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The government has taken up a development scheme for rural electrification in 234 parliamentary constituencies of the ruling alliance and its like-minded parties, excluding the opposition lawmakers’ constituencies from the project.
   The constituencies of the lawmakers of the major opposition parties have been kept out of the Tk 450-crore scheme, under which the government plans to install 40 kilometres of electricity transmission lines in each of the constituencies.
   The scheme, a prime ministerial priority project, will be implemented in the current fiscal year, said sources.
   The opposition Awami League termed the government’s move undemocratic and an attempt to reap political benefit out of the project.
   Sources in the government said the alliance had taken the initiative to woo voters in the next parliamentary elections as the tenure of the government will expire in October 2006.
   Sources in the Power Division said the project for installation of the electric lines might prove to be ‘eyewash’ as the government will fail to provide uninterrupted power supply as the power generation has recently been stalled due to lack of funds.
   Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said the proposal, as the prime minister’s priority project, for installation of the electric lines under the Rural Electrification Board was sent to the Power Division in the last week of May.
   Sources in the Power Division said most of the 220 constituencies of the alliance, except one or two constituencies in the capital and Chittagong, would get preference.
   Besides, 14 constituencies, mostly in the northern region, which were bagged by the Jatiya Party (Ershad), will also get preference, while two constituencies of Jatiya Party (Monju) and Kader Siddiq’s Krishak Sramik Janata League are also on the list.
   Sources said that 58 constituencies of AL, one constituency of Bikolpodhara Bangladesh and three constituencies of independent candidates would be ignored. Out of the 300 parliamentary constituencies, two are vacant at present.
   Sources in the Power Division said the project for installation of the electric lines would be merged in the annual development programme.
   They said REB got an allocation of Tk 774.63 crore for its 11 projects, whose total cost will probably be Tk 6,449.13 crore, in the current fiscal year, of which eight projects are for installation of transmission lines.
   ‘Most of the projects have been running for a few years. Some of the projects may be finished in this fiscal year, and some may be completed in the next few years. The 40km transmission line installation project will be merged with some projects and will be completed by this fiscal year,’ said a source.
   He said Tk 100 crore might be taken from the ADP, while the Power Division would apply to the finance ministry for Tk 350 crore.
   The source said that each kilometre of electric line would cost about Tk 5 lakh and the spending in each constituency would stand at about Tk 2 crore.
   The source alleged that the procedure for installation of the lines was being done secretly and there were not many official documents for merging the project with the ADP.
   Sources alleged that with the present power generation rate of around 3,500 megawatts, the government is likely to fail to supply power to the new areas, as power generation is not likely to increase in the next one year.
   ‘Even at present the country has a shortfall of 300MW to 400MW of power, and there is frequent load-shedding in many areas, including the capital. How will the government be able to supply power to the new areas?’ asked a source.
   They said a committee formed by the PMO, headed by the principal secretary of the PMO Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, has taken an initiative to generate 430MW of power by implementing seven new power projects in one year at the cost of Tk 1,200 crore.
   But the government is suffering from shortage of funds and so may fail to implement the projects, said sources.
   Lawmakers of the AL slated the government’s decision of installation of power lines in the constituencies belonging to alliance and its like-minded parties and ignoring the opposition’s constituencies.
   ‘It is an undemocratic decision. They [government] have not told us anything about the project,’ AL lawmaker Farukh Khan told New Age on Wednesday night.
   Terming the project a ‘political farce’, he said, ‘In Dhaka, in Chittagong, even in my constituency in Gopalganj we suffer from frequent load-shedding. From where will they supply electricity to the new areas?’
   He alleged that the project is being taken up so that ruling party-backed contractors and suppliers can get a major share of the project. The state minister for power, Iqbal Hasan Mahmood, could not be contacted on Wednesday despite repeated attempts.

