familiar with Article 177 of
the constitution until he gate crashed the chief justice's
dinner. It is becoming difficult to take him seriously anymore
and the nation is losing faith in him.
This brings us to the role of the opposition. Democracy cannot
function without a forceful, vociferous opposition. At
present, there is none in Pakistan. The government is getting
a free cakewalk. Did the Democrats in America hold back
against Richard Nixon, even though the Watergate scandal that
led to his resignation disgraced America? What did the
Republicans stand to gain from impeaching Bill Clinton in the
Monika Lewinsky case? It was obvious that he was not going to
resign and even if he did, the vice president would take his
place, not a Republican. But that is what real democratic
oppositions do. They push ahead forcefully and let the chips
fall where they may. That is what keeps governments in check.
Friendly oppositions can only be counterproductive by giving
undeserved security to corrupt, incompetent and unworthy
governments despite their damaging transgressions.
The writer is vice-chairman of Sindh National Front and a
former MPA from Ratodero. He has degrees from the University
of Buckingham and Cambridge University. Email: abbhuto@yahoo.com
India-Pakistan: hiding behind excuses again?
We all need to be upfront and honest, put our respective
houses in order and stop the blame game.
Naeem Tahir
Once
again, India and Pakistan "fail to make a breakthrough".
The Kashmir and Mumbai attack issues have blocked any
progress. Over 60 years have passed since independence and
we still cannot show the maturity to shed the old baggage
and move forward like civilised, progressive people. The
reservations are too deep, vested interests too strong,
and there are suspicions about the 'intent'. All these
serve the anti-normalisation lobbies. We need real
leadership to rise above these constraints.
Every time the good intent of making a breakthrough is
expressed, opposing forces blow away the cherished goal of
the majority of the people of the two countries. It
happened in 2008 by burning the two bogies of Samjhota
Express. Symbolically, the Samjhota was derailed in spite
of the governments showing determination to settle
disputes. This time the peace loving people are being
flogged with the Mumbai incident and Kashmir issue.
I do not need to introduce the Kashmir problem. Everyone
knows the issue. But using the Mumbai incident has some
element of surprise. The 2008 terrorist act in Mumbai
surely needs to be condemned in the strongest possible
words, but one wonders why was the incident allowed to
happen when all advance information was available. Why?
There is evidence available that actionable, and precise,
information about the attack on Mumbai through the sea was
available to India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) at least one
week before. The terrorists were identified, their route
was known, and even their number and the boat were on
record with the IB. The IB even had the mobile phone
numbers of the terrorists, which could be monitored.
India has a free and very professional press. This 'lapse'
has been pointed out by important newspapers, not 'rags'.
Readers may refer to the following:
"RAW sent an intercept to IB as recently as November 19
saying that a Lashkar-controlled ship had, with dangerous
cargo, sailed from Karachi and could try to sneak into
Indian waters" (The Times of India, Pune, December 1,
2008). Indian Navy sources angrily deny that the
information was ever passed on to them.
"US Intelligence alerted the state about a 'potential
attack from the sea against hotels and business centres in
Mumbai'" (The Times of India, December 3, 2008).
"[R]esponding to an allegation, Naval Chief Admiral Suresh
Mehta said that the suspected boat 'Kuber' was inspected
and released by the Coast Guards because its papers were
in order" and "Internal inquiries into the Mumbai terror
attack have revealed that despite clear intelligence
inputs, the Coast Guard and the Navy failed to either spot
or interdict Al-Hussaini, the ship that carried
terrorists, and this took place at a time when warships
and IAF aircraft were participating in an annual exercise
for the defence of Gujrat" (Sakal, Pune, December 3,
2008).
"The input by RAW requested the Coast Guard Jakhau station
to direct a ship to the area for surveillance; launch
Dornier aircraft at first light for a coordinated sea/air
search and deploy boats and personnel to patrol off the
creek area. This input was shared by all agencies
concerned, including the IB. The Coast Guard, it is
learnt, did launch a hovercraft and an offshore vessel to
interdict the suspected LeT [Lashkar-e-Tayyaba] ship, but
the search apparently ended by 6:00 pm at Kandla on
November 21. Sources said Coast Guard ships docked for a
function that night" (Indian Express, Mumbai, December 11,
2008).
"An internal probe...has pointed fingers at the
Intelligence Bureau for not refining its inputs, and at
the Naval HQ for keeping Western Command out of the loop"
(Indian Express, Mumbai, December 15, 2008).
"Sources in the highest quarters in Delhi have told
Tehelka that the mobile phone numbers that were used by
the Mumbai terrorists were available with the Intelligence
Bureau for at least five days before 26/11." The news
report reveals that a secret note containing 35 mobile
numbers, precisely stating that "these numbers need to be
monitored", had been received by the IB on November 21. It
is only after the terrorists "had killed 58 passengers at
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, after ATS Chief Hemant
Karkare had been shot dead with two other officers...that
someone in the IB woke up to the fact that it had received
a list of phone numbers" (Hindustan Times, Mumbai, January
10, 2009).
One could go on listing the lapses. The question being
asked is if these lapses were, in fact, intended to use
the chaos to get rid of Karkare and his colleagues in
clandestine action because they had unearthed the full
Indian network of right wing terrorists responsible for
most of the acts committed in recent years. The objectives
are varied, including political advantage, suppression of
minorities, particularly the Muslims, and promoting
Hindutva fascist philosophy. Karkare had filed an over
4,000-page case with Nasik court, and if he had the time
to provide the evidence and to conclude the case, the
whole terrorist network under the cover of Sangh Parivar
would have been exposed, and the criminals involved in the
Samjhota Express, Nanda and Malegaon incidents brought to
book. These criminals were prominent rightist leaders and
activists, so it was urgently necessary for the elements
in the agencies to let the Mumbai terror attack happen and
plant people in the chaos to get rid of the Karkare team.
It appears that the unfortunate incident at Mumbai may
have been 'allowed' to happen and the circumstances do
point in that direction. With this background, Pakistan
being whipped by the Mumbai bogie is not entirely fair.
In conclusion, one can only request the Indian leadership
to avoid bowing to the rightist pressure and do the right
thing and work for peace. Pakistan is laden with its own
problems of terrorism and it is fighting to control them.
Pakistan does not have the ability to guard the Indian
borders nor can it be expected to do so. Then why make the
Mumbai issue a hurdle in the peace process?
We all need to be upfront and honest, put our respective
houses in order and stop the blame game. Let us look at
some 'out of the box solutions', even in the case of
Kashmir, provide real creative leadership, even at the
cost of some popularity. Great leaders have the courage to
take unpopular decisions in the larger interest. Let us
all face the realities.
The writer is a freelance contributor. He can be
reached at naeemtahir37@gmail.com
Viewpoints
Mossad comes to America: Death squads
by invitation
The
principle propaganda mouthpiece of the Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations (PMAJO), the Daily Alert (DA),
has come out in full support for Israel's practice of
extra-judicial, extra-territorial assassination.
James Petras
The
principle propaganda mouthpiece of the Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations (PMAJO), the Daily Alert (DA),
has come out in full support for Israel's practice of
extra-judicial, extra-territorial assassination.
In the face of worldwide governmental condemnation (except
from the White House and US Congress), the PMAJO slavishly
backs any brutal murder committed by the Israeli secret police
anywhere in the world and at anytime. The recent assassination
of Hamas leader, Mahmoud Mabhouh, in Dubai is a case in point.
The PMAJO has defended all of Mossad's criminal actions
leading up to the murder, including extensive identity theft
and the stealing or falsification of passports and official
documents from several European countries, presumably allied
to the Zionist state. Among the Mossad agents who entered
Dubai to kill Mabhouh, twelve agents used stolen or forged
British passports, three Australian, three French, one German
and six Irish. These agents assumed the identity of European
citizens in order to commit murder in a sovereign nation.
Once again the PMAJO demonstrate that its first loyalty is to
the Israeli secret police, even when they violate the
sovereignty of major US allies. No doubt the PMAJO would
readily support the Israeli Mossad, even if it were shown to
have used US documents to assassinate Mabhouh. In fact, two of
the 26 Israeli assassins, carrying fake Irish and fake British
passports, are known to have entered the United States after
the killing and may still be here.
The position adopted by the Daily Alert and the PMAJO in
defense of Israel's international terrorist act followed
several lines of attack. These include: (1) blaming the
victim, (2) claiming that extra-judicial, extra territorial
murders are legal, (3) minimizing the murder of "one"
individual, (4) deflecting attention from the Zionists by
blaming "other Arabs", (5) favorably comparing Mossad
assassinations to US killings in Afghanistan, (6) trivializing
and relativizing world condemnation, (7) citing
"self-defense", (8) praising the high tech "operational
details" of the assassination and (9) discrediting the Dubai
police investigators rather than the Israeli perpetrators.
Abridged articles, cited in the Daily Alert, have appeared in
the op-ed pages of several US, UK, Canadian and Israeli
newspapers, as well as in right-wing magazines like Forbes and
Commentary. The mainline Zionist propaganda technique is to
avoid any discussion of Israel's egregious crimes against
sovereignty, due process, international law and the personal
security of individuals. In doing so, the Daily Alert adopts
the propaganda techniques common to all totalitarian regimes
practicing state terrorism.
(1) Blaming the victim: On Feb. 22, the Daily Alert (DA)
headlined two articles, which were entitled: "Killed Hamas
Official betrayed by Associates says Dubai Police Chief" and "Hamas:
Assassinated Operative put Himself at Risk". The DA forgot to
mention that Israeli secret police had been tracking their
prey for over a month (having failed to assassinate him on six
previous attempts) and that the Dubai Police chief was not
blaming Hamas officials but was in the process of accumulating
evidence, witness statements, videos and documents proving the
Israeli identities of the assassins. Needless to say, if we
were to accept the American Zionists' argument that any
leading opponent of Israel, who travels without an army of
bodyguards, is "putting himself at risk", then we must
acknowledge that ours is a lawless world where Israeli hit
squads are free to commit murder anywhere, any time.
(2) Extra-judicial, extra-territorial murder is "legal" (at
least if the killers are Mossad)
The Feb. 22 and Feb. 24 issues of the DA include two articles
arguing that Israel's practice of extra-judicial,
extra-territorial murder is legal. One article is entitled,
"The Legality of Killing of Hamas Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh" and the
other, "The Proportionate Killing of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh".
These avoid any reference to international law, which
emphatically rejects cross-border, state-sponsored murders.
Legality, for the PMAJO, is whatever the Israel's secret
police apparatus deems expedient in pursuit of its goal of
eliminating leaders who oppose its colonial occupation and
expropriation of Palestinian lands. If Israel's
extra-judicial, extra-territorial murder of an adversary in
Dubai is legal, why not assassinate opponents in the US,
Canada, England or any other country where they might travel,
live, work or write? What if the critics and opponents of
Israel decided that it was now "legal" to murder Israel's
supporters wherever they lived citing the Daily Alert's
definition of legality? We would then find ourselves in a
lawless world of "legal" murder and totalitarian cross-border
surveillance.
(3) Minimizing the murder: The Feb. 22, 24, and 25 issues of
the Daily Alert deflect attention from the Mossad murder by
making comparison to the hundreds of Afghan civilians killed
by US drone attacks. The claim is that "targeting individuals"
is less a crime than mass killings. The problem with this
argument is that for decades Mossad has "targeted" scores of
opponents overseas and killed thousands of Palestinians in the
occupied territories (where they work with the domestic secret
police, Shin Bet, and the military, IDF). Moreover, this
argument linking Israel's extra-judicial assassinations with
US colonial killing of Afghans is hardly a defense of either.
