straight from Bangladesh

no letter from UN, no int'l interference: outgoing UN resident coordinator

2010-04-17T23:44:00.002-07:00

INTERNATIONAL community did not interfere in any way and the UN did not send any letter that apparently led to the postponement of January 22, 2007 election and declaration of state of emergency, said outgoing UN Resident Coordinator Renata Lok Dessallien.
“International community including the UN did not interfere in Bangladesh's internal affairs...our only concern was to create a congenial atmosphere conducive to holding a free, fair and impartial election,” The Daily Star cites to be saying during in an interview.
She categorically said the UN did not send any 'special letter' to the then Bangladesh government. “There was no interference. There was continuous urge for accommodation,” she added.
Renata, who is going to take up her new assignment in China after more than a three-year eventful tenure in Bangladesh, did not agree with former Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed's contention that Bangladesh Army personnel would have lost jobs in the UN peacekeeping mission if the army had played any role in the general election originally slated for January 22, 2007.
“This was never discussed,” Renata added.

nation celebrates Bangla New Year

2010-04-14T07:29:00.003-07:00

THE nation on Wednesday celebrated Pahela Baishakh, the first day of the Bangla year 1417, amid tight security with traditional songs, music, fanfares and colourful processions.

Thousands of people from all walks of the society dressed in traditional costumes thronged the streets, parks and open spaces across the capital.

Tight security measures were taken in and around the traditional venue of the carnival, Ramna Park in the capital, to avert any untoward incident.

Mughal Emperor Akbar introduced the tradition of celebrating the Bangla New Year in relation to closing of the annual tax collection. Traditionally, traders and shopkeepers open halkhata (fresh accounts) on this day and serve sweetmeats to clients.

In the course of time, it evolved into a day of celebration and an integral part of the Bangalee culture and tradition and has been considered as the spirit of a non-communal festival as people irrespective of religion, sect and creed celebrate the day.

The festivity in the city began with sunrise with the gathering of thousands of people under the banyan tree at Ramna Udyan where artistes of cultural organisation Chhayanaut sang the traditional Pahela Baishakh song of Rabindranath Tagore--"Esho hey Baishakh"--to welcome the day.

The students of the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University brought out the decorated procession called Mongol Shovajatra in the morning to welcome the Bangla new year.

Tens of thousands of people joined the Shovajatra dancing along the beats of traditional musical instruments.

Sarah Palin's secret contract demands: big jets and bendable straws

2010-04-14T07:23:00.003-07:00

Gov. Sarah Palin may be flexible on some of the perks she needs when speaking in public, but on the question of drinking straws, she shall not bend, Matthew Mosk reports in ABC News.

Six pages of the contract Palin's handlers sent to Cal State Stanislaus were unearthed in a dumpster by students there this week, and one of the many requirements that must be met for the former vice presidential hopeful: two unopened bottles of still water and "bendable straws" must be waiting on a wooden lectern.

That was just one item among the pages of elaborate demands that must be met to land a contract for Palin to come speak at an event. More costly were the requirement for her travel – the venue must supply her with business or first class commercial airfare, or with a private plane. And not just any jet will do.

California To Investigate Sarah Palin Speaking Contract

fraud 'pir' arrested in Munshiganj

2010-04-12T10:14:00.003-07:00

POLICE today arrested fraud pir Amzad Hossain Bepari and his three associates, who allegedly tortured many children and women in the name of treatment, at Shirajdikhan area in Munshiganj.

Amzad's associates are Nuru, 45, Kalam, 46 and Ilias, 60.

Matiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Shirajdikhan Police Station, told newsmen the arrests were made around 10:30am following a report published in Bengali national daily Prothom Alo.

The arrestees were taken to the police station for interrogation.

the past is never dead: Lawrence Lifschultz

2010-04-09T02:20:00.009-07:00

WAS the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members on August 15, 1975 merely the result of personal malice and an act out of sudden fury of some army officers?
Long investigation by veteran US journalist Lawrence Lifschultz has made it clear that there was a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the dark episode of August 15.
Lifschultz in a number of investigative reports published in newspapers made it clear that Khandaker Moshtaque and a quarter of US embassy officials in Dhaka were closely involved with the small section of army officers in the August 15 coup.
At long last, Lifschultz disclosed the name of his "very reliable source", the then US ambassador in Dhaka Eugene Booster with whom he has maintained close communication for the 30 years.
Booster repeatedly objected to the conspiracy leading to the August 15 assassination, even issued written instruction in this regard, but failed to prevent the then station chief Philip Cherry of US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Dhaka office from doing the conspiracy.
Lifschultz's plan to publish an interview of Eugene Booster in this regard remained unfulfilled as Booster passed away on July 7 last.
The new-born Bangladesh could not save herself from the wrath of then foreign secretary Henry Kissinger who could never forget that Bangladesh was born in opposition to his suggestion.
Along with Salvador Allende of Chile and Taiyoo of Vietnam, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was in Kissinger's political vendetta.
What USA started during the Liberation War in 1971 with attempt to split the Awami League using Khandaker Moshtaque and his accomplices continued after the independence following a direct US instigation, resulting in the carnage on August 15, 1975.
On basis of his 30 years' investigation that included interviews with the US sources, Moshtaque and others concerned, Lifschultz has written a series of that tale which was published in The Daily Star in August 2005.This is the first installment headlined 'The long shadow of the August 1975 Coup'.
"The 30th anniversary of the August 15th military coup in Bangladesh powerfully illustrates the dictum of William Faulkner that the past is never dead, it is not even past. For those of us who lived through the years of Bangladesh's 'War of Independence' and the decade of the 1970s, we remember these dates as milestones of an era. They are markers on a road we traveled to a destination many did not reach.
"After thirty years Bangladesh still lives with the legacy of the violent night of August 15th. Just over four years from that dark March night in 1971 when Pakistani Army troops rolled their tanks and armoured vehicles through the streets of Dhaka slaughtering their fellow countrymen instead of accepting the outcome of national elections they had agreed to accept, a small unit of the new Bangladesh Army invoking the sordid tradition of Pakistan Army staged a traditional military putsch.
"Within hours, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, symbol for many of an ideal of liberation, was dead in a military coup d'etat that had run amok in a frenzy of killing. Mujib and almost his entire family were slaughtered including his wife and sons, the youngest only twelve. On that deadly night groups of soldiers broke into squads and traveled around the city killing relatives of Mujib's family..."

Part-1: The long shadow of the August 1975 coup

Part-2: Mustaque group approached US embassy in Dhaka

Part-3: Nixon and Kissinger know everything, said Mustaque

Part-4: Fearing a Leftist challenge, Rightists struck

toxic ships to sail in smoothly

2010-04-08T23:56:00.002-07:00

Ship-breakers now to produce toxic free certificates as import policy changed; HC directive ignored
BYPASSING the court's clear directives to ensure reports.
Without considering the country's environmental aspects and workers' safety, a certain quarter within the government allegedly changed the policy order in a way that exporters themselves will now certify their ships as not toxic.
Commerce Minister Faruk Khan told reporters that the change in the import policy order for ships to be scrapped was decided at an inter-ministerial meeting considering the development of the country.
Following a High Court directive dated March 17, 2009, the commerce ministry incorporated a condition in its Import Policy Order 2009-2012 that an exporter has to submit a pre-cleaning certificate from a state agency of its country saying the ship is cleaned before export. The importer will have to submit that certificate to the authorities here.
But now the company that sells the ships will provide this certificate saying all toxic substances are cleaned, Faruk said.
Shipyard owners were reluctant to go by the old policy since pre-cleaning of toxic substances including asbestos involves huge cost and reduces their profit.
import of toxin-free ships, the government yesterday altered an import policy order, which will help ship-breakers import toxic ships, The Daily Star

women must not be forced to wear veils

2010-04-08T05:22:00.003-07:00

THE High Court today said in a ruling that none can force women, working at public and private educational institutions, to wear veils or cover their heads against their wills. The court has also directed the education ministry to ensure the execution of its order.
It is their personal choice if they wear scarves or cover their heads, the court said.
The HC asked the education secretary to make sure that women are not harassed by their superiors at educational institutions.
The verdict came after a writ petition was filed seeking HC directive following a newspaper report that an upazila education officer of Kurigram insulted a female teacher by making a disgraceful remark in June last year.
The HC bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Syeda Afsar Jahan also asked the education secretary to carry out the directives given by this court in May last year on sexual harassment of women at the institutions.
The court on May 14 last year directed the authorities concerned to form a five-member harassment complaint committee headed by a woman at every workplace and institution to investigate allegations of harassment of women.
Majority of the committee members must be women, it ruled.
The bench today asked the secretary to transfer upazila education officer Arif Ahmed who made the offensive remark on Sultana Arjuman Huq, headmistress of Atmaram Bishweshwar Government Primary School.
Earlier in January this year Arif apologised to Arjuman before the HC and the court acquitted him of the charge, as Anjuman pardoned him.
The daily Shamokal on June 26 last year reported that Upazila Education Officer of Kurigram Arif Ahmed had called Sultana Arjuman Huq 'Beshya' (prostitute) at an open meeting in the upazila auditorium on June 25.
Anjuman felt insulted and became sick after the incident, the report said.
Following the report, Salahuddin Dolon, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed a writ petition seeking HC directive upon the government to take action against the accused and to prevent harassment of women working at educational institutions.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Service Trust later became a party to the petition.

Obama, Medvedev sign treaty to cut nuclear arms

2010-04-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

SEEKING to end years of rancor, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed the biggest nuclear arms pact in a generation and envisioned a day when they can compromise on the divisive issue of missile defense, the ABC News reports.

The new treaty, the first of its kind in two decades and nearly a year in the making, signaled a bold new opening in relations between the former Cold War foes. Both leaders hoped for more progress on economic matters and potentially even deeper cuts in their robust nuclear arsenals, while the Russian president still warned of potential pitfalls ahead.

The pact will shrink the limit of nuclear warheads to 1,550 per country over seven years. That still allows for mutual destruction several times over. But it is intended to send a strong signal that Russia and the U.S. — which between them own more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons — are serious about disarmament.

Obama and Medvedev reaffirmed their commitment to considering new sanctions against Iran if the Islamic republic continues to refuse to suspend uranium enrichment and start talks on its nuclear program.

upheaval in Kyrgyzstan could imperil key U.S. base

2010-04-08T00:58:00.007-07:00

THE president of Kyrgyzstan was forced to flee the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday after bloody protests erupted across the country over his repressive rule, a backlash that could pose a threat to the American military supply line into nearby Afghanistan. Clifforf J. Levy reports in NY Times.
Opposition politicians, speaking on state television after it was seized by protesters, said they had taken control of the government after a day of violent clashes that left more than 40 people dead and more than 400 wounded. The instability called into question the fate of a critical American air base in the country.

priest accused of raping teen girls claims innocent

2010-04-08T00:58:00.005-07:00

AN Indian priest accused of raping two teenage girls while he worked at a Catholic church in Minnesota says that he is innocent, and claims that the accusations were inspired by a desire for money, ABC News reports.

"I am not guilty," the Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul told ABC News. "I am innocent. I did not commit any sin against anybody." He added that he was ready to return to the U.S. to stand trial.

"I am ready if they call me for any trial, I am ready to come and explain myself that i am innocent," said Jeyapaul.

Police in Roseau County, Minn., have an arrest warrant for Jeyapaul and considers him a fugitive, but Jeyapaul continues to work in a Catholic school system five years after the Vatican was made aware of the accusations against him, according to documents and testimony in a lawsuit.

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mutiny in BDR: all 29 accused in Panchgarh handed punishment in first ever trial

2010-04-07T08:08:00.004-07:00

A special court of Bangladesh Rifles, the country's border security force, on Wednesday sentenced all the 29 jawans of 25 Rifles Battalion to imprisonment for different terms with a seven-year term in the highest punishment.

BDR Director General Maj Gen Mohammad Mainul Islam, who heads all the special tribunal formed to try the mutiny accused across the country, delivered the first verdict of BDR mutiny case in Panchagarh.

Thirteen jawans were sentenced to seven years in jail, one sentenced to six years, six sentenced to three years, two to two years, one to four years and another jawan was sentenced to one year and one month in connection with the mutiny.

On completion of arguments from the defendants and prosecutors on Tuesday, the Special Court-2 delivered the judgment around 4:00pm.

The same court on Sunday framed charges against the 29 alleged BDR mutineers.

defamation case against PM's advisor dismissed

2010-04-04T04:15:00.002-07:00

A Dhaka court on Sunday dismissed the defamation case hours after it was filed against prime minister's Adviser HT Imam and three others for 'hurting sentiment of Muslims'.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mustafa Shaheriar dismissed the case saying, "The case was dismissed as there were no element of defamation or hurting religions sentiments of Muslims."

Earlier in the morning, Advocate Mirza Mohammad Rashed Sarwar Palash filed the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka against HT Imam, a Focus Bangla reporter, Editor of the daily Naya Diganta Alamgir Mohiuddin and Publisher Shamsul Huda.

The plaintiff, in his case statement, alleged HT Imam, while addressing a conference of Awami Olama League as chief guest in the city on April 2, said Islam has been protected in Bangladesh by Awami League and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was its patron.

Naya Diganta published the report on the following day.

FBI warns U.S. governors on extremist group letters

2010-04-04T04:09:00.002-07:00

IN the past week over 30 state governors have received letters from an anti-government group demanding their resignations or they could be "removed, Jason Ryan reports in ABC News.

The letters allegedly came from a group called the Guardians of the Free Republics.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued an intelligence note about the mailings and said that while there was no specific threat linked to the letters, "law enforcement should be aware that this could be interpreted as a justification for violence or other criminal actions."

The intelligence note issued on Wednesday was sent to 18,000 law enforcement agencies around the United States. The FBI has also advised all 50 governors they could be receiving the letters, in addition to the 30-35 that have already received them.

arms dealer 'linked to militancy' confesses to arms, currency racketeering

2010-04-03T03:06:00.004-07:00

DETECTIVES have arrested a person allegedly involved in arms and fake currency rackets that finance militancy. A team of Detective Branch (DB) led by Assistant Commissioner Golam Azad Khan made the arrest at a restaurant on Babar Road in the capital's Mohammadpur area on Thursday night. The Daily Star reports.

It also recovered a huge amount of fake currencies and a pistol from the arrestee, Shafique Mahmud Selim alias Professor Selim.

Of the seized counterfeit notes, Tk 5 lakh are Bangladeshi currency and Tk 50,000 Indian.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday placed Selim, 42, on seven days' remand in two cases--one filed for possession of illegal firearms and the other for fake currencies.

city gets new roads shortly

2010-04-03T03:03:00.003-07:00

1 expected to be complete this month, another in July, 2 more by 2012
DHAKA city dwellers are likely to get a new street this month and construction of another one will be done in July, Helemul Alam reports in The Daily Star.

Two more roads are expected to be completed by 2012.