Pro- and anti-government lawyers on Wednesday drew a battle line over the defamation suit the law minister, Moudud Ahmed, had filed against the general secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Enayetur Rahim, on Tuesday.
   The pro-opposition lawyers displayed a set of photographs that shows Moudud Ahmed with Mohiuddin Ahmed Jintu, a former Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leader who was convicted of a double murder but was eventually pardoned by the president, at a reception in Sweden.
   The photographs show Jintu and other Bangladeshi expatriates in Sweden exchanging pleasantries at the reception.
   Meanwhile, the High Court granted an anticipatory bail to Enayet in the defamation suit.
   A bench of Justice MA Rashid and M Fazlur Rahman also issued a rule on the government, asking it to show cause within two weeks as to why Enayet should not be granted a regular bail.
   The anticipatory bail will continue till disposal of the rule, the court ordered after Amirul Islam had moved a petition.
   A lower court in Dhaka on Tuesday issued a warrant of arrest against Enayet as a result of the defamation case filed by Moudud Ahmed for allegedly making a ‘false statement’.
   Pro-opposition lawyers brought out a procession chanting slogans against Moudud and the government after the court had passed the orders.
   The procession over, the lawyers staged a rally in front of the bar building.
   Showing the photographs, SCBA leaders told the rally that Moudud had filed the defamation suit to mislead people’s attention from the ‘controversial and politically motivated’ presidential clemency to Jintu.
   They also distributed copies of Prabashir Kantha, a Bangla monthly published from Sweden, which carried a news item that the Sweden BNP had accorded a warm reception to Moudud and his wife Hasna J Moudud.
   Presided over by Amirul Islam, the rally was addressed by the SCBA president, Mahbubey Alam, Ozair Faruque, Abdul Baset Majumder, Enayet and Subrata Chowdhury.
   Earlier in the morning, an emergency general meeting of the bar association, chaired by Mahbub, termed the case false and demanded that it should be withdrawn immediately.
   The meeting accused Moudud of influencing the lower court as a minister into issuing the warrant of arrest against Enayet.
   It also demanded that section 499 and 500 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that deal with defamation cases should be repealed.
   In the afternoon, pro-government lawyers staged a rally in the bar association in protest against the programmes of the pro-opposition lawyers.
   They told the rally that a few lawyers were making derogatory statements against the law minister with a political motive.
   Claiming that the SCBA executive committee was illegal, they said the ‘self-proclaimed’ leaders had no legal right to use the banner of the bar for political purposes.
   Moudud has sought protection of the court in a display of his utmost believe in the legal system, they said.
   The pro-opposition lawyers have violated a High Court order that bans agitation in the court premises, they added.
   Presided by Shah Khasruzzaman, the rally was addressed, by former speaker of the parliament Sheikh Razzak Ali, Sayedur Rahman, Feroz Shah, ABM Waliur Rahman and Helaluddin Mollah.

The law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister, Moudud Ahmed, on Wednesday dismissed the allegations of power abuse pro-opposition lawyers had levelled against him as regards the warrant of arrest, issued by a lower court, against the Supreme Court Bar Association general secretary, Enayetur Rahim.
   He told journalists that the allegations had been raised made with an ill political motive.
   ‘There is no option for any court other than the issuance of a warrant of arrest against any accused in a defamation case,’ said Moudud quoting the Code of Criminal Procedure. ‘The court has done no exception to me as the law minister and the court has to pass the same order in such a case, regardless of whoever files it.’
   Moudud claimed to have filed the case seeking protection from the court showing utmost respect to the court and legal process. ‘Do I not have the right to seek redress from the court against such derogatory remarks just because I am the law minister?’
   Regarding photographs distributed by the pro-opposition lawyers, he said, ‘In a reception programme so many people come and all of them are not known to the minister, in whose honour the programme has been arranged.’
   Moudud reiterated that he had visited Sweden only once during the tenure of the government.
   He visited Sweden from April 20-24 on an official tour to attend an international conference in Stockholm, while Jintu was given the presidential clemency in January, he said. ‘So the photographs cannot prove the allegation made by Enayet against me.’
   Such statement involving him with the incident of providing the presidential clemency is politically motivated and baseless, Moudud said.