By implicating the US in its defense of state terror, Israel
is holding up the worst aspects of American imperialism as a
standard for its own political behavior. One state's crimes
are no justification for another's.
(4) Blaming the Arabs and deflecting attention from Israel:
The DA Feb. 22 article entitled "The Assassination Heard
Around the World" insinuates that the murder was a "result of
a Hamas power struggle" or by one of "many Arab groups who
loathes the Islamist Hamas".
In other words, all the forged or stolen European passports of
Israeli dual citizens, and the Dubai security videos of Mossad
operatives in various costumes, not to mention the jubilant
affirmation by top Israeli leaders of the killing, was in
reality "Arab tricks". This crude propaganda ploy by the most
prominent Jewish American organization reveals their own
descent into a fantasy land of self-delusion, possible only in
the closed world of US Zionist politics.
(5) Technical proficiency: The DA published several articles
praising the technical details of the Mossad assassination in
Dubai, an aspect of the operation, with which few Israel
security experts would agree. The Feb. 24 DA article entitled,
"Assassination Shows Skillful Planning" chastises Israel's
critics for not recognizing the high quality of the
"operational aspects" of the killings and recommends its
"lessons for all intelligence services around the world". Like
sociopaths and serial killers, US Zionists openly promote
Israeli death squad techniques to all fellow state terrorists.
In the DA, professional techniques of assassination are far
more important than universal moral repugnance of political
murders.
(6) Discrediting the investigators while defending the
perpetrators: The DA on Feb. 25 cited a long and tendentious
attack on the Dubai Police, published in Forbes Magazine,
which ridiculed their meticulous investigations uncovering
Mossad's roles in the murder. In this article, the Dubai
authorities were condemned for uncovering Israeli involvement
while not investigating the source of the murder victim's ...
Iraqi passport! Instead of encouraging the Dubai Police
pursuit of justice, the Daily Alert published a long diatribe
implicating Dubai in the attacks of 9/11/2001, its continued
trade with Iran, its "involvement" in international terrorism
etc. There was no mention of Dubai's relatively friendly
position to Israel and Israelis prior to Mossad's blatant
violation of its sovereignty.
Conclusion: The American Zionist propaganda campaign in
defense of Israeli state terror and, specifically, Mossad's
murder of a Hamas leader in Dubai, relies on lies, evasions
and specious legal arguments. This "defense" violates all
precepts of a civilized society as well as the most recent
American federal laws prohibiting all forms of support for
international terrorism. The PMAJO can pursue its defense of
Mossad's acts of international terrorism with impunity in the
US because of its power over the US Congress, the Obama White
House and the American mass media. This ensures that only its
version of events, its definition of legality and its lies
will be heard by legislators, echoed by Zionist activists and
embellished by its solemn defenders in academic and
journalistic circles. To counter the American Zionist defense
of Israel's practice of extra-territorial, extra-judicial
executions by the Mossad, we need American writers and
academics to step forward. It is time to expose their flimsy
arguments, bold-face lies and audacious immorality. It is time
to speak out against their impunity, before another Israeli
secret police murder takes place, possibly inside the US
itself and with the shameless complicity of Zionist
accomplices.
The authorities in Dubai have found clear evidence that the
Mossad assassination team received support from European
Zionists. The hotels, air tickets and expenses were paid with
credit cards issued in the US. Two of the killers may be in
the US now. Will a time come when American Zionists, who are
unconditional public defenders of Mossad killings, cross the
line between propaganda for the deed to become accomplices of
the deed? The robust American Zionist defense of Mossad's
overseas assassinations does not augur well for the security
of Americans.
James Petras is a Bartle professor (emeritus) of sociology
at Binghamton University, New York. He is the author of 64
books published in 29 languages, and over 560 articles in
professional journals, including the American Sociological
Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, Journal
of Contemporary Asia, and Journal of Peasant Studies. He has
published over
2000 articles.
Daughters of
a lesser god?
The response
of the religious political lobby to Aafia’s plight is
symbolic of our social mindset. We, while throwing stones
at others, refuse
to speak up for the downtrodden right under our nose.
Talat Farooq
Several
rallies and protests have been organised by various
religious political parties and their supporters in the
aftermath of the Aafia trial in New York, demanding her
release and return to Pakistan. Members of some
non-conservative educational institutions have also joined
in this flurry of emotional outbursts. The media has
highlighted her ordeal without debating the downside of
her story in objective detail. A whole generation of
Pakistanis, grown up in an environment that discourages
critical analysis and dispassionate objectivity in its
educational institutions, has more or less allowed their
emotions to be exploited.
The Aafia case is complex and cannot be seen in black and
white. The grey lady is grey precisely because of her
murky past and the question mark hanging over her alleged
links to militants. After all, she was not a
run-of-the-mill housewife. Her family's silence during the
years of her disappearance and her ex-husband's side of
the story certainly provide fodder to the opposing point
of view that does not consider Aafia's case as a
straightforward one.
The right-wing parties and their supporters have once
again played the card of anti-Americanism to attain their
own political ends while simultaneously denouncing the
human rights organisations for their silence. Our hatred
of America, based on some very real grievances, also
serves as a readily available smokescreen to avoid any
rational thinking on any issue of national importance.
The response of the religious political lobby to Aafia's
plight is symbolic of our social mindset. We, while
throwing stones at others, refuse to speak up for the
downtrodden right under our nose.
Aafia has been dubbed as Pakistan ki beti; one wonders why
the same right-wing lobby is impervious to the plight of
many betis in Pakistan who are denied access to justice
within the Pakistani judicial system. Even as they stir up
our emotions in the name of Aafia's motherhood and her
suffering children they conveniently turn a blind eye to
the plight of hundreds of mothers suffering in Pakistani
jails. While unprecedented diplomatic efforts continue to
bring Aafia back to Pakistan there are numerous women in
Pakistani jails awaiting justice that could allow them to
eventually return home. And this after the National
Judicial Policy has directed the courts to dispose of
these cases on priority basis!!
A survey of the jails in Punjab shows that about 45 per
cent of female prisoners are awaiting trials. 80 per cent
of all female prisoners are mothers and 25 per cent have
children aged between 1 to 3 years. More than 70 per cent
are illiterate which goes to show why almost 85 per cent
of them are unaware of the status of their legal
proceedings including those who are unacquainted with the
charges registered against them; 35 per cent have failed
to engage lawyers. According to another survey, in Punjab
alone nearly 78 per cent of women prisoners complained of
maltreatment in police custody and 72 per cent complained
of sexual abuse. A female juvenile offender fares no
better and, like her adult counterpart, spends long
periods awaiting trial or hearing, often in violation of
the law. She is even more vulnerable to abuse while in
detention despite The Juvenile Justice System Ordinance
2002. Judging from the statistics of Punjab it can be
assumed that the situation in other provinces cannot be
any better.
Although women police stations were established in
response to complaints of custodial abuse, minimal efforts
have been made to provide them with human and material
resources as compared to regular police stations. Women
are still being detained at regular police stations
overnight despite court orders and regulations, and sexual
abuse by police or guards remains a sad reality. Women
prisoners are raped in police custody and in prison.
Children born as a result of rape, as well as those who
live with their mothers in jail usually grow up to be
emotionally disturbed individuals.
In Aafia Siddiqui's case the Pakistani government has
spent $2 million already and the president has directed
more legal assistance after her recent conviction on all
seven counts. In Pakistani jails a majority of women
continue to suffer due to financial deprivation because
successive governments have failed to build a separate
financial pool to foot the legal bills for these Pakistani
betis.
According to a recent study, the prisons for women in
Pakistan are in dire need of health facilities. In most of
the rape cases, if the woman gets pregnant she ends up
delivering the baby in jail where there is hardly any
access to pre or post-natal care. This leads to an
increased rate of infant mortality and maternal deaths.
The women are undernourished and suffer from multiple
health issues including mental health, substance abuse,
physical abuse and resultant trauma. A large number of
these women have a pre or post-arrest history of physical
and emotional abuse and suffer from depression, anxiety
and are more likely to attempt suicide. The study informs
us that over the last couple of decades the number of
women prisoners has increased by 273 per cent thereby
multiplying the problems manifold. Wouldn't it be more
meaningful if the pro-Aafia lobby also pressurised the
Pakistani government to spend another $2 million on
improving the women's jails in Pakistan?
If Aafia has been wronged the judicial process must be
allowed to run its due course to redress her grievances.
But the fundamental question is justice for Aafia Siddiqui
or justice for all? Only when our religious and liberal
lobbies decide to transcend their opposing worldviews to
jointly work towards a just social system, will justice
prevail in letter and spirit in Pakistan. Till then we can
brace ourselves for more political stunts in the name of
justice. n
The writer is executive editor of the magazine
Criterion, Islamabad. Email: talatfarooq11@gmail.com
Iraq’s Critical Election
Many scholars believe that it is the second general
election, not the first, which is the most important test
of any new democracy. If so, these elections appear to
foreshadow ominous times ahead.
Feisal Amin Rasoul al-Istrabadi
Iraqis
go to the polls on March 7 to elect a new Parliament for
the second time under the country's permanent constitution
of 2006. Many scholars believe that it is the second
general election, not the first, which is the most
important test of any new democracy. If so, these
elections appear to foreshadow ominous times ahead.
The security situation in Iraq has deteriorated
dramatically over the past six months. Though much of the
violence in Iraq over the past six years has been random,
aimed at soft targets such as markets and restaurants, its
nature changed last summer.
On August 19, 2009, the sixth anniversary of the bombing
that killed the United Nations representative in Baghdad,
a series of spectacular attacks were carried out. These
bombings, and others since, have targeted the Iraqi state
and its infrastructure, including the ministries of
finance and foreign affairs and municipal and judicial
offices. Moreover, as United States troops have lowered
their profile, daily violence of the more random variety
has increased. Equally ominous, the banning of hundreds of
candidates for alleged ties to the Baath Party signals a
return to sectarian politics, which could reignite a
sectarian civil war. The individuals banned include the
current defense minister and several members of
parliament. The message from Iran's allies in Iraq, who
control the de-Baathification process, is clear. While
some Shia who were prominent allies of the Baathist regime
hold positions of great influence in the "new" Iraq,
Sunnis will never know when they will be shut out of the
process, especially if they become too powerful.
Some of Iraq's Sunni leaders might thus conclude that
permanent armed opposition is their only viable strategy.
True, they might not be able to topple the new regime, but
they will be able to de-stabilise Iraq over the long term,
in the hope of forcing a negotiated settlement of their
grievances. The new Shia elites who control Iraq have
emulated their allies in Iran, creating a system that
effectively chooses which of their rivals may constitute a
"legitimate" opposition and which may not participate in
the political process.
The struggle of Iraq's Kurds should be instructive. As the
Iraqi political scientist Ghassan Atiyyah, has noted, the
Kurds, even without regional allies, have been able to de-stabilise
Iraq for 80 years. How much more will the Sunnis be able
to de-stabilise the country, he asked, enjoying as they do
the support of most of the regional powers, including
Saudi Arabia, Syria, and potentially Turkey?