The construction of Bijoy Sarani-Tejgaon Road and the street from Staff College in Mirpur cantonment under Mirpur-12 to Zia Colony is almost completed.

Begunbari-Hatirjheel peripheral road and the road from Kuril to Debagram Kanchan under Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj are under construction.

Of the streets, the 1,114-metre-long and 60-feet-wide Bijoy Sarani-Tejgaon Road will connect the Old Air Port Road with Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani near Nabisco intersection in Tejgaon.

Over 99 percent of the work is done, said Anwar Hossain, director of the project to build the road. Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha is entrusted with implementing the project.

govt to shut 2,931 'dubious' NGOs

2010-04-03T03:00:00.002-07:00

THE social welfare ministry will shut down activities of 2,931 NGOs in 16 districts for violating voluntary social agency rules, The Daily Star reports.

Anomalies in fund handling and mismanagement have been detected in most of these organisations while many have been found involved with militancy. Activities of a few NGOs were never reported to the authorities while others have remained inactive for several years, a high official at the ministry said.

The Department of Social Services will execute the closure.

The NGOs include Grameen Kalyan Sangstha, National Income Employment Project, Social Organisation for Distribute, Helpful Association for Social Advancement, Islamia Orphanage, Insaf Sammilito Samaj Unnayan Sangstha, Agency for Social Forestry and Environmental Conservation in Rajbari, and Community Development Organisation, Bhumihin Unnayan Programme, Islami Manab Kalyan Sangstha and Society for Rural Development in Chapainawabganj.

Russia offers to help Venezuela set up space industry

2010-04-03T02:55:00.002-07:00

RUSSIA has offered to help Venezuela set up its own space industry, including a satellite launch site, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made his first visit to the South American country, the Telegraph reports. Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, announced Russia's offer before Mr Putin arrived, saying officials would discuss the possibility of setting up a "satellite launcher and a factory."
The two countries are also discussing new weapons deals, Mr Chavez said Thursday night in televised remarks, without giving details.
Mr Chavez has built close ties with Russia, buying more than $4 billion in Russian weapons since 2005, including helicopters, fighter jets and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

bearing witness to Nazi horror

2010-04-03T02:50:00.002-07:00

THE men in stripes came in looking like boxers and ended up like skeletons. Denis Avey could see them wasting away in a place so evil that even nature had abandoned it, without a bee or butterfly in sight. Henry Chu reports in the LA Times.

They were the Jewish inmates housed in the ghastliest part of Auschwitz, subjected to brutalities and atrocities that Avey, an English prisoner of war confined to another section of the camp, could barely imagine.

But then, he thought, why only imagine them? What if, somehow, he could see those horrors for himself -- see them, remember them, bear witness to the world about them?

So the then-25-year-old pondered and plotted, soon hatching a plan so audacious that, more than 65 years later, he shakes his head at its absurdity. While so many Jews and others held at the infamous extermination camp were desperate to get out, Avey was actually devising a way to sneak in.

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teen 'black widow' suspected in Moscow bombing

2010-04-02T11:22:00.003-07:00

ONE of the two suicide bombers who attacked Moscow's subway system Monday, killing 40 people, was a 17-year-old girl, Alexander Marquardt reports in ABC News quoting authorities.

Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova was the young widow of Umalat Magomedov, an Islamist militant leader from the restive southern republic of Dagestan who was killed on New Year's Eve by Russian federal security forces, according to media reports.

She was identified based on forensic and genetic tests, along with "identification procedures," a spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee said today.

The first picture that surfaced was of the couple, each holding a pistol; Abdurakhmanova in traditional Muslim dress looking menacingly into the lens. Others have since emerged of the baby-faced teen holding various other weapons.

U.S. economy adds 162,000 jobs

2010-04-02T05:52:00.003-07:00

THE payroll increase was slightly below the 190,000 new jobs economists were expecting. The U.S. government contributed significantly to the jobs increase: 48,000 of the jobs created came from the hiring of 48,000 temporary workers for the U.S. Census. Rich Blake and Dalia Fahmy report in abcNEWS.

The Census hiring in March, however, was lower than some were expecting. The Census is expected to hire of 1.2 million temp workers this year.

The new jobs numbers don't mean much to Wilton, Conn., resident Sean Byrnes. About a month ago, the 41-year-old father of four lost his job as a salesman at a Manhattan-based financial research firm. He has struggled to find so much as even a job interview since then.

"I talk to headhunters and they say the same thing," he says. "No one is hiring."

gay Iranians fleeing country after June crackdown

2010-04-02T01:57:00.003-07:00

AS Hassan walked -- well, more like sashayed -- through the market in this southern Turkish city, the population on the sidewalk -- elderly women in dark veils, men behind stalls selling Turkish pears five to a bag, children in woolly striped sweaters -- all gawked. Anthony Faiola reports in The Washington Post.
"Yes, look! Look all you want," Hassan said with a flourish, opening his arms in a benevolent gesture, as if their stares were rooted in adulation and not curiosity bordering on disgust. A portly, middle-aged woman narrowed her eyes and curled her lip at him.
"What?" said the 34-year-old Iranian refugee. "Is this the first time she's seen a man wearing makeup? Maybe she should take notes. She could use a few beauty tips."

Britain protects Chagos Islands, creating world's largest marine reserve

2010-04-02T01:52:00.002-07:00

THE British government on Thursday announced the creation of the world's largest marine reserve, designating a group of 55 islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean off-limits to industrial fishing and other extractive activities. Juliet Eilperin reports in The Washington Post.
The Chagos Islands are home to roughly half of the Indian Ocean's healthy coral reefs, along with several imperiled sea turtle species and 175,000 pairs of breeding seabirds. The new preserve covers 210,000 square miles -- an area larger than California and more than twice the size of Britain -- and will shelter at least 76 species classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

U.S. changing the way air travelers are screened

2010-04-02T01:50:00.001-07:00

THE Obama administration is abandoning its policy of using nationality alone to determine which U.S.-bound international air travelers should be subject to additional screening and will instead select passengers based on possible matches to intelligence information, including physical descriptions or a particular travel pattern, Anne E. Kornblut and Spencer S. Hsu report in The Washington Post senior officials said Thursday.

After the attempted bombing of an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight on Christmas Day, U.S. officials hastily decided that passengers from or traveling through 14 specified countries would be subjected to secondary searches. Critics have since called the measures discriminatory and overly burdensome, and the administration has faced pressure to refine its approach.

Under the new system, screeners will stop passengers for additional security if they match certain pieces of known intelligence. The system will be "much more intel-based," a senior administration official said, "as opposed to blunt force."

alleged US jihadis on trial in Pakistan

2010-04-02T00:28:00.004-07:00

PROSECUTORS began a trial against five Americans in this dusty Pakistani city, accusing them of wanting to launch terrorist attacks here and in Afghanistan.
THE men, in their late teens and early 20s, make up the highest profile overseas case of more than a dozen recently arrested terrorists or would-be terrorists who hold U.S. citizenship. The trend reflects a new threat of U.S.-based Islamic extremism, Nick Schifrin reports in abc NEWS quoting U.S. officials.

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brutality personified!

2010-04-02T00:17:00.003-07:00

59-year-old Gofran draws all eyes at BDR court for leading role in massacre
FIFTY-nine-year-old BDR Subedar Major Gofran Malllick became the centre of focus when 668 accused of the 24 Rifle Battalion were hauled before the Special Court-5 on the second day's proceedings Saturday. Julfikar Ali Manik reports in The Daily Star.

Gofran looked a little restless as he was sitting on the first chair on the front row dock. He along with other rebel leaders allegedly led the massacre during the BDR mutiny in Pilkhana on February 25-26 last year.

Officials linked to the trial and investigation told The Daily Star Gofran's cruelty even in this old age astonished them. They said some of his brutality is evident in some video footage.

The three-member BDR specials courts would not try the grievous offences committed by the mutineers, as the civil court would deal with those on completion of investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department.

So, many of the grievous offences committed by the alleged mutineers of 24 Rifle Battalion did not come in the case of mutiny before the special court.

Prosecutor Lt Col Md Shamsur Rahman told the court Gofran and 449 others spontaneously collected arms and ammunition from armoury and took part in the mutiny, sources say.

The majority of the BDR personnel of 24 Rifle Battalion were involved in the mutiny under the leadership of their JCO (Junior Commanding Officer) Gofran, he added.

Yesterday's trial started at 1:22pm, over three hours behind schedule as it took more time to bring the accused from Dhaka and Kashimpur jails.

Before the court started its proceeding, the alleged mutineers were lined up outside the Darbar Hall, where the courtroom has been set up to try the mutineers.

Mojaheed's convenient amnesia!

2010-04-01T04:03:00.001-07:00

BANGLADESH Jameet-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed yesterday claimed he is not being able to recall the total range of his activities during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
He however said during the war he acted according to the ideals of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the erstwhile student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami that sided with Pakistani invading forces, and opposed the birth of Bangladesh.
The Jamaat leader, who is also widely known as an active participant in crimes against humanity during the 1971 war, made the statement during a media briefing at the party's headquarter in the capital's Boro Moghbazar yesterday.
"I was a student during the liberation war, and was engaged in educational and other organisational activities. But I was never involved in war crimes," Mojaheed said.
"I am 60 now, and till this day I never even slapped anyone," he added.
When reporters pointed out that reports published in Jamaat's mouthpiece the Daily Sangram, and the government intelligence reports about him and some other top Jamaat leaders during the war shows that they were involved with the Razakars and Al-Badrs, the auxiliary forces of the invading Pakistani army, Mojaheed replied that those reports are false and baseless.
"You cannot use newspaper reports as evidence. Reporters make things up," Mojaheed claimed.

federal judge finds N.S.A. wiretaps Illegal

2010-04-01T03:55:00.001-07:00

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the National Security Agency’s program of surveillance without warrants was illegal, rejecting the Obama administration’s effort to keep shrouded in secrecy one of the most disputed counterterrorism policies of former President George W. Bush. CHARLIE SAVAGE and JAMES RISEN report in The Washington Post.
In a 45-page opinion, Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that the government had violated a 1978 federal statute requiring court approval for domestic surveillance when it intercepted phone calls of Al Haramain, a now-defunct Islamic charity in Oregon, and of two lawyers representing it in 2004. Declaring that the plaintiffs had been “subjected to unlawful surveillance,” the judge said the government was liable to pay them damages.

travelers with Muslim names find themselves fighting for U.S. visas

2010-04-01T03:52:00.001-07:00

THE clean-cut young Frenchman seemed to have everything going for him. A graduate of an elite French engineering school, he had interned at the upper-crust Rothschild bank in Paris, handled wealth management for a while on Wall Street and was accepted for a prestigious master's degree program at the University of California at Berkeley. Edward Cody reports in The Washington Post.

Except for one thing: His name was Mohamed Youcef Mami.

The State Department held up his student visa for more than two months for "administrative processing," which according to diplomats is the euphemism-of-art for a check against multiple watch lists maintained by intelligence agencies in Washington designed to prevent suspected terrorists from entering the United States.

when military moves a war, there are no shortcuts

2010-04-01T03:47:00.002-07:00

EARLY this year a “fob in a box” — military slang for 80 shipping containers with all the tents, showers and construction material needed to set up a remote forward operating base — was put on trucks here for the trip from one war to another, STEPHEN FARRELL and ELISABETH BUMILLER report from Joint Base Balad in Iraq.
Left over and never used in Iraq, the fob rumbled north to Turkey, east through Georgia and Azerbaijan, by ship across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, then south on the old Soviet rail lines of Uzbekistan into northern Afghanistan. There — the end of a seven-nation, 2,300-mile, two-and-a-half-month odyssey — it was assembled just weeks ago as home for several hundred of the thousands of American forces entering the country.

Zia was Bangladesh's first president, BNP claims!

2010-03-27T08:53:00.005-07:00

ZIAUR Rahman was the first president of Bangladesh, as he took charge of the country after proclaiming independence in 1971, The Daily Star quotes today senior BNP leaders to be claiming.
It was his leadership that won the nation independence, they added.
The opposition leaders were addressing a discussion organised by BNP at the city's Mahanagar Natya Mancha on the occasion of the Independence Day.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia attended the programme as chief guest, but did not speak.
Party's Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain, who presided over the discussion, said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's March 7 speech was not a declaration of independence.
“Even Awami League leaders AK Khandaker, Major (retd) Rafiqul Islam and Subid Ali Bhuiyan in their books say Zia declared independence,” he added.
The ruling AL is now creating confusion over the issue only to divert people's attention from the anti-government movement, he said.
Former law minister Moudud Ahmed said there is no room for causing confusion that Zia was the proclaimer of independence.
Rafiqul Islam Mian said Zia led the Liberation War, and Bangladesh gained independence under his leadership.
Mirza Abbas said the country's sovereignty is safe only in the hands of BNP, as Bangladesh became independent following Zia's declaration.

resistance can develop fast with swine flu: report

2010-03-27T08:22:00.001-07:00

THE H1N1 swine flu virus can develop resistance quickly to antivirals used to treat it, Reuters reports quoting U.S. doctors on Friday.

Government researchers reported on the cases of two people with compromised immune systems who developed drug-resistant strains of virus after less than two weeks on therapy.

Bacteria quickly develop resistance to antibiotics, which must be used carefully. Viruses can do the same and doctors worried about resistance had recommended against using antivirals for flu except in patients who really needed them.

"While the emergence of drug-resistant influenza virus is not in itself surprising, these cases demonstrate that resistant strains can emerge after only a brief period of drug therapy," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"We have a limited number of drugs available for treating influenza and these findings provide additional urgency to efforts to develop antivirals that attack influenza virus in novel ways," he said in a statement.

Swine flu emerged a year ago in the United States and Mexico and spread around the world in just six weeks, killing thousands of people. It hit children and young adults especially hard.

US, Russia agree to new nuclear arms pact

2010-03-27T08:10:00.004-07:00

PRESIDENT Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sealed a new nuclear arms reduction treaty during a phone call Friday, committing the two nations to a significant new reduction of the strategic missiles each side has deployed, San Francisco Chronicle reports quoting US officials.

Flanked by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Obama announced the agreement at the White House, calling it a historic step toward a world without nuclear weapons.

Obama called nuclear weapons "the darkest days of the Cold War, and the most troubling threats of our time." He hailed the treaty as the start of a new effort to rid the world of that threat.

"With this agreement, the United States and Russia - the two largest nuclear powers in the world - also send a clear signal that we intend to lead," he said.

After speaking with Medvedev, Obama said he will travel to Prague on April 8 to sign the treaty with the Russian leader, noting that the historic event will come just a week before he hosts a summit in Washington on how to control the spread of nuclear material around the world.

Black Night revisited

2010-03-25T10:29:00.003-07:00

nation celebrates Independence Day

THE horrors of March 25 night return to haunt the nation as it observes the 4oth Independence Day today, but this time with a mixed emotion of joy and worry as the government is set to start the process of trying war criminals.