The proposed road link between Bangladesh and Myanmar has suffered a big blow as the Myanmar government has expressed its inability to provide funds to construct the Myanmar portion of the 153-kilometre road link.
   The Myanmar government recently, in a letter to Bangladesh government, said that it would not provide any funds from its own resources or seek foreign funds to construct the road connecting the two countries, saying that the project is not in its priority list.
   Even Bangladesh’s proposal to persuade donor countries to finance the project has been turned down by the Myanmar government, said a communications ministry official, citing the letter of the Myanmar government.
   ‘If Bangladesh finds any donor for Myanmar to finance the road link project, we will use the funds for some other priority projects,’ said an official quoting the letter, received early this month.
   The letter asked the Bangladesh government to construct the entire road at its own cost or approach donor countries for funds to construct the road on its own initiative.
   In these circumstances, the officials of the communications ministry expressed doubt over the future of the project though the construction of the road is expected to begin early next year.
   According to officials the road, which will stretch from Taungbro to Kyauktaw in Myanmar via Ramu-Gundom to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, was planned to be constructed in two phases at the cost of Tk 933.46 crore.
   The Bangladesh government, according to the plan, would construct the 43-kilometre road in the first phase, out of which 20 kilometres would be in Bangladesh and 23 kilometres in Myanmar, at a cost of Tk 163.49 crore. The total cost for this would have been borne by Bangladesh.
   Out of the total sum, Tk 94 crore would have been spent for building the 23-km road from Taungbro to Bawli Bazar inside Myanmar along with two bridges and 90 culverts.
   Japan had also agreed to provide equipment to Bangladesh for construction of the 43-km road in the first phase, according to officials of the communications ministry.
   Later, in the second phase, another 110-km stretch of road from Bawli Bazar to Kyautaw in Myanmar would have been constructed at an estimated cost of Tk 770.26 crore.
   Earlier, in June, Bangladesh had sent the framework of an agreement on construction of the 153-km Myanmar-Bangladesh Friendship Road to Myanmar for approval.
   According to the framework, Bangladesh and Myanmar would have taken the responsibility of planning, constructing and maintaining the road and would have made land needed for construction of the road available free of charge, as well as land for camping facilities for construction personnel and equipment and supplies.
   The latest position of Myanmar has disappointed the communications ministry officials who believe that the proposed road is very important to Bangladesh for increasing trade and commerce with South East Asian countries as well as strengthening its ‘look east’ policy.
   ‘We will try to change the Myanmar government’s mind,’ said a top official of the communications ministry.

Most people in village Tengratila are yet to be compensated by Niko Resources after the two blow-outs at the company-operated gas field.
   No compensation was given to the locals after the January 7 blow-out and the company is trying to avoid compensation for the June 24 blow-out.
   Only a block allocation of Tk 5,000 per family was distributed as ‘harassment allowance’ for the January accident. And for the June accident Niko gave it only to the families that were immediately evacuated from their houses.
   The villagers have stopped believing that they will get any compensation from the company and now think that the compensation process has been stopped as the company seems to be ‘managed’ the village bigwigs.
   After 33 days of the blow-out, the flame at the first relief-well is still burning, though at a low height. New cracks have developed in many places in Tengratila village and gas is spreading under the surface across the village and bubbling up in places, compelling the authorities to evacuate more families.
   In such a situation, the company is preparing to drill the second relief-well next Saturday a few metres away from the blown-out well.
   A rig has been erected on the lands owned by Abul Kashem and Abdul Kader. But the two told the local citizen’s committee that the company set up the rig on their lands without consulting them.
   Everything is going as usual in the gas-field and no arrangements for the people’s safety were made till Wednesday, said the locals.
   The Tengratila Dabi Bastabayan Sangram Parishad has launched fresh programmes in the Sylhet region to realise compensation from the company.
   Convener of the committee, Muhammad Azimuddin, said the company officials were extremely unwilling to discuss the compensation issue with the locals.
   Whenever representatives of the people meet them, they just refer them to one another and try to evade the issue, he said.
   The committee has demanded compensation for all 616 families residing in the village, reconstruction of the schools, mosques and markets at safer sites, rehabilitation of the families evicted from their houses, Tk 100 crore compensation for the destruction of environment and ecology of the villages and proper safety measures for the locals during drilling of the third well in the gas-field.
   The aggrieved people staged a protest rally at Dowarabazar on Wednesday. Similar rallies will also be staged at Chhatak and Sunamganj. The leaders declared that they would besiege the gas-field on August 7 to realise compensation.
   Niko’s communication officer, Abu Sayeed, on July 18 said that 165 families and 123 shop-owners in one kilometre radius of the gas-well were compensated. The amount of money ranged from Tk 1,400 to Tk 7 lakh.
   Although a list of 616 families was prepared for receiving compensation, 451 families have received not a single taka, said Salim.
   The villagers are alleging that the company’s officials are now trying to break their unity and weaken their movement by giving money to some of them to persuade them to stop demanding compensation.
   ‘They have evacuated me for safety but I have no place to go to,’ Jamila Bibi, a middle-aged woman, told New Age at the marketplace. She was asking for help from the local union council chairman and other government officers.
   ‘Whenever I ask them for some money to build at least a shanty elsewhere, they simply get annoyed,’ she added.
   ‘How can I get the money I deserve and need?’ she asked, standing beside her evacuated home. ‘They have managed some influential people who have now abandoned us and our cause.’
   The people in the area said the company would acquire more lands as new cracks have developed due to the spurting up of gas.
   The shops in the western part of Tengratila marketplace have been shifted elsewhere and the area has been sealed off by fences. Niko’s engineers have also forbidden smoking or lighting fires in the area.
   ‘The shops of the eastern part of the market will also need to be shifted elsewhere immediately,’ said the locals, quoting Niko’s engineers.