Politics aside, the long-term damage to Iraq's legal
institutions caused by these maneuverings should not be
underestimated. After the de-Baathification order was
issued (by a commission that does not actually have any
sitting members) a panel of the Iraqi Court of Appeal
essentially invalidated it. The prime minister then met
with Iraq's chief justice, following which the court's
decision was reversed.
There will be several ways to gauge the election's
relative success. The first of these will be the length of
time that it takes the victors to form a new government.
If, as occurred after the last elections, months go by
without the formation of a government, this will be
confirmation that Iraq's political elites will continue to
subordinate the desperate needs of the country - for
security, electricity, water, and basic services - to
their political futures as they haggle over positions.
Whether competent technocrats, or as has happened in the
past, party hacks are appointed to the ministries will be
a telling sign.
Another sign will be the extent to which the newly elected
leadership, which is likely to be largely the same as the
current leadership, reaches out to real Sunni leaders.
Doing so might well mean a retreat from the pre-election
banning of candidates, and would demonstrate a maturity
among the Shia political elites that they have not yet
shown.
Finally, the reaction of the election's losers will be
key. That includes not only those who have been banned
from running for office, but others as well. For example,
it is likely that the current prime minister will not be
able to form a new government. Even the principal Kurdish
parties are facing a challenge from an independent party,
Goran, and are likely to incur some losses to it. If these
losers engage in post-election jockeying to cheat
opponents of their fair allotment of seats, that will tell
much about the future.
Whether Iraq achieves stability or is once again ripped
apart by sectarian violence now depends, as it always has,
on the new political elites. If the past is an indication
of their future performance, there is reason for deep
concern.
Feisal Amin Rasoul al-Istrabadi, a visiting professor
of law at the Maurer School of Law, Indiana University,
served as Iraq's Deputy Permanent Representative to the
United Nations from 2004-2007 and was principal drafter of
its interim constitution of 2004.www.project-syndicate.org
International
India open to
Pakistan talks, wants ‘terror’ controlled
AFP, New Delhi
India said Friday it was open to talks with Pakistan but
no meaningful progress could be made until Islamabad
controlled the "terror machine" operating on its soil.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was a strong
advocate of dialogue with Pakistan but Islamabad must not
allow its soil "to be used for terrorism against India."
"For any meaningful dialogue to proceed, the terror
machine has to be controlled by Pakistan," he told
parliament.
His statement came a day after Pakistan said it had put
forward a road map on how to revive talks with India's
political leadership and had urged New Delhi to respond.
Singh did not comment on the plan but said: "I have never
believed channels of communication with Pakistan should
break down... the chances of miscalculation can only
increase in a situation of no contact."
Senior officials of the nuclear-armed rivals met in New
Delhi last week for the first talks since a shaky
India-Pakistan peace process was suspended following the
deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks which New Delhi and Washington
blamed on Pakistani militants.
The two countries agreed to keep in contact but made no
progress on key issues such as disputed Kashmir, which has
triggered two of their three wars, and both sides are at
odds over how to take the dialogue forward.
Pakistan has complained about India's "narrow focus" on
terrorism and has called for a resumption of the
full-blown peace talks while New Delhi is insisting
Islamabad crack down on militant groups targeting India
before any wider dialogue is held.
Singh also rejected opposition charges that India
restarted talks with Pakistan only because of US nudges
back to the negotiating table, saying the decision was a
"calculated one weighing all the costs and benefits."
"The fact is the rest of the international community is
talking to Pakistan. Not talking to them will not isolate
them," Singh said.
He added US President Barack Obama "not once has sought to
pressurise India into taking one position or the other."
New Delhi's offer of talks took many by surprise and the
Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the
Congress government of bowing to US influence.
Police say 12 killed in NW
Pakistan suicide attack
AP, Islamabad
A suicide bomber targeted Shiite Muslims on two buses
being escorted by security forces through a northwestern
Pakistan border area rife with sectarian and insurgent
violence, killing 12 people Friday.
Tensions between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and
Shiites had made the road unsafe for the minorities
traveling to the nearby Kurram tribal region. Police
recently had declared it safe, but Shiites are provided
security to travel through it.
Friday's attack only targeted the buses carrying Shiites,
police official Akram Ullah said. Security forces
escorting them weren't harmed.
The victims were passing through a gas station in the town
of Hangu when the lone attacker on foot set off the bomb,
Ullah said.
Five people were killed at the scene and seven others died
at hospitals, he said.
Pakistan's northwest has been plagued for years by
Islamist extremist violence fueled by anger over the war
in Afghanistan and Islamabad's alliance with Washington.
An army offensive that began in October against the
Pakistani Taliban spurred attacks that killed more than
600 people.
But with the exception of a few attacks on northwest
police stations, violence appears to have subsided in
recent weeks, an indication that the army operation in the
South Waziristan tribal region may be having an impact.
Sectarian tensions are another matter.
Extremist Sunnis and Shiites have targeted each other's
leaders in violence that dates from well before the 2001
terrorist attacks in the United States.
Several of Pakistan's Sunni extremist groups also are
allied with the Taliban and al-Qaida, who view Shiites as
infidels. The Sunni-Shiite schism over the true heir to
Islam's Prophet Muhammad dates to the seventh century.
Also Friday, Pakistan army helicopters destroyed a
sprawling hideout of a key al-Qaida-linked militant
leader, Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, in the northwestern tribal
region of Bajur, killing 25 insurgents.
However, it was unclear whether Mohammed was present at
the time, according to an army and intelligence official.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to speak to media.
NATO details its Afghan
night raids policy
AP, Kabul
A new directive says NATO forces in Afghanistan must avoid
night raids when possible, bring Afghan troops along with
them if they do enter homes after dark and alert
government representatives beforehand.
The alliance released these details of its new policy for
night raids Sunday - changes that are meant to cut down on
the storm of complaints from Afghan people.
NATO commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal issued the order in
January, and portions of the classified directive were
just made public.
Night raids emerged as the leading concern among Afghans
after McChrystal limited the use of the airstrikes last
year that were responsible for the bulk of civilian
deaths. The AP earlier reported that the directive had
been issued to troops in January
Three NATO soldiers die in Afghanistan
AFP adds: NATO announced the deaths of three soldiers
fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan's volatile
south, bringing the number of foreign troops to die in the
war so far this year to 112.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said
one soldier died in a bomb strike on Friday. On Thursday,
another soldier died in a similar attack and a third in a
vehicle accident-all in southern Afghanistan.
Their nationalities were not disclosed.
According to an AFP count based on a tally kept by the
independent icasualties.org website, 112 foreign soldiers
have died in the Afghan war in 2010. This compares with
around 50 at the same time last year, with a total of 519
foreign troops killed in 2009, the deadliest year since
the US-led invasion overthrew the Taliban regime in late
2001.
Japan DPJ elder: PM may
have to quit over base feud
Reuters, Tokyo
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama may have to resign
if he fails to resolve by the end of May a feud over a
U.S. airbase that is eroding his support rates ahead of an
election, a ruling party elder said on Friday.
However, Kozo Watanabe, a former top adviser to Hatoyama's
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), added that he believed
the premier could solve the problem by the self-imposed
deadline.
Finance Minister Naoto Kan, a fiery party heavyweight who
is pressing the Bank of Japan to do more to fight
deflation, would succeed Hatoyama if he were to step down
suddenly, the 77-year-old Watanabe told Reuters in an
interview. During the campaign that swept the Democrats to
power last year, Hatoyama had raised the hopes of many in
Japan's Okinawa that the Marines' Futenma airbase could be
moved off the southern island, host to the bulk of
America's 47,000 military personnel in Japan.
For graphic of voter support click r.reuters.com/myv63g
But Washington wants to stick to a 2006 deal to shift the
facility to a less crowded spot on northern Okinawa.
Voters' perception that Hatoyama has been indecisive and
mishandled ties with Japan's top security ally has helped
slice his ratings to under 40 percent in some surveys
ahead of an upper house poll the Democrats need to win to
avoid policy paralysis.
"If he makes a decision he will be OK but if he cannot
decide the people will think that Hatoyama cannot be
relied on ... It might mean that he has to (resign),"
Watanabe said.
"I believe Hatoyama will certainly resolve this issue in
May in a way that the United States would agree and the
people in Okinawa would also have to agree even if they
are dissatisfied," said Watanabe, a former health
minister.
US warns against adopting
in Nepal
AFP, Kathmandu
The United States has warned its citizens against adopting
children in Nepal, saying it has "grave concerns" about
the reliability of that country's adoption system.
The government urged prospective adoptive parents to
choose another country, citing the case of a young
Nepalese girl placed in the custody of an American couple
without the consent of her biological mother and father.
"The US Department of State strongly discourages
prospective adoptive parents from choosing Nepal as a
country from which to adopt due to grave concerns about
the reliability of Nepal?s adoption system," it said in a
statement on its website dated March 4.
Nepal introduced new adoption legislation in 2008
following reports of widespread abuses of the system by
unscrupulous agents who were effectively trafficking
children overseas for profit.
Twenty Nepalese children have been adopted by foreign
parents since the system restarted last year, seven of
whom are in the US, but experts say little has changed
since the new rules came into force.
The State Department said that in one of the first cases
processed by the Nepal government, the US embassy in
Kathmandu found the birth parents of the adopted child
were actively searching for her.
The US government warning follows a recommendation last
month from a team of international legal experts based in
The Hague that international adoptions of Nepalese
children be suspended.
They said their investigations found documents were
routinely falsified and children's homes were largely
unregulated, with the interests of the child often not
considered at all.
Germany moved to suspend adoptions from Nepal after the
findings of The Hague team's investigations were made
public, and 14 embassies in Kathmandu issued a statement
urging the Nepalese government to tighten controls.
China looks to North Korea
nuclear talks before July
Reuters, Beijing
China wants stalled six-party talks aimed at ending North
Korea's nuclear arms activities to restart before July, a
senior Chinese diplomat said, warning that progress was by
no means certain.
Those talks bring together North and South Korea, host
China, the United States, Japan and Russia, seeking to
implement an agreement offering Pyongyang aid in return
for nuclear disarmament steps. Over a year ago, North
Korea pulled out of the talks and then in may staged a
second nuclear test, drawing international condemnation
and fresh United Nations sanctions. China's envoy on the
dispute, former Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, said he
hoped to see progress in coming months, the China Daily
reported on Friday.
"China's goal is to start the six-party talks in the first
half of this year," Wu told the newspaper. "That's our
expectation, but it is difficult to say if this will be
realised."
The six-party talks have been a diplomatic trophy for
China, which has hosted them since 2003. Beijing also
tries to stay friendly with Pyongyang, and is usually coy
about criticising its communist neighbour.
Indonesia president warns
of threat from Aceh group
Reuters, Jakarta
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on
Friday a "terrorist group" was planning to launch attacks
from a training camp in Aceh province, which police have
raided.
Authorities were investigating whether the group might be
linked to a warning issued by the Singapore navy of
possible attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Malacca,
National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said
separately.
Police were hunting for about 30 members of the group in a
jungle area in Lamkebeu in Aceh province on the northern
tip of Sumatra along the Malacca Strait, Danuri said. The
training camp was discovered on Feb. 23 and police have
since detained 14 suspects and killed at least one person
in various clashes with the insurgents, Danuri said.
A police officer was also killed and his body taken by the
group, he said.