Now, the nation waits for quick completion of the trial, for which it has cried last 39 years seeking justice to the genocide of 1971, the most tragic chapters in the global history of genocide.

People from all walks of life, holding rallies, meetings and processions yesterday urged the government to remain alert so that anti-liberation forces cannot obstruct the trial process.

The nation passed a time of uncertainty and worry until the government formally launched the process of trial yesterday afternoon.

Different organisations including Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee brought out torch and candlelight processions from Central Shaheed Minar yesterday afternoon before paying tribute to Jagannath Hall Baddhabhumi.
Sector Commanders Forum also observed the night at Shikha Chirantan of Suhrawardy Udyan in the city from 10:00pm to 12:00am.

Every year the Black Night of March 25, 1971 evokes the painful memories of how thousands of unarmed and innocent Bangalees were slaughtered by the Pakistani invading forces in 1971.

On this night, the Pakistani military rulers launched the "Operation Search Light", leaving some 7,000 Bangalees killed.

The University of Dhaka, being the bastion of protracted struggle of the repressed of the country, faced severe wrath of the Pakistani army as students, teachers and employees were exterminated in their hundreds.

On March 26, the nation waged an armed struggle against the Pakistani forces following the declaration of independence by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The nine-month Liberation War culminated in emergence of Bangladesh.

stage set for war trial

2010-03-25T09:19:00.003-07:00

Govt announces tribunal, investigation agency, prosecution unit to try genocide, crimes against humanity, peace

ON the eve of the anniversary of the genocide committed by Pakistan occupation forces in 1971, the government today announced the tribunal, investigation agency and prosecution team for trying war criminals of the Liberation War, reports The Daily Star.

The landmark announcement came just seven hours before the moment the massacre was committed on the black night of March 25, 1971.

In a packed conference room of the home ministry at 4:00pm, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed declared formation of a three-member tribunal, seven-member investigation agency and a 12-member prosecution team to hold the trial under the country's own law, International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973.

Trial of war criminals has long been a demand of the nation and the Awami League promised in its election manifesto to meet that demand.

The investigating agency may kick off investigation from now and even arrest accused war criminals and confiscate their properties in the interest of investigation upon the tribunal's permission. The trial will begin on completion of the investigation, said Shafique.

If any specific evidence is found that a person committed the offence, the trial and investigation will continue simultaneously, he added.

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flight to freedom

2010-03-24T00:15:00.004-07:00

SAJJAD lay panting at the bed of the shallow gorge. Bullets were flying overhead. He knew he was safe in the dried-up gorge. But for how long?
He could hear his team leader Pakistani army Capt Munir's voice. "Shoot him! He is fleeing! Shoot!" And he could hear the eardrum-shattering rat-a-tat-tat of a submachine gun posted near the watchtower just 700 metres away. Then he heard the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) open fire. Second Lieutenant Q Sajjad A Zahir, later to become Lt Col, smiled. He knew the Indians would react with fire.
He was safe at the bottom of the gorge as no-one would chase him when both sides had opened up. He started crawling fast. The rough surface of the gorge scraped his elbows and knees. But he did not stop. He took maximum advantage during the firing time and moved towards the Indian border as quickly as possible.
The firing had stopped now and he heard the excited voice of Capt Munir from a distance. "Find that bastard! We must find him!"
Inam Ahmed and Julfikar Ali Manik write in The Daily Star about the plight of Sajjad Zahir.
Sajjad felt the urgency to hide and found a place -- a long narrow channel. He squeezed himself in and lay calm. He could see the blue sky of the northeast frontier border turning grey with the approaching dusk. Sajjad waited for the night to come. He reflected upon the things that had happened in the past few months since March. It was now the end of August.

Naxal founder Kanu Sanyal dead, old foes mourn

2010-03-23T12:46:00.009-07:00

KANU Sanyal, who spearheaded the Naxalbari uprising in 1967 giving birth to a Maoist movement that now threatens the Indian state, was Tuesday found hanging in his humble home here. He was 78, an ailing bachelor and a virtual pauper, sifynews reports.

One of the founding members of the Left extremist movement in India, no one could say why Sanyal killed himself. But police officers maintained it was suicide.

“Though it appears to be a case of suicide, we are investigating his death. A case of unnatural death has been registered and our inquiries will determine whether it is a suicide or otherwise,” The Hindu quoted Inspector-General of Police (North Bengal) K.L. Tamta as saying.

“He was found partially hanging with his feet touching the ground in his party office-cum-residence. He had taken his meal some time before then we were told,” Mr. Tamta continued.

His thatched home is located in the Siliguri sub-division of Darjeeling district, where Sanyal and a select few made history over four decades ago when they launched a violent peasant uprising in Naxalbari village.

After endorsement of the bloody tactics by Mao's Communists, Naxalbari became a household word in India and beyond, unleashing a violent movement that continues to haunt the country.

Guided by Charu Mazumdar, a maverick who gave ideological shape to that peasant movement, Sanyal helped found the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML), whose adherants came to be dubbed Naxalites.

The CPI-ML, which quickly won recognition from Beijing, was born after a crippling split in the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). It unleashed violence across the length and breadth of India that left many thousands -- Maoists, security personnel and civilians -- dead.

By the time the Indian state cracked down hard on the CPI-ML and its general secretary Mazumdar died in Kolkata's Presidency Jail in July 1972, Sanyal was a broken man.

Although he distanced himself from Mazumdar's advocacy of annihilation of 'class enemies', Sanyal remained wedded to Maoist ideology - but minus its gory past.

A graduate from Siliguri's A.C. College, Sanyal suffered repeated imprisonment before he decided, in the 1980s, to reorganise the scattered Indian Maoists.

The experiment was a failure although by now he was ready to take part in the 'bourgeois democracy' he had once denounced. However candidates he put up lost badly in the hills of West Bengal.

All that disappointed him. Over the years, he not only suffered from poor health but he was disgusted with the violent tactics of the present lot of Indian Maoists, who incidentally consider Mazumdar as their god.

Although an iconic figure in and around the village of Naxalbari, he led a spartan life, keeping mostly to himself.

When the police entered his home Tuesday, they found few possessions -- apart from his books, clothes and utensils and some framed black and white photographs of leaders from the Communist pantheon.

In one of his last interviews, Sanyal said: 'I was popular once. I have lost my popularity. I am unwell. That is the reason I cannot organise the masses any more.'

Azizul Haq, one of his contemporaries from the Naxalbari era, shed tears in Kolkata as he paid an emotive homage to his former comrade.

'Sanyal will be remembered as one of the best leaders of the Naxalite movement,' Haq told IANS. 'Although he was ailing, he never took treatment from any government hospital. His argument was he could not approach the state when he was fighting it.'

It was in the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) that Sanyal began his political career decades ago before switching over to the breakaway CPI-M in 1964. Once he joined CPI-ML, the Naxalite leader denounced both the CPI and CPI-M as revisionists.

But on Tuesday, his former ideological foes hailed him.

'He was a very popular leader in the early days of Naxalbari,' CPI's S. Sudhakar Reddy told IANS. 'Although we disagree with his Maoist ideology, he contributed greatly to the communist movement.'

CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury said Sanyal's death was 'very unfortunate' and added that the Naxal leader had been critical of the line adopted by the present Maoist guerrillas.

'After Nandigram and Lalgarh (in West Bengal), Sanyal had been saying that the line adopted by Maoists do not conform to the revolutionary understanding adopted when the Naxalite movement started,' Yechury added.

Israeli govt to be accused over ‘Mossad’ assassination

2010-03-23T03:43:00.005-07:00

THE Israeli government will be formally named as responsible for the assassination last month of a senior Hamas commander by a hit squad travelling on cloned British passports, the Telegraph reports.
Ron Proser, the Israeli Ambassador to London, was summoned to the Foreign Office on Monday to be told the results of an inquiry into the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, whose body was discovered in a luxury Dubai hotel room in January.

Several members of the team suspected of killing him were found to be travelling on passports cloned from documents belonging to British citizens living in Israel. Other passports had been stolen from Irish, German, Australian and French citizens.
Speculation has been growing that a senior Israeli diplomat would be expelled as a mark of the “anger” within the Government that British passport holders had been put at risk as a result of the operation.
A ministerial statement to be made to Parliament will formally name the Israeli security services as responsible for the cloning of up to 15 British passports, which were copied after being taken away by airport officials

Netanyahu disrupted at Aipac gala

2010-03-23T03:33:00.003-07:00

Takes Hard Line on Jerusalem Housing
Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has been disrupted in Washington DC by activists protesting against Israeli policy in the Middle East, Al Jazeera reports.
The heckling on Monday came after Netanyahu announced his commitment to Israel's defence at a gala of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), a pro-Israel lobby.
Peace activists from Codepink, a group that calls for foreign policies based on diplomacy, not aggression, unfurled banners that read "Netanyahu: Build Peace Not Settlements!"
The activists also shouted "lift the siege of Gaza" before they were removed from the meeting.

Codepink hoax
As part of its protest, Codepink created a hoax version of the top Aipac spokesman's email address and sent out a press statement calling on Israel to stop building new settlements.
The hoax was was picked up by US news organisations, including National Public Radio and ABC.
"Aipac calls on the Netanyahu government to make a conscious effort to move away from actions that create tensions between the two governments and undermine prospects for Israel-Palestine peace," said the fake statement.

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Rio Tinto Workers admit taking bribes in China

2010-03-23T03:27:00.001-07:00

China’s high-profile prosecution of executives of the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto took a bizarre turn on Monday, as the executives, once accused of spying, confessed instead to accepting bribes from Chinese steel makers, the NY Times reports.
The guilty pleas, which came on the first day of a three-day trial in Shanghai, confounded most accounts — including extensive coverage in China’s state-owned media — of why the four executives were arrested last July and what the case reveals about corruption in China’s steel industry, the world’s largest.
Initial accounts of the case, perhaps the most closely watched prosecution of executives of a foreign company, suggested that the executives had sought to obtain confidential information about China’s steel industry by bribing industry officials. They did so, the accounts suggested, so that Rio Tinto, a major seller of iron ore, could raise prices the steel makers pay Rio Tinto for the crucial raw material.
Chinese officials said in July that the Rio Tinto executives had caused “enormous economic losses” through their espionage. All four executives have been in Chinese custody since July.

China condemns Google decision to lift censorship

2010-03-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

China has said Google's decision to stop censoring search results is "totally wrong" and violates its promise to abide by Chinese laws, reports BBC.

The US giant is redirecting users in mainland China to its unrestricted Hong Kong site, although Chinese firewalls mean results still come back censored.

Beijing said the decision should not affect ties with Washington.

Google threatened to leave the Chinese market completely this year after cyber attacks traced back to China.

Google's move to shut its mainland Chinese search service is a major blow to China's international image, the BBC's Damian Grammaticas reports from Beijing.

It means one of the world's most prominent corporations is saying it is no longer willing to co-operate in China's censorship of the internet, our correspondent says.

tribunal, prosecution, probe agency for war crime trial finalised

2010-03-23T03:20:00.001-07:00

BANGLADESH government high-ups yesterday finalised formation of the tribunal, prosecution and investigation agency to hold the much-awaited trial of war criminals of 1971, Hasan Jahid Tusher writes in The Daily Star.
The name of the members of the tribunal, prosecution team and investigation agency will be announced formally before the Independence Day and after the prime minister's approval, a highly placed source told The Daily Star.
The government would not allow the top-ranking leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami to leave the country as the process of trying the war criminals would start soon. The Jamaat leaders have also been kept under constant watch, said home ministry sources.
A three-member tribunal will be set up to hold the trial while at least 12 noted practicing lawyers of the High Court and other courts will be the members of the prosecution team. Half a dozen will be members of the investigation agency.
The tribunal will be comprised of serving and retired judges of the High Court or district judges who are eligible to be appointed as the HC judges, sources said, adding that the chairman of the tribunal will be an incumbent judge. One of the members will be a retired judge.
A law ministry source yesterday said they had a proposal to appoint three incumbent HC judges to the tribunal and another proposal to appoint two HC judges and one incumbent district judge.
One will have to appeal against the tribunal's verdict with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court because the status of the war crimes tribunal would be equivalent to the HC.
The investigators will be appointed from serving and retired officials of the Criminal Investigation Department. They must have good track records. An additional inspector general of police, incumbent or retired, will head the investigation agency, sources added.
"We won't keep any disputed people in the investigation agency to ensure fairness," said a home ministry official.
The officials also added that all the members of the tribunal, prosecution team and investigation agency would be competent enough to maintain international standards of the trial.
Meanwhile, the cabinet yesterday ratified the Rome Statute to give the trial an international standard. Bangladesh signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on July 17, 1998, the first South Asian country to do so.

police shutdown show on 'crossfire'

2010-03-23T03:15:00.002-07:00

LAW enforcers Monday closed a photography exhibition on extra-judicial killings around an hour before it was scheduled to start at Drik Gallery in the city's Dhanmondi, reports The Daily Star.
A contingent of police went to the Drik Gallery building around 3:00pm and barred the invited guests and visitors from entering the building.
The police also did not allow anybody to come out of the building, said a Drik Gallery source.
Though two exhibitions are going on on the first and the second floors of the building, the police only wanted to know whether the organisers have permission for the exhibition on "crossfire" from the authorities concerned.
However, in the face of police interference, the exhibition was inaugurated by Indian rights activist Mahasweta Devi on the road in front of Drik Gallery at the scheduled time at 4:00pm.
Officer-in-Charge of Dhanmondi Police Station Shah Alam said they have closed the exhibition first, as the organisers did not have any permission for the exhibition and secondly, as such an exhibition may cause fear in public and deteriorate the law and order.
Shahidul Alam who set up the exhibition said," Police asked me whether I have permission for the exhibition. Crossfire for which police do not need permission, then why should I have permission for the exhibition?"

govt retracts on DST

2010-03-23T03:03:00.002-07:00

BANGLADESH government Monday cancelled its previous decision to reintroduce daylight saving time from April 1 due to people's sufferings. The latest decision came from a regular cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The premier expressed unhappiness to her cabinet colleagues saying it is very unfortunate that people sometimes cannot adapt to a new system.

"We introduced the system for the people. We have to cancel it now as they don't like it," a cabinet member quoted the premier to be saying.

"We could have saved up to 200 megawatt of electricity had the system continued. People would have benefited from it in the end. But we don't want people to misunderstand us," said the premier.

The PM's press secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, told journalists that the government made the decision in the interest of the people, especially to ease sufferings of schoolgoing children.

DST was introduced last year to save electricity.

According to the power ministry, about 200MW of electricity was saved through introduction of the system by setting the clock forward by an hour on June 19.

Early this year the government decided to continue with the system by setting the clock one hour ahead on March 31 and back again on October 31.

Awami League leaders and people of different social strata drew the government's attention about the difficulties and problems caused by the system.

The premier expressed sympathy for the people suffering from frequent load shedding. She urged people to give more efforts to save power as the current power crisis cannot be solved in a short time.