A weeklong non-stop strike by Indian truckers has made the Benapole land port totally non-functional for exports and imports.
   The situation will worsen with another strike from today called by the clearing and forwarding agents in Bangladesh.
   The officials in Bangladesh customs and port authorities said such strikes are blackmailing programmes dictated by vested quarters in both Bangladesh and India to gain illegal benefits.
   Local industries importing raw materials and merchants importing perishable goods have been suffering as port activities ground to a halt.
   The officials at the Benapole port said if the Bangladesh government allows other land ports for the entrance of imports of all kinds from India, importers and exporters would not have to suffer face such strikes at Benapole, which has become frequent.
   ‘I guess some importers and exporters in Bangladesh and India have collaborated to enforce the strike to compel Bangladeshi authorities to meet their illegal demands,’ said an official at Bangladesh customs.
   This time the strike began when the Indian truckers’ association demanded release of four trucks seized by the customs and police in Bangladesh.
   Customs officials said Indian trucks came with Indian goods, but did not return. They were found in the Bangladesh territory with keys in the ignition holes, so they were probably intended to be picked up by Bangladeshis, which means the trucks themselves were in the process of being smuggled.
   ‘These trucks were suspected to be smuggled into Bangladesh as their owners and drivers were not found, and their number plates and body colour had been changed,’ said an official.
   But after the seizure of these trucks, the Indian truckers went on strike, demanding their release, said Benapole officials.
   After the beginning of the strike, they alleged that they face delay in unloading goods in Benapole because of inefficiency of the officers.
   Bangladesh Land Port Authority deputy director Anwar Shajahan denied the allegation.
   He said negotiation is going on and Indian truckers might call off the strike in a day or two.
   The clearing and forwarding agents in Bangladesh have called a strike at Benapole from today, demanding that the customs agents should not be held responsible for any anomalies in imports.
   Related laws hold responsible both importers and agents such anomalies, the officials said.
   A customs official at Benapole, Hossain Ahmed, said they would sit with the local clearing and forwarding agents on Saturday.
   Some officials of Bangladesh port and customs suspect frequent strikes at Beanpole are syndicated efforts of port users in Bangladesh and India to make the authorities bow to their demands.
   A customs official said by a strict enforcement of customs rules, the land port earned Tk 94 crore in duties in three weeks this July against Tk 80 crore earned in July 2004.
   Some importers of raw materials, including fabrics, paper, printing materials, and perishables have been suffering for the stalemate at the port.
   Traders at Benapole said about 1,000 truckful of goods bound for Bangladesh have been stranded on the Indian side.

The Election Commission Wednesday continued its dialogue on the electoral roll for the second consecutive day amid non-cooperation of both major and small political parties.
   For the second day, the commission invited 38 political parties including the Awami League, the largest opposition in parliament, but representatives of only 11 political parties, mostly unfamiliar, turned up for dialogue sponsored by the commission.
   The Awami League earlier announced to boycott the dialogue questioning the unilateral decision of the government to appoint Justice MA Aziz as the chief election commissioner.
   The left leaning 11-party alliance and Bikalpadhara Bangladesh of former president AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury also refrained from attending the Wednesday’s dialogue.
   The convenor of Oikya Mancha, Kamal Hossain, and Bikalpadhara president, AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, on Wednesday at a joint press conference outright rejected the dialogue convened by the chief election commissioner.
   ‘We’ve no confidence on the CEC. It’s difficult to participate in his dialogue,’ said Badruddoza Chowdhury.
   The parties that attended the dialogue included the Jatiya Party faction of HM Ershad, Jatiya Janata Party, Bangladesh Peoples Congress, the Zaker Party, Janadal, Sat Daliojote (Mirpur), Jomiate Ulamaye Islam Bangladesh, the Liberal Democrats Party, the Bangladesh Labour Party, the Pakmon Peoples Party and the Bangladesh Muslim League.
   First session of the dialogue on Wednesday started at 10:00am where 10 small political parties attended. Later, the Jatiya Party representatives, led by its presidium member Kazi Zafar Ahmed, sat with the election commission separately.
   The Jatiya Party opted for updating the existing voters’ roll, but most of the parties demanded for a fresh voters’ list before the next general election timed for early 2007.
   Earlier, the Jatiya Party chief, HM Ersahd, met with the chief election commissioner on July 25 and opted for revising the voters’ list instead of preparing a fresh one.
   After emerging from meeting, Ershad told Journalists he supported the appointment of Justice MA Aziz as the CEC saying the government did not make any mistake by choosing him as the CEC.
   For the third and concluding day of the dialogue, the BNP is scheduled to meet the commission in the morning and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh is in the afternoon today.
   On the first day, the representatives of 38 political parties, out of 69 invited parties, attended the dialogue. The rest 31 political parties did not turn up on the first day.