"This is a truly a terrorist group which has organised
itself well and chosen training grounds in Aceh in the
hope that people will not see Aceh as a conflict area
anymore," Yudhoyono told reporters before a cabinet
meeting. "They hoped that we will be off-guard and they
can prepare everything to launch terrorism acts," the
president said.
The staunchly Muslim province of Aceh suffered a
separatist conflict for 29 years before a peace deal was
struck with Jakarta in 2005.
Yudhoyono did not identify the group, but said former
members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement were not
involved. He said the group's leader had come from outside
Aceh.
Iran
summons Italian envoy over Turin arrests
AFP, Tehran
Tehran has called in Italian ambassador Alberto Bradanini
over the arrest of two Iranians in Turin on suspicion of
arms trafficking, Iranian news agencies reported on
Friday.
"Italy's ambassador was summoned Thursday evening to the
foreign ministry to explain the reasons for the arrests,"
foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted
as saying.
"The news published about the arrests reveals a new game
which is aimed at creating distractions and ambiguities,"
he added.
Leading Italian anti-terrorist prosecutor Armando Spataro
said on Wednesday that two Iranians and five Italians had
been arrested in Turin on suspicion of trafficking arms to
Iran in violation of UN sanctions.
Lieutenant Colonel Vincenzo Andreone of the financial
police, who led the operation, said that the probe
scuppered a planned shipment to Iran of large quantities
of anti-tank rockets and explosives.
Spataro identified the Iranians arrested as Hamid Masoumi
Nejad, 51, who was accredited as a journalist in Rome, and
Homayoun Bakhtiyari 47. Two other Iranians sought in the
same operation are currently in Iran, Spataro added.
Clashes erupt at sacred
compound in Jerusalem
AP, Jerusalem
Clashes erupted Friday between Muslim worshippers and
Israeli riot police at a sacred and disputed hilltop
compound following a sermon on a recent Israeli decision
to include two West Bank shrines on a list of national
heritage sites.
A Palestinian woman was hit in the head with a rubber
bullet and was hospitalized in serious condition, an
Israeli hospital spokesman said. Worshippers emerging from
Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque threw stones at
policemen and at Jews praying below at the Jewish shrine
known as the Western Wall, according to Israeli police.
Israeli riot-control forces waiting outside the compound -
known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the
Noble Sanctuary - rushed in to restore order, using stun
grenades to disperse the crowd, Jerusalem police spokesman
Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. A wall of riot police in light gray
uniforms and carrying plexiglass shields advanced toward a
crowd of youths hurling stones amid the compound's stone
buildings and cypress trees.
Other Muslim worshippers intervened to try to defuse the
clash, and police eventually withdrew in coordination with
the Muslim clerics who administer the compound, he said.
Palestinian medics reported 13 injuries. Ron Krumer, a
spokesman for Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center,
confirmed that one of them was a woman who was wounded in
the head by a rubber bullet and hospitalized in serious
condition.
Police, who said 15 officers also suffered light injuries,
denied using rubber bullets to disperse the riot. Always
tense, the compound has recently seen sporadic clashes
linked at least in part to the Israeli government decision
to include the West Bank shrines on the heritage site
list.
British PM insists Iraq war
was ‘right decision’
AFP, London
Britain's backing for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq was
"the right decision," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
said on Friday as he fought off critics.
Facing questions about his role in funding the war as
finance minister under Tony Blair, Brown said Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein had flouted international law for
years.
"It was the right decision and it was for the right
reasons," Brown said in opening comments to the Chilcot
Inquiry into Britain's role in the conflict.
"This is the gravest decision of all to make," he said,
but added: "Fourteen resolutions were passed by the United
Nations, and at the end of the day it was impossible to
persuade him that he should abide by international law."
Witnesses to the inquiry, including the defence minister
at the time of the invasion, Geoff Hoon, have said the
military lacked sufficient funding and equipment for years
before the war.
Adding to the pressure, a former chief of the defence
staff has alleged British soldiers' lives were lost in
Iraq and Afghanistan because Brown turned down pleas for
better equipment.
General Charles Guthrie -- who led the armed forces from
1997 to 2001 -- told Friday's edition of The Times: "Not
fully funding the army in the way they had asked...
undoubtedly cost the lives of soldiers.
"He should be asked why he was so unsympathetic towards
defence and so sympathetic to other departments." The
families of soldiers killed in combat have already
demanded to know why the government did not equip troops
with more helicopters and more robust vehicles which could
resist roadside bombs.
As Brown was giving evidence, a small group of protestors
outside the hearing brandished a blood-soaked cheque for
8.5 billion pounds (12.8 billion dollars, 9.4 billion
euros), the amount critics say has been spent on Iraq. "I
think he is politically as responsible as Tony Blair for
the war, as he had the possibility of stopping it," said
Andrew Burgin, spokesman for the Stop the War lobby group.
Gunman killed after
shooting 2 Pentagon police
AP, Washington
The gunman who shot two Pentagon police officers was
heavily armed and spent weeks driving to the Capital area
from the West Coast, authorities said Friday.
Resentment of the U.S. government and suspicions over the
9/11 attacks have surfaced in writings by the Californian
identified as the man fatally wounded in a hail of return
fire.
John Patrick Bedell, 36, of Hollister, Calif., was
identified as the shooter and authorities said he'd had
previous run-ins with the law.
Investigators have found no immediate connection to
terrorism, and the attack at the massive Defense
Department headquarters appears to be a case of "a single
individual who had issues," Richard Keevill, chief of
Pentagon police, said in an early morning press
conference.
Keevill described Bedell as "very well educated" and
well-dressed, saying Bedell was wearing a suit, armed with
two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapons and carried "many
magazines" of ammunition. There was more ammunition in
Bedell's car, which authorities found in a local parking
garage, Keevill said.
Shooting suspect may have had 9/11 conspiracy
AP adds: There are emerging signs that the suspect in a
Pentagon subway station shooting may have harbored
resentment for the military and had doubts about the facts
behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The suspect, John Patrick Bedell, died after exchanging
gunfire with two police officers.
In an Internet posting, a user named JPatrickBedell wrote
he was determined to see justice for the 1991 death of a
Marine in California. The death was ruled a suicide but
has long been the source of coverup theories.
Russia will maintain, not
build up n-arsenal: Medvedev
IANS/ RIA Novosti, Moscow
Russia is not planning to build up its strategic
potential, but will keep its nuclear weapons, President
Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.
'Today we have no need to build up the potential of our
strategic deterrence, but possession of nuclear weapons is
a key condition for Russia to pursue its independent
policies, for safeguarding its sovereignty, for peace
efforts and for preventing any military conflict and also
settling post-conflict situations,' Med-vedev said during
a meeting at the defence ministry. Russia and the US have
made considerable headway on a new strategic arms
reduction pact in recent months, with talks set to
continue March 9.
Addressing Russia's top brass, Medvedev made clear he saw
regional conflicts in countries surrounding Russia as a
major security threat.
'It is important to take into account that there is a
number of unsettled regional conflicts around our borders.
It creates a potential threat to our country's national
security,' Medvedev said.
His statement comes amid concerns over Georgia's growing
military potential, which Russia suspects receives heavy
backing from the West. 'Unfortunately, the
re-establishment of Georgia's military potential is
continuing with the help of foreign military assistance,'
Medvedev said. Diplomatic relations between Russia and
Georgia remain sharply antagonistic after a five-day war
in early August 2008 over Georgia's two breakaway regions
of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia recognised the two
republics' independence shortly after ceasefire.
Only Nicaragua, Ven-ezuela and the Pacific island state of
Nauru have followed suit. Western powers have condemned
Russia's move.
In February, Russia and Abkhazia signed a deal to set up a
Russian military base in the former Georgian republic, to
fierce protests from Tbilisi and the West.
Victorious Dutch anti-Islam
politician back in UK
AP, London
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside of Britain's
Parliament on Friday, ahead of the viewing of an
anti-Islam film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whose
strong showing in a local elections sparked concern that
his anti-immigrant views have become widely accepted in
the Netherlands.
The 46-year-old maverick, whose Freedom Party is on the
rise in the Netherlands, will present the movie at
London's House of Lords.
Rival rallies are planned around his arrival. The English
Defense League, a self-described "counter-jihad" movement
with links to Britain's far-right, said it plans a march
in support of Wilders. Unite Against Fascism has promised
a counter-demonstration, and by midday, a crowd had begun
to chant, "Fascist thugs off our streets!"
It isn't Wilders' first visit to London. The bleach-blond
politician made headlines in February 2009 when Britain's
Home Office banned him from entering the country on public
safety grounds. Wilders ignored the ban, flying into
Heathrow only to have authorities send him back almost
immediately.
A court challenge was more successful. Wilders got the ban
overturned and flew back to the British capital in
October, but he had to scrap a planned media appearance in
front of London's Parliament building when the conference
was cras-hed by a small group of bearded Islamists who
showed up wearing camouflage and chanting: "Allahu Akbar!,"
or "God is Great!"
Lord Pearson, the lawmaker who has invited Wilders to
screen his movie, said he was putting on the event in a
bid to help the controversial Dutchman "exercise his
freedom of speech in the Mother of Parliaments."
Turkey to push peace with
Armenia despite US vote
Reuters, Ankara
Turkey said Friday it would push on with efforts to
normalize ties with Armenia despite a U.S. congressional
panel vote labeling as genocide the mass killing of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.
Turkish leaders reacted with fury over the approval on
Thursday of the non-binding resolution by the U.S. House
of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, although it
was unclear whether the bill would be considered by the
full House.
President Abdullah Gul, whose visit to Armenia in 2008 led
to the peace initiative, said the U.S. vote would hurt
efforts to bring peace and stability to the South
Caucasus, a volatile region with pipelines taking oil and
gas to the West.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the U.S. action had
jeopardized chances of Turkey's parliament ratifying peace
accords with Armenia, but that the government would push
on with efforts to resolve disputes with its old foe.
"We are determined to press ahead with normalization of
relations with Armenia," Davutoglu told a news conference
hours after Turkey recalled its ambassador from
Washington.
DISTRACTION
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned of possible damage to
relations with the United States, which could undermine
President Barack Obama's goal of building a "strategic
partnership" with Turkey, a Muslim, yet secular country.
Muslim Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians were
killed by Ottoman Turks but denies that up to 1.5 million
died and that it amounted to genocide-a term employed by
many Western historians and some foreign parliaments.
Business/Economy
Chinese
economy faces ‘crucial’ year: Wen
AFP, Beijing
China on Friday predicted another year of rapid expansion
in 2010 but pledged to ensure the benefits of economic
growth are shared more evenly, as concern mounts over a
widening rich-poor divide.
In his annual "state of the nation" address to open
parliament, Premier Wen Jiabao also pledged to tame
inflation and curb rampant bank lending to forestall a
risky bubble in the world's third-largest economy.
Wen said China would target eight percent economic growth
in 2010, which he called a "crucial year" in the battle
against the global slowdown. "This year the main targets
we have set for economic and social development are
increasing GDP by approximately eight percent... (and)
holding the rise in consumer prices to around three
percent," Wen told lawmakers.
Eight percent growth is a figure authorities feel is the
minimum necessary to avert widespread joblessness and
social unrest in the world's most populous country.