The meeting stressed the need for using solar energy to ease the existing power crisis. Some ministers suggested the premier that the solar energy scheme should be subsidised.

Why DST failed?

House passes health-care reform bill without Republican votes

2010-03-22T05:06:00.005-07:00

HOUSE Democrats scored a historic victory in the century-long battle to reform the nation's health-care system late Sunday night, winning final approval of legislation that expands coverage to 32 million people and attempts to contain spiraling costs. Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery write in the Washington Post.

The House voted 219 to 212 to approve the measure, with every Republican voting no. The measure now awaits President Obama's signature. In remarks Sunday night, he said that the vote "proved that we are still capable of doing big things. We proved that this government -- a government of the people and by the people -- still works for the people."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues erupted in cheers and hugs as the votes were counted, while Republicans who had fought the Democratic efforts on health-care reform for more than a year appeared despondent.

Iran, beacon of liberty?

2010-02-11T03:47:00.001-08:00

ON Thursday, the birthday of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will see whether the democratic opposition movement has been driven underground by the increasingly brutal harassment from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian society has become like molten rock under high pressure: more eruptions are inevitable. And if the dissidents can take to the streets, they will. REUEL MARC GERECHT writes in New York Times.
In any case, the fraudulent June 12 presidential elections and the subsequent internal tumult ought to make us wonder what would happen if Iran actually went democratic. President Obama and his advisers — still devoted to engagement and the hope that Iran’s nuclear-weapons program can be peacefully derailed (despite Tehran’s stepping up of its enrichment program this week), and probably skeptical that Ayatollah Khamenei and his Revolutionary Guards Corps could lose power — have likely spent little time envisioning a region where the Islamic Republic as we have known it no longer exists. At least, nobody from the administration’s foreign-policy brain trust has laid out any plans for that contingency.
But given the troubles facing Ayatollah Khamenei, the near certainty that the clerical regime is going to get a lot nastier soon and the momentous possibilities of a democratic Iran, the White House should give it some thought. Mr. Khamenei is confronting a democracy movement that has grown larger despite an almost total lack of organization and charismatic leadership.

swine flu cases shoot up to 87

2009-08-20T23:12:00.001-07:00

THE number of swine flu cases in the country shoots up to 87, as more infected people were detected under the surveillance programme today.

At an inter-ministerial meeting at the health ministry, government sources said 32 among the infected have completely been cured by this time and the rest are undergoing follow up treatment.

Health Minister AFM Ruhul Haque said the swine flu situation might worsen, as it is causing lives in India.

"But people need not panic because the government has enough preparedness and is ready to tackle the threat with adequate anti-viral drugs," he said, adding that Bangladesh has a stock of 32 lakh Oseltamivir (anti viral drug) to treat the patients and is capable of manufacturing the drug.

He further said members of Pandemic Influenza Management Committee have already been trained and separate units have been opened in the medical college hospitals and district level hospitals. Besides, screening is going on at 16 entry points of the country.

"People should strictly maintain personal hygiene and inform health professionals if they suffer from any kind of flu," he added.

Asked about laboratory facilities in district level hospitals the minister said it is not possible to extend lab facilities there right now. However, specimens from the infected can easily be sent to the laboratory in Dhaka for testing.

But health experts stressed the need for interventions in the affected areas and to strengthen awareness programme there.

Representatives from civil aviation, home affairs, commerce, agriculture and defence ministries and World Health Organisation and Unicef were present at the meeting.

Prof Nazrul Islam of the Department of Virology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University said the government should reveal the names of swine flu affected districts and the imams, scouts of the community and the mass media need to be involved to increase awareness in the society.

The first swine flu case in the country was detected on June 18 and the last two months saw the number rise to 87.

The A(H1N1) virus, mostly known as swine flu, has spread over 180 countries infecting 1,07,000 people.

C.I.A. sought Blackwater’s help to kill jihadists!

2009-08-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

THE Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials, Mark Mazetti writes in The New York Times.

Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects.

The fact that the C.I.A. used an outside company for the program was a major reason that Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A.’s director, became alarmed and called an emergency meeting in June to tell Congress that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, the officials said.

It is unclear whether the C.I.A. had planned to use the contractors to actually capture or kill Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance in the program. American spy agencies have in recent years outsourced some highly controversial work, including the interrogation of prisoners. But government officials said that bringing outsiders into a program with lethal authority raised deep concerns about accountability in covert operations.

parliamentary body sees govt agencies' instigation in DU violence

2009-08-20T23:03:00.003-07:00

Asks for dropping 10 pending cases against teachers, students

SEVERAL government agencies were involved in instigating and fuelling the August 2007 violence on Dhaka University campus involving army personnel and students during the last caretaker regime, a parliamentary committee observed today, The Daily Star reports.

The parliamentary standing committee on education which is probing the incident also said the immediate past caretaker government cannot deny its responsibility for the incident, as several civilian and army officials of the then administration were involved in it.

The House committee also asked the authority concerned to withdraw 10 pending cases filed against DU teachers and students in connection with the unrest.

It termed the judicial probe report about the incident that had been submitted to the caretaker government as 'one-sided and incomplete', saying that the one-member probe committee's report dealt with peripheral matters, instead of finding out the causes and the persons responsible for the violence. Retired Justice of the Supreme Court Habibur Rahman was the investigator.

"We want to let the nation know the facts about the August 2007 violence on Dhaka University campus, and also want to identify the persons responsible for the despicable incident," Rashed Khan Menon, chief of the parliamentary committee told reporters after its meeting at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

"Different government agencies were involved in instigating and fuelling the violence, and the campus was turned into a centre of repression," Menon, also the president of Workers Party, said.

mysteries pile on country

2009-08-20T22:47:00.003-07:00

Influenced criminal investigations leave major cases like Aug 21 confusing, unsolved; analysts seek strong body to unearth the truth

POLITICAL and security analysts advise the government set up a new, strong investigation body to unravel the mysteries behind the major terrorist attacks, Julfikar Ali Manik and Shariful Islam write in The Daily Star.

The suggested organisation would be comprised of experts from a wide spectrum of professions to analyse an incident from different angles.

It would work alongside the existing criminal investigation agencies that seem inadequate to crack sensational cases and unable to withstand pressure not to track down the political elements involved.

The suggestion came in conversation with The Daily Star yesterday, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the August 21 grenade attack.

The probe into the grenade blasts had been politicised like that into many other terror strikes, which had the nation on edge over the last few years.

The way investigation officials had worked under the last BNP-led government threw into question the credibility of their findings.

Bangladesh on alert after swine flu outbreak

2009-04-30T04:31:00.001-07:00

DHAKA'S health minister said Thursday the government was on alert after Mexican officials confirmed one of eight people who died of swine flu there was from Bangladesh, reports AFP.

Mexico's National Epidemiological Center said on Wednesday that the only foreign national among the dead was a Bangladeshi man who had been in the country just six months working as a street vendor.

Bangladesh's health minister, A.F.M. Ruhal Haque, told AFP that officials in his country were working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) as officials in Mexico work to pin down the origin of the H1N1 swine flu.

"This news is with me and we are trying to confirm it with the WHO and other sources. We're monitoring this very seriously and preparing ourselves to tackle this all the way," Haque said, adding Bangladesh had a good stock of flu medicine.

The minister said Bangladesh was prepared for a possible swine flu outbreak because of its experience with the H5N1 bird flu virus in February 2007 when more than one million birds were slaughtered.

The WHO has raised its flu alert to phase five out of six, signalling that a pandemic is "imminent" following the swine flu outbreak that is believed to have killed more than 80 people globally.

Miguel Angel Lezana, director of Mexico's National Epidemiological Center, said the background of the Bangladeshi man who died was being looked at for clues as to the path of the virus.

"A short time before becoming ill, he met one of his brothers who had come from Bangladesh or Pakistan -- we haven't confirmed which yet -- and who spent a few days here before leaving the country," Lezana said.

He was not able to say when that occurred, but added a search had been mounted for the brother who was suspected of being sick.

Mexico plans shutdown as World flu alert raised

2009-04-30T04:28:00.001-07:00

MEXICO readied a "temporarily closed" sign — taking the drastic step of ordering a suspension of nonessential federal government and private business activity as it tried to squelch a swine flu epidemic, AP reoprts.
The World Health Organization ratcheted up an alert and warned that "all of humanity" is threatened.

The dire warning showed that world health officials are very worried about the potential for massive numbers of deaths worldwide from the mutated virus, even though the epidemic so far has claimed only a confirmed eight lives in Mexico and one in the United States. Roughly 170 deaths are suspected of having been caused by the virus in Mexico.

Switzerland on Thursday became the latest country to report a swine flu infection — a 19-year-old student who health officials said was mistakenly released from a hospital and then hastily readmitted. European Union health ministers planned emergency talks in Luxembourg to coordinate national efforts in preventing the spread of swine flu in Europe.

The Phase 5 alert, indicating a pandemic could be imminent as the virus spread further in Europe, prompted Mexico to announce the partial May 1-5 shutdown, Mexican Health Secretary Jose Cordova said late Wednesday.

In Washington, President Barack Obama promised "great vigilance" in confronting the outbreak which has sickened nearly 100 people in 11 states and forced schools to close. A Mexican toddler who visited Texas with his family died Monday night in Houston, becoming the first fatality in the U.S., and 39 Marines were confined to their base in California after one came down with the disease.

The virus, a mix of pig, bird and human genes to which people have limited natural immunity, has also spread to Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria.

"It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in Geneva. "We do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them."

In a televised address, Mexican President Felipe Calderon praised "the heroic work" of doctors and nurses and asked his countrymen to literally stay in their homes between May 1 and May 5, saying "there is no safer place to protect yourself against catching swine flu, than in your house."

"In recent days, Mexico has faced one of the most serious problems in recent years," Calderon said Wednesday night. He brushed aside criticisms that his government's response was slow, stressing several times that authorities had reacted "immediately."

School in Mexico has already been canceled until May 6. During the shutdown, essential services like transport, supermarkets, trash collection and hospitals will remain open.

Calderon said authorities would use the partial shutdown to weigh whether to extend the emergency measures, or "if it is possible to phase out some" restrictions.

The outbreak appeared to already be stabilizing in Mexico, the epicenter. Confirmed swine flu cases doubled Wednesday to 99, but new deaths finally seemed to be leveling off after an aggressive public health campaign was launched when the epidemic was declared April 23. Although 17 new suspected deaths were reported, only one additional confirmed death was announced Wednesday night, for a total of eight countrywide. The virus is believed to have sickened as many as 2,955 people across the country, though hospital records suggest the outbreak may have peaked here last week.

The WHO said the global threat is nevertheless serious enough to ramp up efforts to produce a vaccine against the virus. It declared a Phase 5 outbreak — the second-highest on its threat scale — for the first time ever, indicating a pandemic could be imminent.

In the U.S., eight states closed schools Wednesday, affecting 130,000 students in Texas alone.

Obama said his administration has made sure that needed medical supplies are on hand and he praised the Bush administration for stockpiling 50 million doses of antiviral medications.

"The key now is to just make sure we are maintaining great vigilance, that everybody responds appropriately when cases do come up. And individual families start taking very sensible precautions that can make a huge difference," he said.

Ecuador joined Cuba and Argentina in banning travel to or from Mexico and Peru banned flights from Mexico. The Panama Canal Authority ordered pilots and other employees who board ships passing through the waterway to use surgical masks and gloves. An average of 36 ships per day use the canal, most from the United States, China, Chile and Japan.

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Cabinet ministers to discuss swine flu, and the health minister said France would ask the European Union to suspend flights to Mexico.

The U.S., the European Union and other countries have discouraged nonessential travel to Mexico. Some countries have urged their citizens to avoid the United States and Canada as well. Health officials said such bans would do little to stop the virus.

Medical detectives have not pinpointed where the outbreak began. Scientists believe that somewhere in the world, months or even a year ago, a pig virus jumped to a human and mutated, and has been spreading between humans ever since.

China has gone on a rhetorical offensive to squash any suggestion it's the source of the swine flu after some Mexican officials were quoted in media reports in the past week saying the virus came from Asia and the governor of Mexico's Veracruz state was quoted as saying the virus specifically came from China.

One of the deaths in Mexico directly attributed to swine flu was that of a Bangladeshi immigrant, said Mexico's chief epidemiologist Miguel Angel Lezana.

Lezana said the unnamed Bangladeshi had lived in Mexico for six months and was recently visited by a brother who arrived from Bangladesh or Pakistan and was reportedly ill. The brother has left Mexico and his whereabouts are unknown, Lezana said. He suggested the brother could have brought the virus from Pakistan or Bangladesh.

By March 9, the first symptoms were showing up in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where pig farming is a key industry in mountain hamlets and where small clinics provide the only health care.

The earliest confirmed case was there: a 5-year-old boy who was one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe.

Days later, a door-to-door tax inspector was hospitalized with acute respiratory problems in the neighboring state of Oaxaca, infecting 16 hospital workers before she became Mexico's first confirmed death.

Neighbors of the inspector, Maria Adela Gutierrez, said Wednesday that she fell ill after pairing up with a temporary worker from Veracruz who seemed to have a very bad cold. Other people from La Gloria kept going to jobs in Mexico City despite their illnesses, and could have infected people in the capital.

Cordova, the Mexican health secretary, said getting proper treatment within 48 hours of falling ill "is fundamental for getting the best results" and suggested the virus can be beaten if caught quickly and treated properly. But it was neither caught quickly nor treated properly in the early days in Mexico, which lacked the capacity to identify the virus, and whose health care system has become the target of widespread anger and distrust.

In case after case, patients have complained of being misdiagnosed, turned away by doctors and denied access to drugs. Monica Gonzalez said her husband, Alejandro, already had a bad cough when he returned to Mexico City from Veracruz two weeks ago and soon developed a fever and swollen tonsils.

As the 32-year-old truck driver's symptoms worsened, she took him to a series of doctors and finally a large hospital. By then, he had a temperature of 102 and could barely stand.

"They sent him away because they said it was just tonsillitis," she said. "That hospital is garbage."

Gonzalez finally took her husband to Mexico City's main respiratory hospital, "dying in the taxi." Doctors diagnosed pneumonia, but it may be too late: He has suffered a collapsed lung and is unconscious. Doctors doubt he will survive.

Swine flu has symptoms nearly identical to regular flu — fever, cough and sore throat — and spreads like regular flu, through tiny particles in the air, when people cough or sneeze. People with flu symptoms are advised to stay at home, wash their hands and cover their sneezes.

WHO says swine flu pandemic is imminent

2009-04-30T04:17:00.001-07:00

GLOBAL health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread farther in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. A toddler who succumbed in Texas became the first death outside Mexico. AP reports.

Mexico, taking a drastic step as confirmed swine flu cases doubled to 99, including eight dead, announced it would temporarily suspend all nonessential activity of the federal government and private business from May 1-5. Essential services like transport, supermarkets, trash collection and hospitals will remain open.