As part of intensified efforts to check illegal migration, fencing of India’s long border with Bangladesh would be completed by next year, the home minister, Shivraj Patil, told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
   Taking part in discussion on an adjournment motion moved by the leader of the opposition, LK Advani, on the issue of infiltration from Bangladesh in eastern parts, the home minister said the government was in the process of floating border outposts in riverine areas.
   The government was considering the proposal of deploying a battalion of the Border Security Force on every 30 km instead of the present 70 km to step up vigil along the border, he said.
   He further said the entire effort would be to ensure that genuine citizens do not face any difficulties in crossing border.
   Hitting out at the opposition for necessarily seeking to spread fear, he warned that adopting divisive tendencies in the name of religion or language could not help keep the country united. The desire to use this issue for vote bank politics was harmful, he said.

The Indian government on Tuesday introduced the much-awaited Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha which provides for granting dual citizenship to overseas Indians living in 16 countries, other than Pakistan and Bangladesh.
   The bill, which will grant overseas citizenship of India to all Indians who migrated from the country after January 26, 1950, was introduced in the house by the state minister of home, SP Jaiswal.
   The bill seeks to replace an ordinance promulgated by the government on June 28 and also reduces the period of residence in India from two years to one year for persons registered as overseas citizens of India to acquire Indian citizenship.
   The 16 countries whose citizens of Indian origin would be eligible for dual citizenship are Australia, Canada, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Two groups of convicts were locked in a clash inside the Dhaka Central Jail on Tuesday leaving six injured, two of them critically.
   The clash ensued over drug trade, according to jail sources.
   The injured were identified as Amjad (22280/02), Jabbar (16206/98), Nazrul Islam (9225/04), Babu (27335/05), Al Amin (24283/03) and Siraj Bepari (5570/A).
   They were admitted to the jail hospital with stab injuries.
   According to the sources, the incident took place in the evening when the convicts, reportedly backed by Sweden Aslam and Kala Jahangir group, were locked in an altercation over drug trade.
   At one stage of altercation, Sweden Aslam group swooped on Kala Jahangir group and started stabbing with sharp blade injuring six convicts, sources added.
   ‘The attackers stabbed on their chicks, necks and backs with a motive to kill,’ sources said adding: ‘But the jail police brought the situation under control.’
   Sources also said, on July 16, a convict also succumbed to his injuries at jail hospital when some of his opponents beat him up to establish supremacy over drug trade.
   ‘But the jail authorities diverted the killing saying that the man died due to serious illness,’ sources added.
   Meanwhile, the jail authorities have suspended four jail police following the escape of a detainee from the jail.
   ‘Aslam, accused in a murder case in Uttara, escaped from the jail on July 16 giving bribe to the higher jail authorities and left the country,’ sources said.
   ‘But the jail authorities came to know the matter a day after his missing,’ sources added.

The Special Branch on Wednesday picked up four foreign citizens, including two women, at Kakrail in Dhaka on charge of distributing copies of a religious instruction book in Bangla among the passers-by.
   The foreigners were interrogated by the Special Branch officials at the Paltan police station till the evening.
   Their identities are yet to be known as they could not speak any language other than their mother tongue.
   The detained might be Chinese as they were speaking in a similar language, the police suspected. They contacted the Chinese embassy to verify their nationality.
   An embassy official was on his way to the station house, the police said at 8:00pm.
   The police picked them up while they were distributing copies of a book, Soja Path, preaching Christianity, in Bangla in front of the Scout Building at about 1:30pm.
   After interrogation, the police will decide whether the four would be shown arrested.