Despite the global crisis, the economy grew 8.7 percent
last year. With the world downturn exposing the volatility
of foreign trade, the agenda for the National People's
Congress will be topped by Beijing's efforts to retool the
economy away from its long reliance on cheap exports.
"This is a crucial year for continuing to deal with the
global financial crisis, maintaining steady and rapid
economic development and accelerating the transformation
of the pattern of economic development," Wen said.
He offered a fresh pledge to boost domestic consumption as
a means to diversify the economy, and vowed to maintain a
"proactive fiscal policy." China launched a
586-billion-dollar stimulus package in 2008.
Wen said China would keep the value of the yuan "basically
stable" in 2010, a stance sure to rile the country's key
Western trading partners, which say the currency is kept
low to boost exports.
China annually sees thousands of protests-often violent-by
those who have missed out on the nation's economic boom,
and Wen promised to expand the social security umbrella.
"We will not only make the pie of social wealth bigger by
developing the economy, but also distribute it well on the
basis of a rational income distribution system," he said.
Wen vowed to reform residency rules that discriminate
against people who relocate from their home towns-a system
known as "hukou" that effectively consigns China's 230
million migrant workers to second-class status. "We will
carry out reform of the household registration system and
relax requirements for household registration in towns and
small and medium-sized cities," he said. China expects to
run up a budget deficit of 1.05 trillion yuan (154 billion
dollars), up 10 percent from last year, Wen said, as it
maintains the hefty stimulus plan and upgrades social
security.
Erasing
poverty ‘a pipedream’ without high growth: Indian PM
AFP, New Delhi
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday that
erasing poverty in a country of nearly 1.2 billion people
will remain a "pipedream" unless the country steps up its
growth rate. He told parliament that he expected India's
economy to grow at least 7.2 percent in the current
financial year to March 31, eight percent next year and be
back at pre-financial crisis levels of nine percent the
following year.
Before the global slump, India posted three successive
years of at least nine percent growth. The Congress prime
minister said it was urgent to increase growth to be able
to "soften the sharp edges of poverty" in the country,
where the World Bank estimates 76 percent of the
population live on less than two dollars a day. "If we do
not grow fast enough, we may talk about eradicating rural
poverty, expanding education-but they will all remain a
pipedream," he said.
"That is why it is very important that the economy should
get back to nine percent or more growth," he said. He
added that if the country is able to improve its
dilapidated ports, roads and other infrastructure, improve
education and other social sectors and reduce corruption
"we will be able to enter the age of double-digit growth".
"This is the vision our government is waiting to realise,"
he said.
US sees jobless claims fall
AFP, Washington
US employment woes come under the microscope Friday as the
government estimates how many Americans are unemployed,
with hopes of an economic recovery hinging on the outcome.
The Labor Department will publish February unemployment
figures, a day after offering the slightest glimmers of
hope that the ranks of America's unemployed are shrinking.
Against the backdrop of a US unemployment rate hovering
near 10 percent, the department on Thursday reported that
134,000 fewer Americans claimed jobless benefits in the
week to February 20 than the week before.
It was some succor for a nation in the throes of the worst
recession in decades and in which 4.5 million unemployed
still ask the government for help to make ends meet.
The claims rate, still high by pre-recession standards,
was slightly better than Wall Street expected and enough
to nudge the US stock market upward early on Thursday.
But some analysts saw the uptick as small consolation.
"(The) report has provided some support," said Patrick
O'Hare of Briefing.com, "not so much because the report
was good but because it was less bad than expected."
"While the pace of layoffs may be slowing, the key
takeaway here is that the pace of hiring isn't
accelerating to any meaningful degree.
"The continuing claims improvement is misleading as a sign
of a strong pickup in hiring activity."
Andrew Gledhill of Moody's Economy.com was also
pessimistic: "There has been little or no improvement in
trends over the last several months."
Experts say the US recovery has spluttered amid a vicious
circle of firms hiring less, banks lending less and
reduced consumer spending.
"Consumers are tied down by debt and declining housing
prices, businesses won't invest because they lack
customers," said Peter Morici, a business professor at the
University of Maryland.
"In recent weeks, new jobless claims have climbed, fueling
pessimism among economists."
Hong Kong ranks Asia’s most
innovative economy
AFP, Singapore
Hong Kong has Asia's most innovative economy, thanks to
its high level of creativity and well developed financial
markets, a study said.
The Chinese territory beat regional rival Singapore, which
was in second place in the Asian rankings, said the joint
study by international business school INSEAD and the
Confederation of Indian Industry released late Thursday.
Worldwide, Hong Kong ranked third in the Global Innovation
Index while Singapore placed seventh, the study showed.
Among the criteria used by the survey, economies were
ranked by patents filed, publication of scientific
journals, research and development spending and how
innovation supported social welfare, competitiveness and
growth. Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand were the only
Asia Pacific economies to make it to the top 10 in the
global rankings.
Iceland topped the global innovation list despite its deep
economic woes followed by Sweden, while Switzerland placed
fourth after Hong Kong.
Rounding up the global top 10 list was Denmark in fifth
spot, followed by Finland, Singapore, Netherlands, New
Zealand and Norway.
The US, which took the top spot last year, slid down to
11th place amid growing challenges from other countries
which are putting increasing emphasis on education,
science and technology, the study said.
The study stressed innovation as a key driver of growth,
playing "a critical role not only in facilitating
countries' recovery but also in sustaining national
competitiveness," it said.
US, India set to launch economic
partnership
AFP, Washington
The United States and India will launch an economic and
financial partnership next month, with a permanent
cabinet-level bilateral dialogue a key feature, the US
Treasury said Thursday. US Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner will travel to India on April 6-7 to launch the
US-India Economic and Financial Partnership in New Delhi
with Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The partnership, to focus on macroeconomic policy, the
financial sector and infrastructure financing, will meet
at the cabinet level, alternately in the United States and
India, led by Geithner and Mukherjee, a Treasury statement
said. Working group meetings will be held throughout the
year to advance discussions on specific economic areas, it
said. The partnership was first announced in November when
President Barack Obama hosted Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on the first state visit since he entered
the White House in January.
The United States already has a standing dialogue with
fellow emerging Asian giant China.
Officials said that unlike the dialogue with China, which
is multi-ministerial, the forum with India was focused
purely on economic and financial regulatory policy, led by
the US Treasury and the Indian finance ministry.
"We are still working through how frequently the ministers
will meet," one official told AFP.
Former US President George W. Bush conceived of the US
dialogue with China to focus on the economy, but Obama
expanded it to cover strategic issues as well. Geithner
and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the dialogue
with China in July in Washington.
The US-India partnership "will serve as a platform for
greater cooperation on economic issues of importance to
both nations," the Treasury statement said.
"Both countries recognize the importance of expanding
bilateral economic engagement, noting the rapid growth of
US-India economic ties and the increasing range of global
macroeconomic and financial issues on which the United
States and India cooperate," it said.
Wall Street, BOJ report push
Asian shares higher
AFP, Hong Kong
A rise on Wall Street and reports that the Bank of Japan
may further loosen monetary policy helped Asian shares
higher Friday, ahead of the release of key US jobs data.
However, apprehension remained as China warned it would
slash lending in a bid to tame asset prices, as Beijing
tries to balance rapid economic expansion with a delicate
transition from huge stimulus measures.
Tokyo soared 2.20 percent, or 223.24 points, to 10,368.96
on a report by the Nikkei business daily that the Bank of
Japan will likely consider more monetary easing, or steps
to increase liquidity to stimulate the economy, through
April.
If the bank, which has already dropped rates to near-zero,
takes such steps, it "will have a healing effect on the
economy as a whole", Nikko Cordial Securities equity
general manager Hiroichi Nishi said.
Exporters gained on a lower yen, with Sony up 3.38 percent
and Canon gaining 3.32 percent.
Seoul closed up 1.01 percent or 16.37 points at 1,634.57
while Sydney added 0.35 percent or 16.7 points to 4,767.2
in cautious trade ahead of the release of US non-farm
payrolls data later Friday.
Beijing Friday predicted eight percent growth this year
for the economic giant, as Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to
maintain "moderately loose" monetary policy and the "basic
stability" of the yuan exchange rate to support growth.
"Investors are getting some reassurance from the premier's
speech that the government's focus is on putting the
economy on a sound footing," Zhang Gang, an analyst from
Southwest Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires. Shanghai
closed 0.25 percent, or 7.69 points higher at 3,031.07.
Hong Kong added 1.03 percent, or 212.19 points, to close
at 20,787.97.
But there was a note of caution as Wen vowed to cut
lending in an effort to rein in soaring real estate prices
and curb speculative investment amid fears of a damaging
property bubble, capping gains. "We will resolutely curb
the precipitous rise of housing prices in some cities," he
said, adding that authorities would slash new bank loans
by about a fifth in 2010 to 7.5 trillion yuan.
Massive bank lending in 2009 has triggered fears that the
cash flood has fed a spending spree by property
speculators. Asian markets were given a strong cue from
Wall Street, where US stocks rose 0.46 percent after the
Labor Department said fewer Americans claimed jobless
benefits in the week to February 20, ahead of Friday's
jobs data.
However, the positive figures were offset by a
smaller-than-expected rise in US factory orders and an
unexpected sharp drop in pending home sales. Many traders
in Asia were cautiously staying on the sidelines ahead of
Friday's figures, dealers said.
The latest twists in Greece's efforts to resolve its
public deficit and debt crisis also appeared to dent
confidence generated earlier this week when Athens
announced an additional set of austerity measures, dealers
said.
Greece successfully launched a 6.8-billion-dollar bond
issue Thursday to raise funds, but faced stiffening
opposition to its plea for help and its threat to go to
the International Monetary Fund for support.
The safe-haven dollar moved higher in Asian trade as a
result.
The greenback rose to 89.28 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade
from 89.10 in New York late Thursday.
The euro, which has dropped six percent against the US
currency so far this year, was steady at 1.3591 dollars.
The European currency was higher at 121.33 yen from
120.99.
Dollar higher in Asian trade
amid euro, China worries
AFP, Tokyo
The dollar was higher in Asian trade Friday as concern
over Greece's debt crisis and worries over China's moves
to rein in lending sent investors scurrying for the
safe-haven currency. The greenback rose to 89.27 yen in
Tokyo morning trade from 89.10 in New York late Thursday.
The euro, which has dropped six percent against the US
currency so far this year, was steady at 1.3581 dollars.
The European currency was higher at 121.24 yen from
120.99.
The dollar gained as risk-averse traders eyed a key
parliamentary session in China, with the world's
third-largest economy looking to rein in lending and
manage a transition from massive stimulus measures.
Premier Wen Jiabao that China will slash bank lending by
about a fifth in 2010 to 7.5 trillion yuan (around one
trillion dollars), amid fears the economy is overheating.
Meanwhile, worries about rescue plans for debt-laden
Greece heightened ahead of a meeting later in the day
between Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"If a European Union backstop bailout plan isn't
forthcoming, we could see euro-dollar further retrace its
recent gains," with the euro falling back against the
dollar, warned NAB Capital strategist John Kyriakopoulos.
The meeting comes after Athens on Wednesday announced
austerity measures to slash its bloated public debt and
successfully launched Thursday a five-billion-euro
(6.8-billion-dollar) bond issue to raise badly needed
funds.