New deaths finally seemed to be leveling off after an aggressive public health campaign in Mexico — only one additional confirmed death was announced Wednesday night — but the World Health Organization said the global threat is nevertheless serious enough to ramp up efforts to produce a vaccine against the virus.

"It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in Geneva. "We do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them."

It was the first time the WHO had declared a Phase 5 outbreak, the second-highest on its threat scale, indicating a pandemic could be imminent.

The first U.S. death from the outbreak was a Mexico City toddler who traveled to Texas with family and died Monday night at a Houston hospital. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius predicted the child would not be the last U.S. death from swine flu.

The virus, a mix of pig, bird and human genes to which people have limited natural immunity, had spread to at least nine countries. In the United States, nearly 100 have been sickened in 11 states.

Eight states closed schools Wednesday, affecting 53,000 students in Texas alone, and President Barack Obama said wider school closings might be necessary to keep crowds from spreading the flu. Mexico has already closed schools nationwide until at least May 6.

"Every American should know that the federal government is prepared to do whatever is necessary to control the impact of this virus," Obama said, highlighting his request for $1.5 billion in emergency funding for vaccines.

Just north of the Mexican border, 39 Marines were being confined to their California base after one contracted swine flu. Senators questioned Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about her decision not to close the border, action she said "has not been merited by the facts."

Ecuador joined Cuba and Argentina in banning travel either to or from Mexico and Peru banned flights from Mexico. The Panama Canal Authority ordered pilots and other employees who board ships passing through the waterway to use surgical masks and gloves. An average of 36 ships per day pass through the waterway, most from the United States, China, Chile and Japan.

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy met with cabinet ministers to discuss swine flu, and the health minister said France would ask the European Union to suspend flights to Mexico.

Germany and Austria became the latest countries to report swine flu infections Wednesday, with cases already confirmed in Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain.

In addition to the 168 suspected deaths — including 17 new ones announced late Wednesday — the virus is believed to have sickened 2,498 people across Mexico. But only 1,311 suspected swine flu patients remained hospitalized, and a closer look at daily admissions and deaths at Mexico's public hospitals suggests the outbreak may have peaked during three grim days last week when thousands of people complained of flu symptoms.

President Felipe Calderon asked Mexicans to stay at home, saying their houses were the safest place to be.

"In the last several days, Mexico has faced one of the most serious problems in recent years," Calderon said in a nationally televised address. Calderon brushed aside criticisms that the government response was slow, stressing several times that authorities had reacted "immediately."

He said authorities would use the partial shutdown to weigh whether to extend the emergency measures, or "if it is possible to phase out some" restrictions.

Scientists believe that somewhere in the world, months or even a year ago, a pig virus jumped to a human and mutated, and has been spreading between humans ever since. Unlike with bird flu, doctors have no evidence suggesting a direct pig-to-human infection from this strain, which is why they haven't recommended killing pigs.

Medical detectives have not zeroed in on where the outbreak began. One of the eight deaths in Mexico directly attributed to swine flu was that of a Bangladeshi immigrant, said Mexico's chief epidemiologist, who suggested that someone could have brought the virus from Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Miguel Angel Lezana, the epidemiologist, said the unnamed Bangladeshi had lived in Mexico for six months and was recently visited by a brother who arrived from Bangladesh or Pakistan and was reportedly ill. The brother has left Mexico and his whereabouts are unknown, Lezana said.

By March 9, the first symptoms were showing up in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where pig farming is a key industry in mountain hamlets and where small clinics provide the only health care.

The earliest confirmed case was there: a 5-year-old boy who was one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe.

The deaths were already leveling off by the time Mexico announced the epidemic April 23. At hospitals Wednesday, lines of anxious citizens seeking care for flu symptoms dwindled markedly.

The Mexican health secretary, Jose Angel Cordova, said getting proper treatment within 48 hours of falling ill "is fundamental for getting the best results" and said the country's supply of medicine was sufficient.

Cordova has suggested the virus can be beaten if caught quickly and treated properly. But it was neither caught quickly nor treated properly in the early days in Mexico, which lacked the capacity to identify the virus, and whose health care system has become the target of widespread anger and distrust.

As the 32-year-old truck driver's symptoms worsened, she took him to a series of doctors and finally a large hospital. By then, he had a temperature of 102 and could barely stand.

"They sent him away because they said it was just tonsillitis," she said. "That hospital is garbage."

That was April 22, a day before Mexico's health secretary announced the swine flu outbreak. But the medical community was already aware of a disturbing trend in respiratory infections, and Veracruz had been identified as a place of concern.

Gonzalez finally took her husband to Mexico City's main respiratory hospital, "dying in the taxi." Doctors diagnosed pneumonia, but it may have been too late: He has suffered a collapsed lung and is unconscious. Doctors doubt he will survive.

While epidemiologists stress it is humans, not pigs, who are spreading the disease, sales have plunged for pork producers around the world. Egypt began slaughtering its roughly 300,000 pigs on Wednesday, even though no cases have been reported there. WHO says eating pork is safe, but Mexicans have even cut back on their beloved greasy pork tacos.

Pork producers are trying to get people to stop calling the disease swine flu, and Obama notably referred to it Wednesday only by its scientific name, H1N1. U.N. animal health expert Juan Lubroth noted some scientists say "Mexican flu" would be more accurate, a suggestion already inflaming passions in Mexico.

Authorities have sought to keep the crisis in context. In the U.S. alone, health officials say about 36,000 people die every year from flu-related causes.

Mexico's government said it remains too early to ease restrictions that have shut down public life in the overcrowded capital and much of the country. Pyramids, museums and restaurants were closed to keep crowds from spreading contagion.

"None of these measures are popular. We're not looking for that — we're looking for effectiveness," Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said. "The most important thing to protect is human life."

massive fire at major Dhaka shopping mall

2009-03-13T03:48:00.002-07:00

A massive fire broke out at the Bashundhara City shopping complex in the capital this (Friday) afternoon.
Glasses of the corporate office of the Bashundhara Group, which is housed at the building, are melting down.
Breaking out at the 20th floor (top floor) at about 1:00pm, the fire is engulfing the down floors gradually.
As of 4:30pm, the flame of the fire reached the 13th floor of the building.
Meanwhile, a helicopter rescued one of the two people, who were earlier seen on the rooftop of the corporate house.
Rafiqul Islam, an official of Bashundhara shopping complex, told a private television channel that the main shopping mall of Bashundhara is still unharmed.
The flame engulfed a nearby furniture shop and the fire fighters doused it within short time.
Immediately after the fire broke out, two people were seen trapped on the rooftop of the building. But, now they are not seen. Their fate is still unknown.
The market sources, however, said no body was trapped in the fire.
Witnesses said the fire might have been broken out at the top two floors -- 19th and 20th floors.
Already several fire-fighting units have arrived at the spot and are trying to douse the fire. But, they cannot pour waters on the flames, as their ladders cannot go beyond 13th floor.
The reasons of the fire could not be known immediately.

Shibir secy killed, 100 hurt in RU clashes

2009-03-13T00:57:00.002-07:00

ISLAMI Chhatra Shibir (ICS) general secretary of the Rajshahi University (RU) unit was killed and at least 100 others were injured in clashes between the ICS and the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) on the campus today, The Daily Star reports.

Campus sources said a fresh clash erupted at the Sher-e-Bangla Hall as Shibir activists went there to rescue their men confined to the hall at about 12:30pm, leaving Sharifuzzaman Nomani killed and at least 20 others injured.

The condition of RU unit Organising Secretary of the Shibir Farhad Alam was stated to be very critical.

The sources said earlier in the morning the Shibir men locked entrances of all the 11 male dormitories of the university and beat up the BCL leaders and workers.

More than 50 students were injured at different halls of the university including 11 critically at the Suhrawardy Hall alone.

The Shibir activists also attacked on the BCL and the Awami League (AL) leaders and workers outside the campus.

Later, BCL men locked the entrances of the halls from outside, confining the Shibir men to the halls.

In this situation, as Shibir activists tried to enter the campus to rescue their men, the BCL men jointly with the local AL leaders and workers resisted them, prompting clashes at Binodpurbazar near the university.

At least 30 people were injured in the incident.

All the injured were taken to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCL) and the RU Medical Centre on the campus.

Sporadic clashes were going on till filing of this report at about 10:30am.

Additional police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) were deployed in and around the campus to bring the situation under control.

Traffic movement on the Rajshahi-Dhaka route came to a total halt following the incident.

A tense situation has been prevailing on the campus.

Following the incident, the vice chancellor is holding an emergency meeting on law and order situation of the university attended by senior police officers in Rajshahi including the additional police commissioner.

Earlier yesterday, RU unit President of the BCL Ibrahim Hossain Moon filed a case against 500 Shibir activists including its RU unit President Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, General Secretary Sharifuzzaman Nomani, Organising Secretary Farhad Alam and former RU Shibir president Emaj Uddin Mondol in connection with the Wednesday's clash that left at least 20 BCL men injured.

Following the case, police at about 3:00am raided all the 11 male dormitories and rounded up around 70 Shibir men as they were residing at the halls without any identity cards, police said.

Police also raided the adjacent private student dormitories of the university to find those who were involved in the Wednesday's clashes at the UR.

On Wednesday, at least 20 BCL men, including RU unit president and general secretary, were injured in a clash between BCL and ICS on the university campus.

Meanwhile, the RU authorities yesterday imposed restrictions on political activities including processions and rallies following the Wednesday's clash between BCL and Shibir on the campus.

food security gets major boost with UK pledging Tk 560cr, WFP Tk 1,242cr

2009-03-13T00:56:00.001-07:00

THE United Kingdom will give Bangladesh assistance for coordinated development of the country's coastal areas under a £60 million (over Tk 560 crore) trust fund. The UK also pledged to help the country's food security programme, according to a report of The Daily Star.

Visiting UK Minister for International Development Mike Foster gave the assurances when he met with Food and Disaster Management Minister Md Abdur Razzak at the latter's ministry office yesterday, says a ministry press release.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it would provide Bangladesh $180 million (Tk 1,242 crore) to strengthen food security.

Agricultural development, employment generation and increasing income are being thought to be included in the coordinated programme for development in the coastal belt. Sources said the UK has advised Bangladesh authorities to prepare these projects.

Only one crop is produced in the vast area of land in the country's coastal region as cultivation is not possible there in other seasons because of salinity. Food Minister Md Abdur Razzak said Bangladesh can produce surplus food if salinity-tolerant varieties could be invented and cultivated in this region. Increase in cooperation in agricultural research is necessary for this.

missing BDR arms cause for concern

2009-03-13T00:53:00.000-07:00

DAISY Ahmed missed a heartbeat when she saw something wrapped in BDR uniform lying abandoned at the entrance to her house in Ganaktuli, a locality adjacent to the fifth gate of border guards' headquarters, The Daily Star reports.

After the February 25-26 mutiny that degenerated into a bloodbath at their HQ, most of the riflemen reportedly fled through the gate 5.

It was 9:00 in the night the next day when everybody thought the wrapped thing was a rifle. But the police discovered a sub-machine gun (SMG) and also recovered 408-round bullets.

Till date the law-enforcement agencies could not confirm how many firearms were taken away from the headquarters or eventually fell to the hands of criminals, posing a threat to law and order.

Hazaribagh police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) recovered an SMG, a pistol, 630-round Chinese rifles' bullets, 470-round SMG bullets, three grenades including two Arges, a wireless set and 15 bullet-chargers abandoned in different areas until March 5.

govt seeks control of judicial power

2009-03-13T00:49:00.001-07:00

THE parliamentary standing committee on law ministry yesterday decided to recommend that the House vest the authority in the government to empower executive magistrates to take cognisance of offences in "extraordinary circumstances", The Daily Star reports.

In consultation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the committee last night came up with the decision and asked the law ministry to draft proposals to bring amendment to the bill on separation of the judiciary, sources present at the meeting said.

A new provision will be incorporated in the bill saying the government may empower executive magistrates, who are also administrative cadres, to take cognisance of offences for trial "in an extremely special situation" to maintain law and order, committee members said.

The committee also decided to recommend that parliament vest the authority in the government to enact a new law to allow the executive magistrates to run mobile courts to hold trial of offences under minor acts.

Committee chief and AL lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta, however, claimed that the committee would not make any recommendation undermining the separation of the judiciary. "We are going to make recommendations keeping the spirit of the separation of the judiciary intact," he said.

"The government may empower executive magistrates to take preventive measures to maintain law and order in special situations," Suranjit said but declined to elaborate the recommendations.

300 workers sent back from Malaysia

2009-03-13T00:42:00.004-07:00

AT least 300 workers were sent back from Malaysia yesterday, citing the impact of global economic recession.

A flight of the Malaysian airlines carrying the workers arrived at the Zia International Airport in Dhaka last night.

More workers from different countries including Singapore and the Maldives may return home by the end of this month, reports ATN Bangla.

The Malaysian government on Tuesday cancelled visas for more than 55,000 Bangladeshi jobseekers, which were approved back in 2007.

These workers were scheduled to enter Malaysia gradually.

After a ten-year ban, Malaysia started hiring Bangladeshi workers in August 2006 and has recruited around four lakh workers since then. The workers however have made a lot of allegations about abuse, poor pay and non-payment by their employers.

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) President Ghulam Mustafa, meantime, said the Malaysian government has allowed its employers to recruit 532 Bangladeshi workers who have been waiting at Kuala Lumpur International Airport since March 8 for the decision.

Some other organisations working for ensuring labour rights expressed their concerns over the Malaysian government's decision, saying that such a sudden decision would create frustration among the large number of Bangladeshi workers.

Jago Bangladesh Garments Sramik Federation and Karmojibi Nari in separate statements urged the government to take necessary steps to convince the Malaysian government to review the decision.

Related Reports

Dhaka urges KL to review its decision

ICC lifts ban on BAngladesh spinner Razzak

2009-03-12T04:56:00.002-07:00

BANGLADESH left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has received clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to bowl in international cricket, reports BCB's official website TigerCricket.com.

The ICC had suspended Razzak in November 2008 for an Illegal Bowling Action. He appeared for a reassessment of his action at the Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) in Canberra on 23 February and was subsequently cleared.

The ICC has informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) that Razzak’s bowling technique has changed to the extent that both his stock delivery and faster ball are now within the ICC tolerance level of 15° and his action was now legal.

As a result the previous suspension has been lifted and Razzak is once again permitted to bowl in international cricket.

9 sued for '71 killing in Khulna

2009-03-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

A case was filed on Wednesday against nine people in Khulna on charges of killing a man and hiding the body during the War of Liberation in 1971.

Abdullah Goldar, resident of Baliadanga village in Botiaghata upazila of the district, filed the case with the court of Judge Hakim Abu Ibrahim accusing them of killing his father Moslem Goldar and hiding his body on December 11, 1971.