Trade officials of Bangladesh and India start a two-day dialogue in Dhaka on August 1, seeking ways to increase the volume of trade and cooperation through elimination of non-tariff barriers and establishment of a bilateral free-trade area, according to sources in the commerce ministry.
   MVPC Shastry, a joint secretary of the department of commerce, will lead a 13-member Indian delegation at the third meeting of the joint group on trade issues. Ilias Ahmed, a joint secretary of the commerce ministry, will head a 10-day Bangladesh delegation.
   Dhaka will press for the elimination of non-tariff barriers the Indian authorities frequently impose on Bangladeshi products at the talks, to be held in the commerce ministry conference room.
   New Delhi, on the other hand, is expected to push for a bilateral free-trade area agreement, which has remained pending despite two rounds of negotiations in the absence of a policy decision in this regard.
   Trade officials of the two countries are likely to finalise a revised India-Bangladesh trade agreement, said the sources.
   ‘Dhaka will attach priority to the elimination of non-tariff barriers, which have long been acting as a major deterrent to Bangladeshi exports to Indian markets, at the talks,’ the commerce secretary, Siddiqur Rahman Chowdhury, told New Age on Wednesday.
   He said Delhi must first explain how and why the proposed FTA agreement would be beneficial, especially for Dhaka.
   The commerce ministry has, meanwhile, marked a number of specific non-tariff barriers for elimination upon consultation with major chambers and exporters’ associations.
   Exporters currently need to obtain quality standard certificates from and register with the Bureau of Indian Standards before being allowed to export cement, condensed milk, electrical appliances, dry cell batteries and mineral water.
   The process of registration is needlessly complex and time consuming, complain exporters. They allege that the system has been employed to discourage import from Bangladesh.
   Quarantine requirements for exporting jute products are another major non-tariff barrier for Bangladeshi products, said the exporters.
   Exporters of agricultural products often face difficulty as India does not allow import of any such products which have no bio-security and phyoto-sanitary imports license, while processed food products have to comply with the food adulteration (prevention) regulation of India to be exported.
   According to the commerce ministry, exporters of poultry and dairy products to India could not carve a niche in the Indian markets despite huge demand because of a mandatory sanitary import permit requirements.
   Furthermore, labelling requirement for exporting jute bags, registration for export of pharmaceutical products and chemical tests for leather and leather products have also been major deterrents to Bangladeshi exports to India, said business sources.
   Dhaka is likely to press Delhi to develop infrastructure at its land ports and open bank branches there to facilitate trade, a high official in the ministry told New Age.
   Dhaka may also place a list of products during the bilateral talks for duty-free access.
   Bilateral trade is currently tilted heavily in favour of India. It enjoyed a $1 billion trade surplus in 2003-2004, the sources said.

A majority of Americans believe that the United States cannot win the war nor establish a democratic government in Iraq, according to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll published Wednesday.
   Fifty-one per cent also believe the Bush administration deliberately misled the public about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the central premise for the 2003 US-led war on Iraq.
   Thirty-two per cent believe outright that the United States cannot win the war in Iraq, 21 per cent believe the war could be won but in the end will not be won, while 43 per cent predict a victory.
   By a 58 to 37 per cent margin, Americans said their government would not be able to establish a democratic government in Iraq.
   USA Today, which published the poll results, did not provide the date or the number of people that took part in the survey.
   Meanwhile, four US soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in southwest Baghdad, the US military said on Tuesday.
   The military said in a statement the incident occurred on Sunday night but gave no further details.
   As of Tuesday at least 1,782 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,376 died as a result of hostile action. The figures include five military civilians.
   The AP count is four lower than the defence department’s tally, last updated at 10:00am EDT Tuesday.
   The British military has reported 92 deaths; Italy, 25; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three; Estonia, Thailand and the Netherlands, two each; and Denmark, El Salvador, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Latvia one death each.
   Meanwhile, the group of al-Qaeda’s Iraq frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said it killed the two Algerian diplomats it had kidnapped last week in Baghdad, according to an Internet statement issued Wednesday.
   ‘Your brothers in the military branch of the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Land of Two Rivers on Wednesday June 27 applied the verdict of the Islamic tribunal,’ said a statement published on an Islamic website whose authenticity could not be verified.
   ‘The head of the diplomatic mission Ali Belaroussi and the attache Azzedine Belkadi were therefore killed’, it said.