The 10-year bond offer attracted bids worth 16 billion
euros after Greece fixed a high yield, or rate of return,
of above six percent. The greenback also garnered support
from encouraging signs in the US labour market, after
jobless benefit claims fell more than expected and
productivity rose in the fourth quarter.
However, the positive data was offset by a
smaller-than-expected rise in US factory orders and an
unexpected sharp drop in pending home sales. But investors
were cautious ahead of February's non-farm payrolls which
will likely show that the economy shed 65,000 jobs and the
jobless rate ticked up to 9.8 percent. But analysts expect
the figures may have been influenced by the heavy snow
storms during that month.
US jobless rate holds steady,
despite winter storms
AFP, Washington
The United States lost 36,000 jobs in February and the
unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent, the government said
in a better-than-expected report Friday that may be skewed
by winter storms. The Labor Department said that payroll
employment was "little changed" from January, noting job
losses in construction and information that were partly
offset by increases in temporary hiring.
"Severe winter weather in parts of the country may have
affected payroll employment and hours; however, it is not
possible to quantify precisely the net impact of the
winter storms on these measures," the department said. The
report was better than expected by most economists who had
forecast 67,000 nonfarm job losses and a 9.8 percent
unemployment rate.
The government revised higher the job losses in January to
26,000 from 20,000 and maintained the unemployment rate at
9.7 percent. The total number of unemployed was
essentially unchanged at 14.9 million.
The highly anticipated Labor Department report is seen as
a key indicator of economic momentum.
The February report was much stronger than analysts
expected after major snowstorms in the northeast, but
still underscored the persistent woes in the labor market,
even after the economy emerged from a crippling recession
in mid-2009.
The Federal Reserve, the White House and most economists
have warned that high unemployment would continue as the
world's largest economy slowly recovers from the worst
recession in decades.
Businesswomen key to Latin
America prosperity :Hillary
AFP, San Jose
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Thursday to
back female entrepreneurs, promote small business and
modernize customs procedures as part of US efforts to
boost Latin American prosperity.
In a speech to regional foreign ministers in Costa Rica,
Clinton said Washington will also help teach more people
English and Spanish, cut environmental costs for business,
and expand lending opportunities for all. The chief US
diplomat put particular stress on support for business
women, which is part of her broader strategy to lift
countries out of poverty by supporting the too-often
neglected half of the population.
"We know that women still today are often overlooked or
excluded, especially when they go for credit," Clinton
said after meeting women entrepreneurs here.
"Even though they are innovative, energetic, hard-working,
and committed, we're not doing enough to support their
businesses and efforts," she told ministers in a luxury
hotel in San Jose by lush green mist-shrouded hills. Costa
Rican Monica Araya, chairwoman of the Central American
Federation of Chambers of Commerce, said women
entrepreneurs have been present in services, tourism, or
finances, but are now entering new fields like the
agro-industrial sector. She cited the Costa Rican cofee
industry where two women coffee growers received the
national prize for excellence.
The event here was a "Pathways to Prosperity" roundtable,
which was launched by the previous administration of
George W. Bush-something Clinton has not only embraced but
vowed to build on.
Participating countries include six Central American
countries as well as Canada, Chile, Colombia, the
Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and the United
States.
Clinton also pledged to organize exchange visits in order
to share more widely the US model of small business
development centers where people obtain information and
advice about launching a business. She challenged Latin
American countries to match a goal set by the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum, which has agreed to reduce
trade logistics delays and costs by five percent. The
secretary also said Washington will continue to support
programs teaching people across the region English and
Americans Spanish.
She also promised to continue helping small and
medium-sized enterprises "decrease the amount of water,
energy and raw material they use, to protect natural
resources, shrink carbon emissions, and save costs." The
United States, she said, is also committed to working with
its partners to modernize lending laws to make life easier
for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Clinton was due to meet later with president-elect Laura
Chinchilla, set to become Costa Rica's first female head
of state. She also met with President Oscar Arias, who
hands over to Chinchilla on May 8. This is the fifth stop
in Clinton's six-country Latin America tour, which she
completes Friday in Guatemala, where she attends another
meeting with regional leaders.
The ministers issued a declaration at the end of the
summit vowing to continue individual and collective
efforts to assist the people and government of Haiti
following the January 12 quake.
IMF package delay to deepen
Iceland recession
AFP, Reykjavik
Iceland's government warned Thursday of a deepening
recession if an IMF rescue package is delayed by a looming
referendum on international compensation for the Icesave
bank collapse. Icelanders head to the polls Saturday to
vote on a government compensation plan for Britain and The
Netherlands for their losses in the October 2008 collapse
of Icesave, an online bank.
A "no" vote is expected and there are concerns this would
prompt the two countries to block a long-awaited
2.1-billion-dollar International Monetary Fund rescue
package for Reykjavik. "A delay of several months could
deepen the contraction (of Iceland's gross domestic
product) to five percent this year," Economics Affairs
Minister Gylfi Magnusson told reporters. Iceland's
government and analysts have forecast the economy would
shrink between two and three percent this year, after
plunging seven percent in 2009. The IMF has already handed
over half of the money to Iceland, while the other Nordic
countries, which have vowed to chip in an additional 1.8
billion euros in loans towards their neighbour's recovery,
have so far shipped over 300 million.
Russia unveils $20 b plan to save
car industry
AFP, Moscow
The government on Thursday unveiled a plan to invest
almost 20 billion dollars over the next decade to
transform the embattled Russian car industry into a major
global player.
Some 584 billion rubles (19.6 billion dollars) of state
funds will be invested in the car industry to 2020,
Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko said after a cabinet
meeting chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"Our end goal is to have in this country a modern auto
industry which includes the whole supply chain up to the
end product," Putin said, according to a transcript of his
remarks on the Russian government's website.
"We need to work hard to make the national auto industry
more competitive," he added.
Russia's auto market, before the global financial crisis
considered to have the best growth prospects in Europe,
shrunk 49 percent in 2009. It has begun to stabilise but
in January, it was still down 37 percent compared with a
year earlier.
Malaysia’s exports jump 37pc
in January
AFP, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia said Friday its exports, the mainstay of the
economy, jumped 37.0 percent year-on-year in January as
the economy emerges from recession.
The trade ministry said in a statement that shipments rose
to 52.45 billion ringgit (15.6 billion dollars) while
imports were up 31 percent to 39.52 billion ringgit,
producing a surplus of 12.93 billion ringgit.
"The increase in exports in January 2010 compared with
January 2009 was largely contributed by higher exports of
electrical and electronic products which increased by 55.6
percent or 7.64 billion ringgit," the statement said.
Electrical and electronic products accounted for 40.8
percent of total exports while other main export items
were palm oil, chemical products, refined petroleum
products, crude petroleum and metal.
"On a year-on-year basis, exports to major markets except
the United States registered a significant growth," the
ministry said, referring to key markets such as China,
Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.
National
Export of horticultural crops can
be raised 2-3 times
UNB, Dhaka
The export of horticultural crops could be raised 2-3
times if concentrated thrust is given in this sector, said
exporters and officials of Hortex Foundation.
"It is possible to raise the volume of export 2-3 times if
some problems are addressed and the government gives
proper attention," said SM Jahangir Hossain, president of
Bangladesh Food, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters
Association (BFVAPEA).
He underscored establishing a central warehouse or packing
house in absence of which the Bangladeshi exporters are
facing difficulty in maintaining a cool chain of supply.
"If the central warehouse is established, we would be able
to export our products in desired quality to super shops
in EU and other countries," he said.
Saying that exporters are often harassed by the customs
officials while exporting their products, Jahangir urged
the government to look into the matter.
He also stressed the need for reducing air fair as most
exports are done by air, saying that this will increase
foreign exchange earnings. Dr. SM Monwar Hossain, managing
director of Hortex Foundation which promotes export of
horticultural crops, said:
"There is huge export potential for our horticultural
crops, but we are yet to explore it fully. There is a need
to strengthen the Hortex Foundation to fully explore the
potential." He said that the government could strengthen
the Horticulture Export Development Foundation through
realizing service charges from the stakeholders, providing
seed money or giving subsidy towards packaging cost.
"If government subsidy is ensured in packaging, it would
be possible to use quality packaging material and also to
ensure export quality of our products for the
international markets."
Hortex Foundation chief executive also stressed the need
for increasing the air cargo space and improving the
shipment facility at Chittagong Port.
"Neighboring countries like Sri Lanka and India are our
competitors and we have to be more updated to stay in the
export market," he said. Bangladesh exports horticultural
crops such as vegetables and fruits to UK, Italy, France
Germany Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands, Saudi Arab, Qatar,
Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh
exported highest 33,626 metric ton of fresh fruits and
vegetables earning US$ 69.12 million in fiscal 2007-08.
But this positive trend could not be continued in the next
fiscal (2008-09) due to global economic recession.
Bangladesh earned US$ 50.71 million during the year
exporting 24,670 metric tons of fresh fruits and
vegetables. SM Monwar Hossain, also a Director of PIU,
Supply Chain Development Component of National
Agricultural Technology Project (NATP), emphasized on
developing infrastructures and logistical support to
increase exports.
Hortex Foundation, a non-profit organization, was
established in 1993 to address the challenge of poverty
alleviation through sustainable agribusiness development
and export promotion of high value agricultural
commodities.
The Foundation assists private sector to promote
agribusiness in the country, promote Bangladeshi produces
at local and international markets, establishes linkage
with different national, international organizations,
NGOs, donors and private entrepreneurs.
The Foundation have also supported export of about 5,000
metric tons of fresh produces to EU and Middle East,
supported export of 1,550 metric tons of frozen vegetables
to EU and USA, and supplied 400,000 international standard
cartons and packaging materials to producers and
exporters.
‘Digital BD
possible before 2021 as everyone gets prepared mentally’
BSS, Dhaka
Speakers at a seminar on Friday stressed the need for
digitizing the government at local levels speedily by
integrating the activities of all ministries and divisions
in order to reach government services to the people at the
grass roots through utilizing digital technology.
State Minister for science and Information Communication
Technology Architect Yeafesh Osman said it would be
possible to establish Digital Bangladesh much ahead of the
targeted 2021 as the administration from top to bottom has
been prepared mentally for getting digitized.
They were speaking at a seminar titled "ICT Policy 2009 to
Achieve Digital Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu Novo Theatre
in the city. Prime Minister's Office (PMO), as part of its
three-day long Digital Innovation Fair 2010, organized the
seminar with Principal Secretary to the PMO Abdul Karim in
the chair.
Call
to ensure standard public toilets at public places
UNB, Dhaka
The government should ensure setting up standard public
toilets at the city's strategic points, offices and
educational institutions where public gatherings take
place regularly so that people can use those easily and
comfortably, said environmentalists. They said there
should be better washrooms in public places -educational
institutions, bus stands, railway stations, launch
terminals, shopping malls, markets and multistoried
buildings - to protect people from germs, as toilets
become havens for germs and diseases.
"Healthy public toilets at all establishments, including
educational institutions, in the capital city should be
made available for all, particularly women," Abu Naser
Khan, chairman of Paribesh Bachao Andolon (save
environment movement) told UNB on Sunday. He mentioned
that most of the women go out everyday taking less water
to avoid the use of public toilets, as there is lack of
healthy public toilets around the city. "By taking less
water, women expose them to many serious diseases
including kidney complications," he said.