The accused are Rafikul Morol, 70, of Baliadanga Union, his brother Belayet Morol, 68, Mostafa Mollah, 75, of village Fulbari, Mohor Sheik, 60, of village Hatbari, Ashraf Ali Sheikh, 65, of village Baliadanga, Goffar Goldar, 69, Abdul Hakim, 67, of village Jhinaikhali, Rajab Ali Sardar, 77, of village Rampal upazila and Karbala Sardar.

Lawyer of the complainant, Sheikh Iyad Ali, said the court has accepted the prayer and will give its order today after hearing on the complaint.

It is the first case filed in Khulna on charges of war crimes.

Independence Day parade cancelled

2009-03-12T04:51:00.001-07:00

THE government has cancelled the national parade that is organised on the occasion of the Independence Day on March 26 following the incident at the BDR headquarters.

LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam said this while talking to reporters after a meeting of the cabinet committee on law and order at the home ministry.

All the military, paramilitary, law enforcement agencies and students take part in the parade.

JMB linked to BDR massacre: minister

2009-03-12T04:44:00.002-07:00

JAMA'ATUL Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is linked to the BDR massacre, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said today.
He added that it was part of a conspiracy.
Khan was speaking today (Thursday) at the annual meeting of the International Business Forum of Bangladesh.
"A dangerous conspiracy is going on to destroy the development of the country," Faruk added.
The commerce minister said though the opposition party was silent at least for three days after the BDR massacre, now it is acting as a specialist in the matter.
On Wednesday, the government appointed Faruk as the head of a committee coordinating various inquiries into the carnage.
On February 25-26 BDR Pilkhana headquarters carnage, 74 people were killed including 52 army officers.
The government also sought help from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Scotland Yard of the UK to help probe into the bloodshed.
On March 9, a two-member team of the FBI arrived in the capital while a four-member Scotland Yard team reached yesterday.
Both the teams have started their work.

BDR mutiny: 450 BDR men found involved so far

2009-03-09T23:48:00.003-07:00

INVESTIGATORS have so far found involvement of around 450 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel in the mutiny at the BDR Headquarters while at least 12 of them led several groups of mutineers, Shariful Islam writes.
An investigation into the BDR mutiny revealed that some outsiders had knowledge about the rebellion, said a top official of a law enforcement agency investigating the mutiny in which 74 people including 51 army officers got killed.
"We are now investigating whether they took part in the bloody mutiny," the official said wishing anonymity.
Meantime, the 11-member enquiry committee, formed by the government to probe the mutiny, interrogated a few accused at Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) cell in the capital for about four hours from 11:00am yesterday.
"We have found involvement of around 450 BDR officials and jawans in the mutiny scrutinising the video footages and photographs,"the investigator said.
The official said they are now trying to get details about the 450 mutineers by interrogating the arrestees.

More BDR report
BDR subedar 'kills' himself

Jessore GOC killed in chopper crash

2009-03-09T23:44:00.002-07:00

GENERAL Officer Commanding (GOC) of 55 Infantry Division and Jessore Area Commander Maj Gen Rafiqul Islam and pilot Lt Col Md Shahidul Islam died as an army helicopter crashed at Rouha of Kalihati upazila in Tangail yesterday morning. (Full report)

Co-pilot of the helicopter Major Saif sustained serious injuries in the accident.

An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release said the Bell 206 helicopter of Army Aviation crashed after hitting an electric cable around 7:50am.

Locals and witnesses told The Daily Star's Tangail correspondent that the helicopter first hit an electric line, then crashed into a banyan tree before falling into a pond.

The chopper was heading towards Mymensingh Cantonment from Jessore Cantonment to pick up the GOC of 19 Infantry Division. The helicopter's final destination was Dhaka Cantonment where the two GOCs were supposed to attend a conference at the Army Headquarters, the ISPR release said.

After the crash, locals recovered the dead and the injured from the wreckage.

An army team from Jamuna Cantonment, an army rescue team from Ghatail Cantonment, an Air Force rescue team from Pahar Kanchanpur Air Force Base, fire service, police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) rushed to the spot.

no bail or no jail for at least 15 convicts

2009-03-09T23:42:00.001-07:00

AT least 15 people including some high-profile politicians, who have been sentenced to imprisonment in absentia in different criminal cases, are now in the country, but not on bail or in jail, Ashutosh Sarker reports in The Daily Star.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has termed their legal status as a "peculiar situation", while some other legal experts said the convicts now seem to be above the law and it is not a good sign for the society.

They said the convicts will remain in this situation until a special bench of the High Court (HC) constituted by the chief justice delivers the final decision on their bail petitions.

A division bench of the HC on February 23 delivered split orders on whether these people can directly come to the HC for bail without surrendering to the trial courts.

Following the dissenting orders, the bail petitions have been sent to the chief justice for constituting a special bench of the HC for the final decision, sources said, adding that the chief justice has not constituted the special bench yet.

admin may get back judicial horns

2009-03-09T23:36:00.001-07:00

THE parliamentary standing committee on law affairs yesterday agreed in principle to recommend that the House reinstate the executive magistrates' power to take cognisance of offences, The Daily Star reports.

Now scrutinising a bill to introduce laws on separation of the judiciary, it will come up with its recommendations next Thursday.

Before that, it will consult Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the matter.

“We are keeping in contact with the prime minister. I have talked to her today. If necessary, the state minister for law will meet and brief her in detail about the outcome of today's meeting,” Suranjit Sengupta, chairman of the committee, told reporters after a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in the evening.

Leaders of judicial service, administrative cadres and police associations were present at the three-hour long meeting to air their views.

Obama ponders outreach to Taliban elements

2009-03-08T05:37:00.002-07:00

PRESIDENT Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq, Helene Cooper and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times report.
Mr. Obama pointed to the success in peeling Iraqi insurgents away from more hard-core elements of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a strategy that many credit as much as the increase of American forces with turning the war around in the last two years. “There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region,” he said, while cautioning that solutions in Afghanistan will be complicated.
In a 35-minute conversation with The New York Times aboard Air Force One on Friday, Mr. Obama reviewed the challenges to his young administration. The president said he could not assure Americans the economy would begin growing again this year. But he pledged that he would “get all the pillars in place for recovery this year” and urged Americans not to “stuff money in their mattresses.”

10-truck illegal arms: Indian rebel leaders were in Chittagong

2009-03-08T05:20:00.005-07:00

MILITARY wing commander of the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) Paresh Barua, Naga rebel leader Anthony Shimray and several more people were stationed in Chittagong by using fake names before the abortive Ulfa arms shipment in 2004, The Daily Star reports today.
They checked in Hotel Golden Inn but left Chittagong immediately after the arms were seized, according to a report of the Bengali daily Prothom Alo.
Principal accused of the case Hafizur Rahman alias Hafiz in his confessional statement said he was introduced with one Zaman before the 2001 election. Later, he came to know that the said Zaman was Ulfa military commander Paresh Barua.
Zaman told Hafiz a huge consignment of machinery would land in Chittagong and he assigned him (Hafiz) to hire a trawler and decide on a jetty for offloading the delivery. Zaman also said they themselves would handle the rest.
Paresh Barua assured him of not worrying about anything as chiefs of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) had already made all arrangements.
As per the records of the Hotel Golden Inn register on Station Road in Chittagong where Ulfa operatives stayed, room-305 was allocated to Asif Zaman at 5:45am on March 28, 2004, just three days before offloading the arms cache.
Asif Zaman's address was recorded as 97/5 Sher-e-Bangla Road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. It is the same Zaman who actually went by the name of Paresh Barua. Asif was believed to be another fake name of an Ulfa leader.
Anthony Davis in the August 1, 2004 issue of Janes Intelligence Review wrote Naga rebel leader Anthony Shimray also accompanied Paresh Barua when the arms were being offloaded in Chittagong.
Anthony Shimray who is based in Manila in Philippines had flown to Chittagong via Bangkok around the time of the shipment.

Related Reports

Consignment from China: defence magazine representative

CUFL high officials yet to be quizzed

some 250 BDR men still on the run

2009-03-08T05:06:00.007-07:00

AROUND 250 suspected mutineers of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) are still on the run defying government orders to get back to barracks, Julfikar Ali Manik reports in The Daily Star.
The Daily Star has obtained the rough figure from army officers preparing a list of the paramilitaries who were at the Pilkhana headquarters during the bloody mutiny that left dozens of their commanding officers from the army killed on February 25-26.
Meanwhile, new BDR Director General Brig Gen Md Mainul Islam has asked the surviving army officers, deputed to BDR, to convene at Senakunja in Dhaka cantonment this morning.
He told The Daily Star yesterday that BDR has lost all its 12 sector commanders and chiefs of several battalions based in the capital and elsewhere.
The remaining battalion commanders and staff officers from the battalions that do not have any commanding officer at present will participate in the coordination meeting.
"Objectives of the meeting are to assess the situation, strengthen co-ordination within the force and give necessary directives," Brig Gen Mainul said.
An officer involved in the rescue operation last night said, “Roughly speaking, I'd say around 7,500 BDR men were supposed to be inside Pilkhana during the carnage. We need a few more days to have the exact figure."
As of yesterday afternoon, a notice board at the BDR headquarters showed around 1,500 border troops missing. That number was based on a sketchy estimate that around 9,000 paramilitaries were in the Pilkhana compound when the deadly revolt broke out.
However, late at night, the officials concerned revised that figure down to 7,250. Around 250 BDR personnel might have been on leave at that time.
“Though our notice board still shows 1,500 missing, the number would come down to around 250,” said an army officer.
In the week following the end of mutiny, news reports citing primary investigations said at best 200 mutineers had been directly involved in the vicious killings, looting, arson and other crimes during the fateful 33 hours at the BDR headquarters.
Another officer concerned said some 451 rebels stayed put at Pilkhana after laying down arms in response to the prime minister's general amnesty, but the rest 6,750 escaped.
"Those who surrendered on announcement of the amnesty have been kept in BDR hospital," he continued.
Following the government notice for them to report for duties within 24 hours ending at 4:00pm on March 1, around 6,500 BDR men returned to the headquarters.
"Around 250 border guards who did not get back to barracks yet will be considered deserters," noted the officer.
Around 6,500 BDR troops who had fled despite the amnesty but later joined in response to the 24-hour notice will be considered to have been 'absent without leave', he added.
According to rules and regulations of the force, they will face minimum 15 days' rigorous imprisonment and maximum 28 days' for absence without permission.
Sources said the BDR DG can hand down an offender up to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for grievous offences like mutiny.
If those at large return they will face departmental actions both for not joining in time and mutiny.
The officials are preparing a detailed list of border guards who were inside the headquarters during the mutiny and from where they came.
DG Mainul urged all staff of the border force to cooperate in the investigation and efforts to hunt down the culprits in the massacre.
The BDR authorities might soon issue a circular to that effect.

BDR mutiny probe body seeks more time

2009-03-08T05:06:00.001-07:00

THE 11-member probe body headed by former secretary Anisuzzaman Khan has sought more time from the government to complete its investigation into the BDR headquarters carnage.

Anisuzzaman said this to reporters after a meeting at the home ministry with Additional Secretary of the ministry Golam Hossain today (Sunday). Golam Hossain is the member secretary of the committee.

Ask about the progress of their investigation, Anisuzzaman said the investigation is going on and they cannot disclose anything until they complete the investigation.

There is no chance of submitting their report this week, Anisuzzaman also said.

After its formation on March 2, the probe committee assured that it will give the investigation report within seven days.

FBI team due today

2009-03-08T05:01:00.002-07:00

AN advance team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States would arrive in Dhaka today to help Bangladesh investigations into the BDR headquarters carnage, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said.
Talking to reporters after inauguration of the Education UK Exhibition at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel this morning, she said the FBI team is coming at the request of Bangladesh government.
She, however, did not elaborate details of the FBI team and its terms of reference of investigation.
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources told The Daily Star today that two special agents of the FBI, stationed in New Delhi, will fly in here soon to help Bangladesh investigations into the BDR carnage.
They said the FBI agents would talk to authorities concerned and make initial assessment. The government also has sought assistance from Scotland Yard in breaking the mystery behind the bloodletting.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier sought the forensic assistance from the FBI when US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher made a phone call to her immediately after the mutiny.

NBR offers legalising fake TINs

2009-03-05T05:02:00.001-08:00

THE National Board of Revenue (NBR) today announced an offer to legalise the fake tax identification numbers (TIN) as part of its efforts to widen tax net and increase revenue, The Daily Star reports in its online edition Thursday.

The offer will remain valid until April 30.

The fake TINs must be legalised by the deadline or their holders would face legal action, NBR Chairman Muhammad Abdul Mazid said at a press briefing at the NBR office.

"Those who have fake TINs can avail the opportunity by paying Tk 3,000 in advance income tax or whole amount of payable tax to the deputy tax commissioner of tax circle," Mazid said.

Those who do not have taxable income can make their TINs legal by paying Tk 3,000 in advance tax. The amount is refundable.

Mazid said those who used fake TINs to avail benefits from different government service organisations including purchase of land, car would be stripped of the benefits if those were not legalised.

According to the Income Tax Ordinance, submission of TIN is mandatory to apply for any government service.

"In many cases it has been found that many dishonest persons or firms have submitted fake TIN certificates with the help of some dishonest people," Mazid said.

Some recent NBR surveys found 826 fake TINs out of 4996 in Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.

Among 648 members of the jewelry association, TINs of 179 were marked as fake.

Like jewelry association, the NBR was also checking on the TINs of other business associations.

The NBR has asked all banks for a list of TINs of their clients as submitting TIN number is mandatory for some services from banks too.

Having a fake such fraud is a punishable offence under the existing CrPc in Bangladesh.

The rules of the organisations concerned also provide for punitive action against anybody resorting to such fraudulent activity.

As per the income tax ordinance, there is provision of jail term from three months to three years for such crimes.

Pakistan tour of BD postponed

2009-03-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

PAKISTAN'S cricket tour of Bangladesh scheduled to start later this week has been postponed, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced on Thursday.

Pakistan was due to reach Dhaka on Saturday to play two Twenty20 matches and five one-day internationals from March 10-22.

The BCB did not say why the tour had been postponed or when it will take place.

"The Bangladesh Cricket Board has postponed Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh 2009 as advised by the Government authorities," it said in a brief statement.

"A fresh itinerary will be announced later."

Bangladesh witnessed a bloody mutiny in the capital Dhaka last week by soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles that left 74 people, including 56 army officers dead.

The decision to call off the tour comes two days after the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by armed gunmen in the Pakistani city of Lahore, which injured seven players and the team's assistant coach.

Pakistan and Bangladesh are co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup along with India and Sri Lanka.

BDR mutiny staged to put govt in peril: PM

2009-03-05T04:51:00.001-08:00

PRIME Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the BDR carnage was staged to embarrass and put the government in peril under a big conspiracy against the country’s nascent democracy, a report run by The Daily Star says.

She made the remarks when ambassadors and high commissioners of eight Asean (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries called on her at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the morning.

“Primarily it is being thought that the BDR mutiny was staged to put the democratic government in danger and embarrass it,” the PM was quoted as saying by her press secretary Abul Kalam Azad at a briefing after the meeting.