The abduction of Jamal Uddin Chowdhury, a businessman of Chittagong, again become talk of the town as his family in public accused the ruling party lawmaker for the Anowara constituency of being involved in the incident.
   Jamal’s sons Chowdhury Farman Reza, Chowdhury Arman Reza and Chowdhury Forkan Reza on Sunday accused Sarwar Jamal Nizam of abducting Jamal as he was an aspirant for party nomination in the next general elections.
   Nizam became the focus of discussion after the allegations and some quarters even demanded punishment for him.
   On Wednesday, an organisation named Jamal Uddin Chowdhury Rescue Committee held a rally at ZBZ High School at Anowara and accused Nizam of being involved in the abduction.
   The speakers demanded punishment for Nizam and sought immediate salvation of Jamal. They also threatened tougher movement if their demands were not met.
   Nizam refuted the allegations and said Jamal’s sons were out to tarnish his image as they had gained ‘financial benefits’ from an opposition party leader.
   ‘I had no rivalry with Jamal. But an Awami League leader is trying to win the next general elections instigating Jamal’s sons into tarnishing my image,’ he said.
   He told New Age that if he had been involved in the abduction, Jamal’s family would have accused him soon after the incident. But they are blaming him two years after the incident, he said.
   Jamal’s eldest son Arman told New Age that they did not accuse Nizam formally as the party high-ups assured them of rescuing their father.
   He said Nizam had detained their father in a hotel in Dhaka for a day when he was to face the nomination board before the past general elections.
   ‘We did not disclose the matter in public as our father was also a BNP leader and we tried not to tarnish the party image,’ he said.
   He demanded immediate arrest of Nizam and interrogation as the mastermind of the abduction.
   Criminal Investigation Department inspector Anowar Hossain, also investigation officer of the case, told New Age that they had no plans to interrogate the lawmaker, as they had no specific information on his involvement.

Bangladesh has banned the import of poultry products from five more Asian countries as a precaution against bird flu, officials said Wednesday.
   ‘We’ve banned import of chicken and all kinds of poultry meats and products from China, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and North Korea,’ a senior official of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, Sajedul Qaiyum, said.
   In 2004, Bangladesh banned imports of poultry products from Pakistan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
   The bans follow international alarm last week after the first human deaths from bird flu in Indonesia were confirmed.
   The virus so far been mainly transmitted between animals, but it has also killed more than 50 people in Southeast Asia since 2003.
   Millions of fowl have died or been killed across Asia over the past two years.

The High Court on Wednesday declared illegal and against public interest the construction of a housing project, Modhumoti Model Town, of the Metro Makers and Developers Limited at Amin Bazar in Savar.
   A HC Division special bench also directed the Rajdhani Unyan Kartipakkha, the city development body, to protect the sub-flood flow zone of Amin Bazar from illegal earth filling and Metro Makers to refrain from any further earth filling there.
   The court, which gave the judgement in the public interest litigation filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, however, directed that since some people had already purchased plots, the third party (buyers) interest would not be affected by the verdict.
   It also rejected a Metro Makers petition challenging the legality of Rajuk obstruction through police case in implementing the project.
   The BELA filed the petition on August 14, 2004 challenging the legality of the project, which was being implemented filling up earth on the sub-flood flow zone ignoring the Rajuk mandate.
   The court on the following day gave a six-month stay order asking Metro Makers to refrain from further earth filling or undertaking any other activities, including advertisements to sell plots.
   Another HC bench, however, vacated the stay on September 1, 2004 and BELA appealed against it.
   Although the vacation judge of the Appellate Division, Justice Tafazzul Islam, again granted stay in favour of BELA on October 3, 2004, on regular appeal the matter was referred to the High Court Division for hearing on merit.
   The Metro Makers, meanwhile, filed a petition alleging that despite having Rajuk approval, Rajuk was illegality obstructing its development activities by filing a police case, and obtained a stay in its favour.
   The BELA then challenged the permission letter Metro appended in its petition as forged and the court held that the letter was ‘of course not a genuine one’.
   The court also held that the Metro Makers project had been undertaken in violation of the Town Improvement Act and the Master Plan prepared thereunder, the Environment Conservation Act and the Act No 36 of 2000 and without having obtained any permission from Rajuk.