Describing all toilets outside private dwellings as public
toilets, Abu Naser said most of the public toilets in
Dhaka city are not women-friendly as those are not
properly sanitized. "Standard public toilets should be set
up in public places to protect the public health." He said
the government's expenditure in health sector would come
down if the number of patients drops. "Having standard
public toilets in private institutions can be made
mandatory. This is an important matter, but no one seems
bother about it," said Abu Naser. "Using public toilets in
capital Dhaka, which are operated by Dhaka City
Corporation (DCC), is really an horrifying experience as
those are very dirty, unhygienic, and unsuitable for
women," said Selina Akhter, a housewife, after using a
ublic toilet in Farmgate area. She said the authorities
concerned should come up with a plan to set up better
sanitized toilets in this mega city of over 15 million
people. Prof. Roxana Hafiz, chairman of Department of
Urban and Regional Planning of BUET, said the government
should set up standard public toilets at strategic public
places taking into consideration the comfort of children
and handicapped people. " There's no toilet for children
and handicapped people in the city… It's the
responsibility of the government to ensure standard
toilets in public places like markets, shopping malls, bus
stands, launch terminals and educational institutions,"
she said. Prof. Roxana, also a member of Paribesh Bachao
Andolon, emphasized employing adequate workers to maintain
the public toilets along with ensuring security of the
users.
According to the website of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC),
there are some 48 public toilets run under 10 zones of the
corporation. But these are found in very miserable
condition.
Sports
England clinches ODI series 3-0
BSS, Chittagong
Craig Kieswetter's fabulous 107 powered England to complete
the whitewash against Bangladesh as the tourists registered a
comprehensive 45-run victory in the third and final one-day
international at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here on
Friday.
Earlier in Dhaka, England beat Bangladesh by six wickets in
the first ODI and by two wickets in the second ODI to come
into this match with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the
three-match series.
Bangladesh found the target of 285 runs for victory as a
daunting task and far beyond their means as they struggled to
finish at 239 for nine in their stipulated 50 overs.
Kieswetter for his maiden century was declared man of the
match while Eoen Morgan being instrumental in all three
matches was selected as player of the series.
England will play a three-day practice match against
Bangladesh A then will be heading to the two test matches
which begin on March 12 with the first test here at this
venue.
Tigers' run chase suffered a real setback when their inform
ace batsman Tamim Iqbal went back to the pavilion without
disturbing the scorer as he failed to open his account.
The other southpaw opener Imrul Kayes looked in a hurry as he
departed for 17.
Aftab Ahmed and Mushfiqur Rahim showed some glimpses of
fightback. But a tragic mixed-up saw Aftab, who finally was
looking in top form, was run out for 46 off 60 balls studded
with seven boundaries. Wicketkeeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim
also looked in prime touch as he holed out for 40 runs off 43
balls.
Skipper Shakib also got a fine start and threatened to come in
the game but he too for 38-ball 38 runs perished when he was
declared a dubious leg-before wicket decision by Bangladeshi
umpire Enamul Haque Moni to rob Bangladesh off an outside
chance of winning the match.
Mahmudullah Riyad's departure for 34 saw the Tigers pull down
their shutter. Shakib at a post-match briefing admitted that
most of his batsman got the start but failed to convert into a
big innings. He said inviting the visitors to bat looked
promising in the first 30 overs but as the match progressed on
England fought back brilliantly to take the game away from
them.
Earlier in the day, Shakib won the coveted toss for Bangladesh
and surprised everyone by inviting England to bat first on a
placid track which gave every indication of a perfect batting
wicket. Opener Kieswetter grabbed at the gifted opportunity as
he rattled up a majestic century, his maiden ODI ton, to power
England to an imposing 284 for 5.
Though England did not look early in their innings of heading
for such a big total as most of the English batsmen, including
Kieswetter, all made a sedate start but as the innings
progressed the English batsmen blossomed with Craig taking the
lead role to demolish the Tigers' balling lineup.
He went into top gear just after reaching his fifty, slamming
three sixes in his 123-ball knock of a superb 107 before being
bowled by Abdur Razzaq in the 47th over.
His sparkling knock allowed the other England batters-
Eoin Morgan and Luke Wright-lashed on the remaining overs to
pile up a total which looked beyond the Tigers' reach. Skipper
Alastair Cook set the ball rolling with a flashy 32.
Kevin Pietersen was trying to return to form but was ruled leg
before wicket for 22, a decision not appreciated by the
victim. Paul Collingwood struggled to time the ball but still
managed to score 36 with one boundary and added a valuable 74
runs with Kieswetter for a third wicket stand.
Bangladesh pathetic fielding made things worse for the Tigers
as they gave two precious lives to the inform and the second
ODI English hero Morgan, who with Luke Wright's made
Bangladesh pay heavy dividend for their letoffs.
Morgan made the most of his letoffs with a breezy 36 from 29
balls, with four fours and a six, and put on 67 in just over
eight overs with Kieswetter.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Kieswetter notched his hundred to
became the second youngest England batsman to score a limited-
overs century.
Wright took the queue with a brutal display of power hitting.
He stormed to 32 from just 13 balls to guide England to its
highest score in Bangladesh.
Scorecard
England:
Cook c Rahim b Shakib 32
Kieswetter b Razzak 107
Pietersen lbw b Razzak 22
Collingwood c Razzak b Shuvo 36
Morgan c Tamim b Shafiul 36
Wright not out 32
Bresnan not out 6
Extras: (lb3, w10) 13
Total: (for five wickets; 50 overs) 284
Falls: 1-59 (Cook), 2-96 (Pietersen), 3-170 (Collingwood),
4-237 (Kieswetter), 5-257 (Morgan).
Bowling: Shafiul 5-0-35-1 (w2), Rubel 6-0-62-0 (w5), Razzak
10-0-40-2 (w2), Shakib 10-0-45-1, Naeem 7-0-36-0 (w1), Shuvo
10-1-45-1, Mahmudullah 2-0-18-0.
Bangladesh:
Tamim c Bresnan b Shahzad 0
Imrul c Prior b Bresnan 17
Aftab run out 46
Mushfiq c Bresnan b Swann 40
Shakib lbw b Pietersen 38
Mahmudullah c Cook b Bresnan 33
Naeem c Wright b Swann 18
Suhrawadi c Shahzad b Bresnan 11
Razzak not out 17
Shafiul c Prior b Bresnan 0
Rubel not out 2
Extras: (lb3, w14) 17
Total: (for nine wickets; 50 overs) 239
Falls: 1-0 (Iqbal), 2-40 (Kayes), 3-96 (Ahmed), 4-125 (Rahim),
5-162 (Shakib), 6-204 (Naeem), 7-211 (Mahmudullah), 8-228 (Shuvo),
9-228 (Shafiul).
Bowling: Shahzad 9-0-55-1 (w4), Bresnan 9-1-28-4 (w2), Wright
2-0-16-0, Plunkett 2-0-12-0, Collingwood 10-0-51-0 (w5), Swann
10-0-38-2, Pietersen 8-0-36-1 (w3).
Result: England wins by 45 runs.
Mohit Mayur and Xin Gao move boys' singles final
TBT report
Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash and Xin Gao moved into the final of
the boys' singles competition in the 24th Bangladesh ITF
Junior Tennis Championship winning their respective semifinals
on Friday.
Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash of India scored a domineering 6-3, 6-3
win over Bowen Ouyang of China to make it to the final at
Ramna National Tennis Complex in the capital.
The other Chinese contender Xin Gao confirmed his final place
after a hard fought 6-3, 7-6 win against Sai Kartik Nakireddi
of India in the other semifinal.
Xuanshuo Ou of China and Sabina Sharipova of Uzbekistan
reached the girls' singles final.
Xuanshuo Ou won walkover against her compatriot Saisai Zheng
in the first semifinal, while Sabina Sharipova dumped the
Indian girl Ratnika Batra 6-2, 6-4 in the other last-four
contest. Kadchapana and Leander Lazaro (Phillipines) clinched
the boys' doubles title when they defeated Phassawit
Burapharitta and Sai Kartik Nakireddi (India) 6-3, 7-5 in the
final of the event.
The girls' doubles title went to Xuanshuo Ou and Meng Ning
Deng (China), who prevailed over the Indian pair Ratnika Batra
and Sharon Sanchana Paul 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
Hamstring curse ends Owen's
World Cup dream
AFP, Manchester
Michael Owen will be out injured until the end of the
season after learning he needs surgery to repair the
hamstring injury that forced him out of last weekend's
League Cup final.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson revealed Friday
that the injury suffered by the striker had been more
serious than initially thought, definitively ending any
lingering hope Owen had of making England's squad for the
World Cup in June and July.
Owen limped out of Sunday's 2-1 win over Aston Villa at
Wembley just before half-time and will have an operation
on Monday. "It is a terrible blow for the lad," Ferguson
said. "It is more serious than we thought."
There was some positive news for United fans on Friday
with Ferguson revealing that England midfielder Owen
Hargreaves will make his long-awaited comeback in a
reserves match on Thursday.
Hargreaves, voted England's best player at the 2006 World
Cup, has not played since September 2008 because of
chronic tendinitis in both knees, for which he underwent
surgery last year. His comeback has been repeatedly
postponed but a glimmer of light has now appeared at the
end of the tunnel.
"Owen Hargreaves has shown for the first time that he is
almost ready to play," said Ferguson. "He has been
training with the first team, which has been good to see
and is pencilled in for a game with the reserves on
Thursday."
Ferguson also announced that striker Federico Macheda
would next week resume training for the first team
following a recent injury.
"He is a good player to have back, particularly
considering the loss of Michael," Ferguson said of the
Italy under-21 star, who scored two crucial goals in last
season's title run-in.
Owen's career has been blighted by hamstring problems with
the recurring injuries depriving him of the blistering
pace that enabled him, at 18, to score one of the all-time
great World Cup goals, for England against Argentina at
France 98.
His latest setback will inevitably fuel concern that, at
30, he has reached the end of the road, but he insisted
that he was looking forward to returning, fully fit, next
season.
"Unfortunately the specialist says I will miss the end of
the season," he said.
Mayweather,
Mosley tout May Day bout
AFP, Los Angeles
Shane Mosley vowed Thursday to hand Floyd Mayweather jnr
his first professional defeat as the two fighters touted
their May 1 welterweight showdown in Hollywood style.
"This fight is going to be on May 1st, but it's also going
to be May's first (defeat)," said Mosley as the fighters
wrapped up their cross-country publicity tour in the
sunshine of downtown Los Angeles. After the obligatory
nose-to-nose stare-down, each fighter reiterated his
respect for the other - a contrast to some of the
trash-talking that marked their earlier press conferences.
"Shane is out of character in this whole thing,"
Mayweather said of their previous acrimonious exchanges,
including a shoving match in New York.
"He doesn't talk trash. That's not like him to call out
somebody. I think Bernard Hopkins (Mosley's business
partner) put a battery in his back and pumped him up to
say those things." Mawyeather, who returned from near
two-year layoff with a dominant victory over Juan Manuel
Marquez last September, brings a record of 40-0 with 25
knockouts to the bout.
He had been expected to take on Filipino hero Manny
Pacquiao on March 13, but negotiations unravelled over the
American's demands for unprecedented pre-fight blood
testing for performance enhancing drugs.