The envoys are Vietnam’s Nguyen Van That, Thailand’s Chalermpol Thanchitt, Myanmar’s U Phae Thann Oo, Philippines’ Zenaida Tacorda-Rabago, Brunei Darussalam’s Haji Abdul Razak bin Haji Mohd Hussaini, Singapore’s Tan Kok Nam, Indonesia’s Tri Surya and Malaysia’s Hamizan bin Hashim.

The envoys expressed deep shock at the death of the army officers and sympathy for the bereaved families.

The PM's press secretary said the envoys highly praised the prime minister’s wisdom and foresight in solving the recent BDR crisis peacefully through taking quick steps.

At this critical juncture, the diplomats assured the prime minister of providing all-out cooperation to the government for safeguarding the country’s democracy.

The PM said the brutal incident of Pilkhana stunned the nation and the deaths of the highly educated and talented army officers are irreparable loss to the nation.

Pakistan may lose cricket WC role after attack

2009-03-04T01:41:00.004-08:00

THE terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team in Pakistan may cost the country its role as a co- host of the 2011 Cricket World Cup and stop teams visiting, Bloomberg.com reports quoting the sport’s top official.
Meantime, the Lankan cricketers returned to Colombo after the attack that sent a chill down their spine.
Yesterday’s shooting, which left six police officers and two civilians dead and five Sri Lankan cricketers and a coach injured, marked the first time teams have been targeted in a terrorist incident. The International Cricket Council will meet next month to discuss Pakistan’s future as a cricket venue, Bloomberg.com quotes Chief Executive Officer Haroon Lorgat to be saying at a press conference.
“It’s difficult to see international cricket being played in Pakistan in the immediate future,” Lorgat said in London. “Pakistan may play in neutral venues as the home team.”
The incident in Lahore came four months after a three-day terrorist attack in Mumbai left 164 people dead and prompted India to cancel a tour of Pakistan. The Sri Lanka team had stepped in as a replacement. With the 2011 World Cup scheduled for India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the violence may scare off players and supporters.
“The board will have to think very extensively on how Pakistan will be used for that,” Lorgat said. “There is great reluctance for cricketers to return. We mustn’t believe that Pakistan will remain unsafe for ever and ever. We must hope it doesn’t.”
Lorgat said a final decision on who hosts the 2011 event can be made up to February 2010.
Security Issues
“At this point, there is no plan to move it out of the subcontinent,” Lorgat said. Security may be improved by limiting the number of nations holding the event, he added.
Australia, which will co-host host the 2015 tournament with New Zealand, wants the 2011 edition to remain in Asia, said Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland.

Terror attack on Lankan cricket team in Lahore

FBI likely to investigate BDR carnage

2009-03-04T01:34:00.002-08:00

THE US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is expected to help Bangladesh in forensic investigation into the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) carnage.

“I believe the FBI has agreed to do that (investigation into the BDR carnage),” Bangladeshi news agency UNB quotes Acting Deputy State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid to be saying at a regular press briefing in Washington Tuesday.

The confirmation come as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on March 1 sought the FBI assistance during the telephone conversation with US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher.

Boucher spoke on behalf of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and offered the assistance.

Gordon Duguid told the briefing in Washington that they have received a request from the Bangladesh government for the FBI help in forensic investigation into the mutiny.

Duguid, however, could not give further details about when, where and how the FBI will work.

3 more mass graves found, 10 bodies retrieved at BDR HQ

2009-02-28T04:15:00.003-08:00

TEN more bodies including one of a woman were retrieved from three mass graves found on the BDR headquarters premises today.

Three of the deceased were identified as Naznin Shakil Shipu, wife of the slain BDR chief Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed, Maj Mosharraf and Maj Mokbul.

Others' identity could not be known immediately.

Besides, two more bodies were recovered from the BDR headquarters area this morning.

Rescuers searching for dozens of officers still missing after a mutiny by border guards uncovered two more mass graves on the BDR headquarters compound this morning.

Rescuers on Friday found a mass grave on the same compound in the capital containing 38 bodies.

Another 24 bodies have been recovered in other parts of the compound including in drains and sewers following a 33-hour mutiny by the BDR soldiers that ended on Thursday.

UN chief condemns BDR mutiny

2009-02-28T04:13:00.000-08:00

UNITED Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned what he called the “brutal acts of violence,” in the two-day mutiny by members of the Bangladesh Rifles border guards, which have resulted in a mounting death toll.

“The Secretary-General calls for calm and the resolution of this situation without further violence,” according to a statement released by Ban’s spokesperson, which also expressed sympathy for victims and their families.

According to media reports, the revolt against military officers left at least 40 people dead, with dozens of bodies found in mass graves, the statement added.

BDR men asked to report in 24 hours

2009-02-28T04:10:00.001-08:00

BDR members, who are out of stations for leave or any other purposes or have not reported yet after the mutiny at the BDR headquarters on Wednesday, are ordered to report to their respective offices within next 24 hours.

Home ministry today (Saturday) issued a press note, saying firm actions will be taken if the order is not carried out.

the barbarity is unimaginable, unforgivable: Mahfuz Anam

2009-02-27T03:49:00.005-08:00

"Nation must stand united behind democracy, the elected govt and punishment of the killers," Mahfuz Anam, editor of Bangladesh's top national English daily, The Daily Star, writes in a commentary.

AS the bodies were being brought out from the sewer one by one, and as a mass grave was being excavated within the BDR headquarters, the people of Bangladesh, perhaps of the world at large, stood aghast at the extent of the barbarity perpetrated on the officers of our border security forces. As we watched on television the heart rending scenes of distraught families desperately trying to get a last glimpse of the mutilated bodies of their loved ones and others anxiously waiting for some news of those missing, the natural question that came to our mind was, for what “crimes” were these officers meted out such inglorious death? For what unprofessional acts were life snuffed out of them at the height of their career? For what possible action of theirs could a section of BDR jawans murder their officers in such an inhuman and un-soldierly manner? The answer escapes reason, words and logic. However, one thing can be said with certainty, if there were some sympathy for the points raised by the rebellious jawans, not an iota of it remained in the public mind after the initial extent of the crime became evident yesterday.

No, these cannot be outbursts of anybody that ever wore any uniform of a disciplined force. These cannot be the soldiers of BDR as we knew them and respected them for their untiring work in guarding our borders. These were the work of premeditated murderers who planned, prepared and then executed what amounts to the biggest loss of life of our well-trained officers corps of our armed forces.

As we absorb the shock and the feel in our hearts of the true extent of the tragedy, we must also be aware that we have a nation to take forward, our armed forces to strengthen, our BDR to re-build and, most importantly our democracy to strengthen and make functional.

BDR mutiny planned, funded: minister

2009-02-27T03:08:00.005-08:00

STATE Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak today said the killing of army officers during the BDR mutiny was an act of sabotage.

"It did not happen out of blue. It was a conspiracy. They were killed in a well-planned way," Nanak told reporters at 4:15pm at the VIP gate of BDR headquarters near Jhigatala.

He also vowed that the conspirators must face exemplary punishment.

The state minister said a vested group had long been working on the conspiracy and it distributed millions of taka among the BDR soldiers.

Parliament whip Mirza Azam accompanied Nanak.

Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Mohammad Faruk Khan said there might have been “other forces” behind the BDR mutiny and a high-powered investigation committee has already been formed yesterday to dig out the actual facts.

“We are suspecting involvement of other elements behind such an unfortunate incident at BDR headquarters Wednesday,” he said adding that this forces exploited emotions of deprived soldiers.

He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the three-day 18th US Trade Show 2009 organised jointly by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh and the US Embassy at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.

Khan urged the BDR Jawans to calm down and assured them of meeting their demands in phases.

“We have to solve problems and demands of BDR jawans through dialogue. Armed mutiny would not bring solution to any problem.” he said

38 more bodies recovered today

2009-02-27T02:56:00.005-08:00

THIRTY-eight more bodies were found today during the search and rescue operations following the 33-hour mutiny at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Headquarters that ended Thursday.

Thirty-four of the bodies were recovered from a fifteen-feet-deep hole located beside the BDR hospital mortuary inside the BDR headquarters at about 2:30pm. Fourteen of them were found in the BDR uniforms while others in civilian dress, The Daily Star reports.

The other four bodies were recovered from a sewage-filled canal off the BDR headquarters in the capital.

Fifteen of the deceased were identified as Col Elahi, Col Muazzem, Col Emdad, Col Ensat, Col Ehsan, Maj Masum,

Maj Rafiq, Maj Moshiur, Maj Haider, Maj Khalid, Col Latifur Rahman, Col Nakibur Rahman, Col Imam Shawkat, Lt Col Rabi Rahman and Maj Mahbub.

Relatives of the missing BDR officials and soldiers who might have been killed in the Wednesday's BDR mutiny thronged Nawabganj sluice gate and BDR headquarters areas for the bodies of their near and dear ones.

During the joint search and rescue operations by army, police and Rab, a huge number of BDR uniforms were found abandoned inside the headquarters

The 33-hour mutiny by disgruntled border guards ended Thursday in their surrender at the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned of tough action to take them off a "suicidal route".

Meanwhile, namaz-e-janaza of seven army officers killed by the rebel BDR soldiers in two-day long mutiny will be held after Asr prayers today (Friday) at Dhaka Cantonment Central mosque.

The army officials whose janaza will be held include Deputy Director General of the Bangladesh Riffles (BDR) Brig Gen MA Bari, Col Anisuzzaman, Col Mujibul Hoque, Col Jahid Hossain, Lt Col Enayet ul-Hoque, Lt Col Abu Musa Md Ayub Kaiser and Maj Mizan.

After the janaza, the bodies of Col Jahid and Lt Col Kaiser will be taken to their respective home villages for burring.

The janaza of the rest army officials are to be held after autopsy.

The fate of many army officers taken hostage by the mutineers remained unclear, however, after the BDR jawans surrendered and returned to barracks late Thursday.

Meantime, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Friday) visited the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka to see bodies of the dead officers who were killed in the BDR mutiny.

At the hospital inside the Dhaka Cantonment, she also talked to the briefed family members of the officers and expressed her sympathy for them.

Hasina arrived at the CMH at about 1:00pm.

UNB adds: the premier urged the people to offer special prayers at all mosques after the Jumma prayers today for those BDR officers and soldiers killed during the trouble at BDR headquarters.

She said the BDR members killed in the Wednesday’s incident would be buried with state honour.

Hasina who expressed her deep shock at the incident and conveyed sympathy to the bereaved families said the government is making all out efforts to rescue missing BDR members.

The prime minister also appealed to the people to hold patience keeping all faith in almighty Allah.

Related Reports

Gate of death

army joins search at BDR HQ

2009-02-27T02:45:00.004-08:00

ARMY personnel have taken part in the search and rescue operations at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Headquarters in the capital this morning.

Earlier in the morning, police resumed search for alive or the deceased inside the BDR headquarters after the end of a

33-hour bloody revolt by the BDR troops.

UNB adds: army tanks and convoys rolled into troubled headquarters of paramilitary BDR reportedly to conduct search of missing or dead army officers following the two days' revolt by BDR soldiers.

Armed Police Battalion took over the charge of the fallen headquarters after rebel BDR soldiers surrendered their arms at the call of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Thursday afternoon.

Witnesses said eight tanks entered the headquarters at around 11:00am and later more armoured vehicles with army personnel proceeded towards the headquarters. The tanks were stationed yesterday near Abahani playground in Dhanmondi.

"Don’t worry, no problem," an official of the prime minister's press wing told the UNB when asked if the tanks entered with the permission of the government.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun and State Minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak were inside the headquarters. During the rebellion, BDR chief Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed and dozens of mid-ranking officers were killed, reports the UNB.

The army troops headed by at least three brigadier generals have entered the BDR headquarters at about 11:00am to participate in the search and rescue operations, reports ATN Bangla.

Our correspondent from gate-3 of the BDR headquarters reported that the divers have already started search for any dead bodies after opening cover of the manholes in that area.

Police resume search at BDR HQ

calm across country after chaos

2009-02-27T02:36:00.002-08:00

AS the bloody mutiny at BDR headquarters in the capital played itself out to an end yesterday, paramilitaries in some districts took position on the highways and roads, leaving a long stretch of border unprotected. (Full report)

They came out of their camps and outposts to resist a possible military onslaught in reprisal for bloodshed at Dhaka Pilkhana, reported our correspondents from Chittagong, Rangpur, Chapainawabganj, Satkhira and Jessore.

Since morning, the mutineers fired hundreds of shots into the air, causing panic among locals. However, things began to change for the better shortly after the prime minister's address to the nation. And by late afternoon, rebel jawans got back to barracks in a great relief to the civilians.

At least three troops sustained gunshot wounds by accident during shootings. They are Kabir, 42, of BDR Training Centre at Satkania in Chittagong, Lance Nayek Abdus Shahid of Rangpur BDR HQ and sepoy Najrul Islam of 39 Rifles Battalion in Chapainawabganj.

Photo: 3 BDR jawans took shelter in a house adjacent to Sylhet BDR HQ on Thusrday to prevent any 'army assault'

BDR chief killed in hail of bullets:survivor

2009-02-27T02:12:00.002-08:00

MAJ Gen Shakil Ahmed, director general of BDR, died in a hail of bullets within 10 minutes after the shooting began at the Pilkhana darbar hall Wednesday morning, confirmed Lt Col Syed Kamruzzaman, who survived the killing-spree of border troops.

Speaking at a press briefing at the staff college officers' mess in Mirpur Cantonment late last night, he narrated how he was saved by 'a few good jawans'.

As a band of paramilitaries wearing red bandanas opened fire inside darbar at around 9:45am, Kamruzzaman and 11 other officers including the DG took shelter in corners of the stage.

After around five minutes, some jawans ordered them to come out and walk in a line led by the DG.

"As the DG climbed down the stairs of darbar hall, one jawan sprayed him with bullets. Soon the other jawans there started firing on us," said Kamruzzaman.

“I dived on the ground after a bullet hit me in the stomach. Somehow I managed to crawl myself inside a washroom. A few minutes later, some jawans found that I was hiding in a toilet. They fired a volley of shots at me, but miraculously none hit me," he went on.

"As one jawan pointed his gun at my chest, in desperation I hugged him tightly and asked, “Why will you kill me? What harm did I do to you?

"I don't know what occurred to them. They said, 'Ok. We won't kill you.' They took me to another place and kept me hidden from others."

Lt Col Kamruzzaman, general staff officer 1 (communication), said when the jawans were taking him to safety he saw bodies of Major General Shakil Ahmed, Brig Bari, Col Moshiur, Col Zahid, Col Anis, Col Emdad and Lt Col Ershad.

He said over 160 officers were in the darbar hall when the madness set in. He however could not say what happened to others.

He said as another group spotted him a few hours before the end of mutiny, he told them that it was their men who hid him there.