The cabinet committee on upgrading madrassah education on Wednesday asked the National University to prepare a year-wise work plan to upgrade the syllabus of fazil and kamil madrassahs to make the degrees equivalent to bachelor’s and master’s.
   The 10-member committee, formed to amend the Islamic University Act 1980 and the Madrassah Education Ordinance 1978, had a meeting with the LGRD and cooperatives minister, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.
   The education ministry put forth a proposal to the committee on education early 2002 to upgrade fazil and kamil degrees to make them equivalent to bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
   It will have to have a project approved by the executive council of the National Economic Council for infrastructure upgrade, the meeting decided.
   Two thousand teachers will need to be recruited to run the upgraded madrassahs. There are 1,062 madrassahs offering fazil and kamil courses; but all of them will not be given the equivalent status, the meeting decided.
   Fazil and kamil degree holders now are not eligible to take civil service or other competitive examinations for government jobs.
   The National University in principle earlier accepted the education ministry proposal for the affiliation of the fazil and kamil madrassahs, now run by the Madrassah Education Board, to the university. The new curriculum for the courses will have to conform to the existing curriculum for bachelor’s and master’s courses in general education.

The Ring Sign Sweater Factory authorities at the Savar EPZ sacked or suspended some 300 of its workers for their suspected involvement in protests and movements on the factory premises.
   The action was taken when the factory reopened Tuesday amid labour agitation, which continued for few days.
   Some of the suspended workers denied their involvement in any such movement and termed the steps against them illegal. They said that about 450 workers lost their jobs in three days.
   The authorities said the workers had launched the movement between July 17 and July 19 and confined the director to his office for a day.
   Sources in the factory said they serviced show-cause notices to the agitating workers.

The political science department of Dhaka University on Wednesday refused to take Professor Aftab Ahmad back.
   The departmental coordination and development committee asked the university authorities not to allow the just removed National University vice-chancellor, Aftab Ahmad, to rejoin the department.
   The university’s top executive body, the Syndicate, will now decide whether Aftab can rejoin the department or not.
   Aftab Ahmad was removed as the vice-chancellor of the National University on July 20 and he was asked to return to his previous job.
   As per the order, Aftab went to rejoin the department but his former colleagues obstructed him saying that his previous job was not with the department of political science as he was with the department of development studies before joining the National University.
   Moreover, while joining the department of development studies Aftab did not inform the political science department about his joining.
   Regardless of political affiliation, the teachers from both the pro-government White and the opposition-supported Blue panels unanimously agreed not to allow Aftab to return to the department of political science, committee meeting sources said.
   Aftab Ahmad joined the National University on July 5, 2003 on a four-year deputation, but lost the job this month amid a lot of controversy.

A former minister, Anwar Zahid, called on the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, on Wednesday and discussed about the country’s latest political situation.
   ‘I met the prime minister as she called me,’ said Anwar who was expelled from the BNP months before the 2001 general elections. He declined to elaborate what he had discussed with the prime minister.
   Before expulsion Anwar Zahid was press adviser to the BNP chief, Khaleda Zia, also the then leader of the opposition in parliament.
   Sources said the prime minister had exclusive discussion with Anwar Zahid.
   Anwar Zahid and Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury were expelled from BNP on May 10, 2001 for anti-organisational activities. Chowdhury was taken back to the party before the election.

The police arrested four persons in possession of Tk 5 lakh hundi (bills of exchange) money at Tialgar in the city Wednesday morning.
   The Kotwali police arrested Azizul Haque, 27, and Hussain Ali, 26, of Medinipur at Jibannagar in Chuadanga, Hafizur Rahman, 30, of Akhakhajna at Bianibazar in Sylhet, and Akash Ahmed Shahed, 35, of Tengra at Rajnagar in Moulvibazar, from Taj Tea Company.
   Sub-inspector Dilip, who led the drive, said Azizul and Hussain carried the bundles of money from Dhaka in the morning and had handed over it to Hafiz and Akash, employees of the company.
   Azizul and Hussain said a trader at Dhanmondi in Dhaka paid them Tk 2,000 for carrying the money and deliver it to the owner of the Taj Tea, Rokan Uddin Ahmed.
   The owner of the confiscated money was Mohammed Khalil of Shibganj in the city.
   They said they had made such deliveries to Sylhet earlier. They said they had an acquaintance with the much-talked-about Hundi Kajal of Dhaka.
   At least 10 to 15 such teams reach Sylhet from Dhaka every day. But they did not name their bosses, the police said.
   The police said they had information that there is a strong network of hundi syndicates in Sylhet led by Rokan Uddin and tried to trace them.