Enter Mosley, who owns a record of 46-5 with 39 knockouts
and was supposed to face Andre Berto in a unification bout
in January before Berto withdrew to focus on family in
Haiti in the wake of the earthquake there. Golden Boy
promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer insists
Mayweather-Mosley can sell three million pay-per-view
buys, which would make it the biggest pay-per-view fight
in history.
Gunners aiming for return to pole
AFP, London
Arsenal can return to the Premier League summit today,
underlining the growing credibility of a title challenge
that has looked forlorn at times this season.
The Gunners, who have a much easier run-in than either of
their rivals, can move level on points with leaders
Chelsea, who are on FA Cup quarter-final duty this
weekend, by beating Burnley at the Emirates Stadium on
Saturday. If they do so by four goals or more they will
regain first place, although that will last only a few
hours unless second-placed Manchester United are beaten at
struggling Wolves later in the day.
Whatever happens at Molineux, Arsenal's resilience this
season has been nothing short of remarkable
When they were beaten 3-0 at home by Chelsea at the end of
November it left them 11 points adrift yet a run of
results allied to their rivals dropping points saw them
top the table seven weeks later. Comprehensive defeats by
Manchester United and Chelsea pushed Arsene Wenger's side
nine points adrift at the start of February but again they
bounced back and are in contention for their first title
since 2004.
"People were saying we were not good enough but we kept
the confidence really high because we know we have the
players and the quality to do it," said defender Gael
Clichy.
"Of course, when you find yourself 11 points behind the
leaders you ask yourself: 'It's going to be really
difficult. Are we capable of doing it?' and a few weeks
later you find yourself back in the title race and that's
a good feeling.
"So that shows you the character in the squad and, once
again, with the players we have, I'm sure we can do it.
"Everyone wants to be the champion and it's always
difficult to be the champion, but to be the team who
hasn't won anything for several years, it's even harder
because you feel the pressure of winning something.
"It's a good pressure because you want to do well for the
fans and for yourself and win a trophy. We've played good
football for five years and we know that we are a real
side."
That resilience was on show at Stoke City last week when
Arsenal sealed a 3-1 victory after having seen 19-year-old
Aaron Ramsey suffer a double-leg break in a challenge by
Ryan Shawcross.
Ramsey won't kick a ball again this season but Wenger was
confident the Wales international could still win a medal.
Zimbabwe holds nerve to edge WIndies by two runs
AFP, Providence
Shingirai Masakadza held his nerve in the final over to
help Zimbabwe earn a two-run victory over West Indies in
the first One-Day International here on Thursday.
Masakada, on his ODI debut, collected three wickets - two
in the final over - for 36 runs from three overs, as
Zimbabwe successfully defended a target score of 255 on a
typically slow Guyana National Stadium pitch.
The victory gave Zimbabwe a 1-0 lead in the five-match
series with the second match set for the same venue on
Saturday.
Opener Vusimuzi Sibanda had struck five fours and one six
in 95 from 162 balls to be the cornerstone of Zimbabwe's
254 for five from their quota of 50 overs after they
decided to bat.
But the match came down to the final over, and Zimbabwe
captain Prosper Utseya gambled with Masakadza.
The 23-year-old fast-medium bowler conceded a six, a four,
and a single to Nikita Miller off the first three balls of
the final over before he bowled Dwayne Smith for four, and
had Sulieman Benn caught at deep mid-wicket off successive
balls, as West Indies narrowly failed to get 15 runs from
the final over.
Zimbabwe's spinners again choked the West Indies'
top-order batting, despite Shivnarine Chanderpaul hitting
the top score of a run-a-ball 70, home team captain Chris
Gayle making 57 from 66 balls, and fellow opener Adrian
Barath 50 from 96 balls on debut.
Between Zimbabwe's four frontline spinners - their captain
Prosper Utseya, Ray Price, Graeme Cremer, and Greg Lamb -
they delivered 40 overs at four runs apiece, and removed
Gayle and Kieron Pollard, the West Indies two most
dangerous hitters.
They had been kept at bay, when Gayle shared 99 for the
first wicket with Barath before he was lbw to Lamb in the
23rd over. From this point, Zimbabwe continued to tighten
the noose, and the run outs of Andre Fletcher and Narsingh
Deonarine did not help the cause of the home team.
Earlier, Sibanda shared 67 for the first wicket with
Hamilton Masakadza, then 100 for the second wicket Tatenda
Taibu, and anchored Zimbabwe's innings before Kemar Roach
spectacularly bowled him - smashing his bat in the process
- in the penultimate over
Masakadza smote half-dozen boundaries in 41 from 45 balls,
and Taibu struck five fours in 56 from 54 balls.
Masakadza was lbw to Nikita Miller sweeping, and Taibu was
lbw to Kieron Pollard playing across the line.
When Brendan Taylor failed to beat Pollard's side-footed
shot at the striker's end, and was run out for one in the
38th over, Zimbabwe were 168 for three.
Elton Chigumbura joined Sibanda and put on 47 for the
fourth wicket before he was caught at long-on for 27 in
the 46th over, as Zimbabwe chased quick runs in the
closing stages.
The two sides also played three ODIs on March 10, 12, and
14 at the Arnos Vale Multiplex in St. Vincent.
Zimbabwe have never beaten West Indies in a bilateral ODI
series.
Scorecard
Zimbabwe (maximum 50 overs):
H. Masakadza lbw b Miller 41
V. Sibanda b Roach 95
T. Taibu lbw b Pollard 56
B. Taylor run out (Pollard) 1
E. Chigumbura c Fletcher b Pollard 27
S. Matsikenyeri not out 16
G. Lamb not out 2
Extras: (b4, lb2, w7, nb3) 16
Total: (5 wkts, 50 overs) 254
Falls: 1-67 (H. Masakadza, 18.4 overs); 2-167 (Taibu,
37.1); 3-168 (Taylor, 37.5); 4-215 (Chigumbura, 45.4);
5-241 (Sibanda, 48.3).
Bowling: Roach 9-0-34-1 (nb2); Benn 10-4-38-0; D.R. Smith
3-0-18-0; Pollard 10-0-59-2 (w4); Miller 10-1-52-1 (w3);
Deonarine 8-0-47-0 (nb1).
West Indies:
(target: 255 from 50 overs)
C. Gayle lbw b Lamb 57
A. Barath b Chigumbura 50
S. Chanderpaul c Chigumbura
b S. Masakadza 70
A. Fletcher run out (Cremer/Taibu) 6
N. Deonarine run out (Taibu/Utseya) 17
K. Pollard c Taylor b Utseya 5
D. Ramdin b Chigumbura 8
D.R. Smith b S. Masakadza 4
N. Miller not out 12
S. Benn c Cremer b S. Masakadza 0
K. Roach not out 1
Extras: (b2, lb7, w11, nb2) 22
Total: (9 wkts) 252
Falls: 1-99 (Gayle, 22.6 overs); 2-126 (Barath, 29.3);
3-136 (Fletcher, 32.4); 4-165 (Deonarine, 37.6); 5-193
(Pollard, 42.4); 6-233 (Chanderpaul, 47.1); 7-235 (Ramdin,
48.4); 8-251 (Smith, 49.4); 9-251 (Benn, 49.5).
Bowling: Utseya 10-1-47-1 (w2); Price 10-1-31-0; Cremer
10-0-48-0 (w2); S. Masakadza ; Lamb 10-0-35-1 (w4);
Chigumbura 5-0-32-2 (nb1, w2); Taylor 2-0-14-0.
Result: Zimbabwe won by two runs
Series: Zimbabwe lead five-match series 1-0.
Japan takes 2-0 lead over Philippines
AFP, Osaka
Japan's top player Tatsuma Ito struggled through to a
five-set win to help his side take a 2-0 lead over the
Philippines in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone Group One
tie on Friday.
Ito needed three hours and 13 minutes to score a 3-6, 6-3,
6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over 698th-ranked Treat Conrad Huey in
the opener of the best-of-five match contest on the
artificial indoor court.
Ito is currently the country's top player after Kei
Nishikori's ranking dropped to 898th this week because of
a right elbow injury that has forced him out of action for
almost a year.
Japan's number-two Go Soeda dropped the first-set
tie-breaker and the opening service game of the second set
before storming back to beat Cecil Mamitt 6-7 (4/7), 6-3,
6-3, 6-3 without facing a single break point afterwards.
"Tatsuma won earlier, so it made me relaxed," said Soeda.
Japan coach Eiji Takeuchi said: "It was Go's best match so
far as I've seen him before."
On Saturday, Toshihide Matsui and Takao Suzuki will take
on Francis Casey Alcantara and Johnny Arcilla in the
doubles match, followed by reverse singles on Sunday.
The winners of the tie will play either Australia or
Taiwan in the second round from May 7-9, vying for a place
in the play-off for the World Group.
FIFA and AFP team up on Africa
media programme
AFP, Paris
Almost 100 African sports journalists have enrolled in the
second phase of a training programme run by the AFP
Foundation and sponsored by football's world governing
body FIFA which kicks off today.
Over two weeks, five-day workshops for reporters and
photographers from all over the continent will be held in
Dakar, Maputo, Nairobi and Rabat. Week-long follow-up
sessions will take place in late April.
The courses are part of the "Win in Africa with Africa"
development initiative launched by FIFA after South Africa
was chosen to host the 2010 World Cup.
More than 160 African journalists took part in the first
phase of the programme last year.
"It is always rewarding to see exciting new concepts come
to fruition," FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter said on
Friday.
"Thanks to our partnership with the AFP Foundation, FIFA's
'Win in Africa with Africa' project has enabled nearly 300
media people from the length and breadth of Africa to be
trained on high quality journalism courses during the past
12 months," he added in a statement released at FIFA
headquarters in Zurich.
"Since the awarding of the 2010 World Cup to South Africa
in 2004, FIFA has endeavoured to ensure this tournament
leaves a lasting legacy across the African continent.
"Once again, this project demonstrates how football is
more than just a game, harnessing the huge interest for
the forthcoming World Cup to ensure young, aspiring
journalists have the latest tools to support their career
path long after 2010," Blatter said.
AFP Foundation Director Robert Holloway, who was in
Morocco at the start of two courses, in Arabic and in
French, said he was grateful for FIFA's sponsorship.
The AFP Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation set up
by Agence France-Presse in July 2007. Since then, it has
completed 17 training projects in Africa, the Middle East
and the Balkans.
Green,
Connell chased by unheralded Rocha
AFP, Florida
Aussie Nathan Green and American Michael Connell shared
the lead after one round of the Honda Classic, with
unlikely Brazilian Alexandre Rocha hot on their heels.
Green and Connell defied difficult, windy conditions to
card five-under 65s on the PGA National course.
Rocha, who made it through a pre-qualifier and a Monday
qualifier and a playoff to get into the field, was in a
group on 66 that also included Colombian Camilo Villegas
and England's Oliver Wilson.
"I needed a day like today like, you have no idea," said
Rocha, who is ranked 711th in the world.
The tournament is Rocha's fourth US tour event and his
first since 2003. He lost his European Tour card last
season, and is playing on the Asian Tour this year.
That move came only after he decided to continue his pro
career - a decision he was inspired to make after golf was
included in the programme for the 2016 Olympics in his
homeland.
"I am surprised at how calm, how relaxed and how confident
I felt all day," Rocha said. "That surprises me. I am not
surprised about the fact that I can play proper golf. I've
been working at it, and hard."
Of the two players who did better, Green notched five
birdies in his bogey-free round.
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