"They told me, 'Ok, we'll spare you, but you have to run as we order. As I started zigzagging down the lawn, some armed jawans attempted to shoot at me. But the ones who saved me first came to my rescue again. They took me to the quarter guardroom from where I was finally rescued," Kamruzzaman said.

At the same briefing, Major Monir described how he cheated death hiding in a drain and then inside false ceiling of the darbar hall for almost two days.

"I watched helpless as jawans killed other officers," he said.

Col Asif, Lt Col Yasmin and her husband AKM Arifur Rahman, a district judge of Dhaka, spoke in the briefing.

They claimed that the BDR men looted valuables from almost all households.

BDR mutiny over as tanks roll in

2009-02-26T04:47:00.006-08:00

Police take control of BDR HQ without being challenged; 21 bodies found; 29 officers rescued; fate of DG, many other hostages unknown

THE 33-hour mutiny by disgruntled border guards ended yesterday in their surrender at the Bangladesh

Rifles (BDR) headquarters after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned of tough action to take them off a "suicidal route". (The Daily Star article)

In the build-up to the surrender, tensions simmered as army commandos rolled into the residential neighbourhood of Dhanmon

di with tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) in a show of force.

At least 21 people--nine senior army officers of BDR, seven BDR soldiers, four civilians and one BDR personnel of unknown rank--were retrieved dead in the two-day rebellion, according to the latest count by The Daily Star.

The bodies of eight army officers were found in a sewage-filled canal off the Pilkhana BDR headquarters.

Army personnel, Rab officers and police combined forces in an overnight search for the renegade soldiers who had fled the site of mutiny yesterday, before the dusk set in.

The bodies of six BDR jawans were found at Pilkhana and sent off to Mitford Hospital, hours past midnight.

Uncertainty lingered over the fate of more than 100 army officers still missing after paramilitary guards took them hostage in a dispute over "low pay, repression and corruption in the top brass".

In an effort to coordinate and monitor the country's law and order, now seemingly under strains, a special cell has been set up at the home ministry. The ministry's joint secretary (political) will coordinate the activities of the cell, the government said in a statement.

Army sources said the number of missing army officers could exceed 100. Other sources fear the mutineers killed and dumped up to 40 army officers in a place inside Pilkhana and covered it with bricks. None of the information could be independently verified.

Through intense negotiations since Wednesday, led by Home Minister Sahara Khatun, the government rescued 29 army officers: two colonels, five lieutenant colonels, 21 majors and one captain.

The ordeal for more than 100 family members of BDR officers and jawans -- trapped inside or held hostage -- came to a close yesterday. They came out with tears in their eyes.

With the surrender of the mutineers, police and the Armed Police Battalion took control of the BDR headquarters and its armoury in an evening push. The army with around 20 tanks and APCs took position on Satmasjid Road near the Abahani playground.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Naim Ahmed entered the BDR headquarters compound around 7:00pm.

In a televised speech around 2:00pm, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the mutineers to immediately lay down their arms and return to barracks, so that she is not compelled to use force to break the standoff.

Following her speech, a convoy of APCs and tanks from the Army's Nine Division in Savar and the 46 Brigade in Dhaka Cantonment drove into Dhanmondi area.

Thousands of curious people, sometimes cheerful, gathered in the area where the army had been deployed on a war footing.

The arrival of the army had apparently intimidated the mutineers into hoisting a white flag on the main gate of the BDR headquarters. Many fled the site through its Azimpur and Hazaribagh gates.

The Rab-10 members arrested 42 mutineers on their escape route through the Hazaribagh gate.

Nothing justifies mutiny, killings

City in panic, relief

Haunted they rush out of BDR headquarters

mutineers surrender arms

2009-02-26T04:40:00.000-08:00

THE rebellious members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) this afternoon started to surrender arms, hours after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged them to go back to barracks.

Earlier, Home Minister Sahara Khatun said the BDR mutineers in the Pilkhana's BDR Headquarters have already surrendered their arms, ending nearly a two-day tension.

Several army officers along with their family members, who were kept hostage by the mutineers, were released in phases today after the armoured army encircled it.

Incidents of sporadic gunshots also reported from the gate No 2 and 3 of the headquarters.

Negotiations between the mutineers and government have been going on since yesterday to calm down the agitation that claimed 11 people.

Tensions have still been running high in and around the BDR Headquarters that spread across the country.

The prime minister yesterday verbally pardoned the BDR rebellions but it could not make any immediate breakthrough.

At least 50 people were feared killed in Wednesday’s BDR revolt, UNB adds today quoting State Minister for Law Advocate Quamrul Islam.

back to barracks right now or face action: PM

2009-02-26T04:35:00.001-08:00

PRIME Minister Sheikh Hasina today urged the BDR mutineers to go back to barracks at this moment after surrendering their arms, otherwise "I'll be bound to take any step in the interest of the country".

"You surrender the arms. I'm giving you words that none of you will be harmed," the premier called upon the rebel BDR jawans during her address to the nation.

In her brief televised address to the nation, she said, "Do not take the law in your own hands. You have to be patience and abide by the chain of commands. I'm requesting you not to find any way of self-conflict. We're trying to resolve your problems with patience. Do not follow any away so that I loss my patience."

"I am trying to solve the problems through negotiations not through using force," she said adding, "I'm requesting BDR jawans to stay far from any rumour or any provoking speeches by any groups or individuals."

"I'm very socked at the yesterday's incidents," said the premier adding the steps have already been taken for appropriate treatment of the injured.

Some unwanted incidents are polluting the environment, she said and called upon all not make any comment that may aggravate the situation.

army closes in on BDR headquarters

2009-02-26T04:33:00.002-08:00

THE army is apparently set to enter the BDR headquarters with heavy arms through all gates near Nilkhet and Hazaribagh, flaring up the fear of a heavy bloodshed.

Around 4:15pm, army personnel fired several gunshots on way to the mutineers' centre of operations.

Some private television stations reported that army already entered the BDR headquarters through gate No 2, triggering a battle as the BDR mutineers retaliated.

Residents of the surrounding areas were evacuated.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun earlier told reporters that BDR jawans agreed to surrender arms and go back to barracks.

6 more bodies found near BDR HQ

2009-02-26T04:17:00.004-08:00

SIX more bodies of Wednesday's mutiny at the BDR Headquarters were found this (Thursday) morning at sluice gate in front of Nawabganj Park near the headquarters in the capital.

Five of them were identified as Lt Col Anisuzzaman, Lt Col Kamruzzaman, Maj Mahbub, Col Zahid and Col Touhid.

The identity of the other could not be known immediately.

Police recovered the bodies from the sluice gate this morning.

Earlier, bodies of the two officers -- Col Mujibul Huq and Lt Col Enayetul Haq -- were recovered from a sewage system outside the BDR headquarters. But their deaths were not officially declared till filing of this report at 3:45am today.

handcuffed Islamist militant blasts grenade at press meet

2009-02-21T00:18:00.004-08:00

A Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operative in handcuffs exploded an improvised grenade at the police superintendent's office in Gazipur yesterday, injuring at least a dozen people, mostly policemen and journalists.

The blast took place at around 4:30pm as four cadres of the banned Islamist outfit, three of them women, were being paraded before the media. (Full article)

Superintendent of Police in Gazipur Abdul Baten said Mamun alias Zahid, the male arrestee, flung himself on the seized grenades on display and managed to pull the pin out of one. And in a split second, he hurled the grenade at the police and journalists there.

Around six hours back, police captured the four and recovered five grenades and a cache of bomb-making materials at a village in Tongi.

Besides the militant, nine policemen and three journalists were injured in the explosion that had the hallmarks of a suicide attempt.

The wounded cops include Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Joydevpur Police Station Abdur Rashid, OC Abdul Hanif of Detective Branch in Gazipur, sub-inspectors (SI) Omar Faruq and Alam Chand of Tongi Police Station, Special Branch SI Mamun, SI Delwar Hossain, constables Sajib, Neyamat and Latif and the newsmen are Nasir Uddin of ntv, Fazlul Huq Morol of channel i and local journalist Dablu Rahman.

They were first rushed to Gazipur Sadar Hospital. But as their condition worsened, six of them were taken to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and two to Pongu (orthopaedics) Hospital in the capital.

The Gazipur SP said they believe the JMB cadres were preparing to attack programmes of International Mother Language Day in the capital today.

Meanwhile, a Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) team arrested three more members of the militant group in raids at Konabari and Uttarkhan of Tongi in the afternoon. They also seized two grenades and CDs and books on jihad.

Sheer neglect let it happen

7 more JMB men held in 3 districts

nation pays homage to Ekushey martyrs

2009-02-21T00:01:00.003-08:00

THE nation today pays glowing tribute to the Language Movement martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the mother tongue 57 years ago.

President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar one minute past zero hours amid tight security to pay homage to the Language Movement heroes. (Full report)

The speaker and the deputy speaker in the parliament, the cabinet members, BNP Chairperson and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia, the Dhaka city corporation mayor and the vice chancellor of Dhaka University, among others, placed wreaths at the Shaheed Minar.

Stringent security measures were taken in and around the Central Shaheed Minar following yesterday's militant attack in Gazipur and threats of attacks on Ekushey programmes by outlawed militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.

About 7,000 policemen and over 600 members of Rab were deployed at the Shaheed Minar and Azimpur graveyard.

police, teachers under spl consideration of pay commission

2009-02-19T03:48:00.002-08:00

FINANCE Minister AMA Muhith has asked the 7th Pay Commission to show special consideration for police and education (teacher) departments while considering the pay structure of the government employees.

“I have had some talks with the commission about special consideration to few departments,” the minister told reporters today at his office at the Secretariat.

Earlier on Wednesday, the minister recognised the need for special consideration on the pay structure of Bangladesh Bank and Bapex, considering their special nature of job.

He did not discuss the issue of Bangladesh Bank and Bapex with the commission yet, sources said.

Muhith said the 7th pay commission is scheduled to submit its recommendation to the government in April this year, based on which the government would decide the new pay structure.

“It (pay hike) is not possible without a budget,” he told reporters, adding that decision on pay hike may not be possible before the next budget in June this year.

govt to formulate defence policy

2009-02-19T03:47:00.001-08:00

THE government will take initiatives to formulate a defence policy, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today.

She was addressing a graduation ceremony at the Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) at Mirpur Cantonment this morning.

The prime minister also said the armed forces will be turned into a force with the highest degree of professional skill, discipline, responsibility, and patriotism to fulfill the election pledges of the present government.

Earlier, Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) Commandant Maj Gen Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan received the prime minister at the college.

panic spreads as law enforcement slacks

2009-02-19T01:59:00.002-08:00

Law and order is witnessing a slide with an increase in criminal activities in the city and elsewhere in the country, although law-enforcement agencies and the government claim to have the situation under control, reports The Daily Star.

Despite such claims of the police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and other law-enforcement agencies, a large number of crime victims have the impression that they are not getting any remedy even after seeking help.

"This approaches have pushed people into a helpless situation," says noted human rights activist Sultana Kamal, who was also an adviser to the caretaker government. She adds, "The government should take necessary steps if the people don't get remedy from the law-enforcement agencies."

A minister of the ruling Awami League himself recently became puzzled to see traffic policemen standing in a reluctant mood instead of easing traffic movement amid severe congestion.

It has already been evident how law and order started to collapse centring establishment of supremacy in the students' dormitories, different bus and launch terminals, parking places at airport and footpaths after the national polls.

Besides, the increasing incidents of murder, robbery, mugging, theft and forgery have reached such a level that people have become panicked and often dare not move freely even in the day.

Armed criminals have recently stormed a showroom of Butterfly in Jatrabari in broad daylight, shot a salesman and took away cash and other valuables. Another criminal gang broke into a Lalmatia house and robbed all the valuables.

PM accuses BNP-led coalition of politicising entire admin

2009-02-19T01:53:00.002-08:00

PRIME Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday launched a blistering attack on past BNP-Jamaat-led alliance government accusing it of politicising the entire administration and said her government is facing problems for the "politicised" administration, The Daily Star reports.

"They politicised everywhere ranging from the civil administration and armed forces to the judiciary. Efficient officials were removed for the politicisation," Hasina told the House during a question-answer session.

She said the new government is facing problems as inefficiency and reluctance of the officials are being reflected everywhere.

"They [the BNP-led government] demonstrated what politicisation is and how many types it could be," said the premier in reply to a supplementary query of independent lawmaker Fazlul Azim, who earlier belonged to BNP.

She however said that her government does not believe in politicisation.

Huji active in Bangladesh: minister

2009-02-19T01:51:00.000-08:00

BANGLADESH has for the first time admitted that its territory and porous borders may have been used by terrorist groups to target India and says it is committed to acting against them.(Full report)

The Harkat-ul-Jehad (Huji), the anti-Indian militant group, continues to function in Bangladesh though it has been banned, admitted Hasan Mahmud, state minister for foreign affairs.

Mahmud, in an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, said Huji “definitely” exists in Bangladesh despite a ban on it. “They are banned, but they are in hideouts now,” he said.

Asked whether the Bangladesh Government was trying to trace Huji hideouts, Mahmud said: “definitely, we are trying to find out their locations.”

Mahmud said Bangladesh was willing to hand over United Liberation Front of Asom leader Anup Chetia, who has been in a Bangladeshi jail since 1996, to India. "We have mutually agreed on the handover; now we have to decide on the formalities of how to handover. It will also include handover of Bangladeshi criminals who have fled to India," he said.

The minister promised a crackdown on militant groups and alleged terrorists in the South Asian region had “cross-border linkages”.

A “crackdown will indeed happen because terrorist attacks, which have been happening in the region in the past few months, even in Mumbai, there are cross-border linkages of these terrorists. Not only Lashkar (Laskhar-e-Toiba) and Huji, but other terror organisations also. They (were) trained in Afghanistan, they were in Pakistan (and) then they came here,” he said.

migrants endure brutal trips to leave Bangladesh

2009-02-18T01:34:00.002-08:00

WHEN night falls, the man told him, head for the boats.

The trip would be easy, the man said. Four days on a ship to Thailand, then a short trek through forested hills to Malaysia. Then you're in the money.

Instead, Mohammed Sharif found himself captive in the boat's hold with nearly 100 others, eating only rice and water while the crew threatened beatings and the boat drifted for weeks in the sun, lost at sea.

The 26-year-old taxi driver had fallen prey to a network of human traffickers that has emerged in Bangladesh's coastal communities to serve a growing pool of customers willing to risk their lives to reach wealthier shores. Parveen Ahmed of AFP takes a deeper look into the migrants' agony.

The fate of migrants on the illegal route from Bangladesh to Thailand has sparked international outrage. Allegations surfaced last month that Thailand forced nearly 1,000 migrants back to sea in boats with no engines and only a few bags of rice. Hundreds drowned.

Many of the migrants leaving Bangladesh are Rohingyas, members of a stateless Muslim ethnic group that originally fled from Myanmar to escape persecution. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas live in Bangladesh.