No official message from Pakistan yet: Morshed
UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH, Dhaka
The foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, has said Dhaka is yet to receive any official communication from Islamabad regarding the new schedule of the thirteenth SAARC summit. ‘We understand that current SAARC chair Pakistan is in consultation with all the member-states, but we have not yet received any official communication from Islamabad or from the SAARC Secretariat,’ Morshed told the news agency on Friday. Pakistan is likely to have confirmation in writing from the member-states about their participation in the summit meet on the new schedule, he said. ‘The SAARC chair or the SAARC secretariat will also have to inform us in writing about the new dates agreed upon by all members.’ He, however, said the government would require at least two to three weeks for completing preparations for hosting the summit. In reply to a question, he said there would be some foreign dignitaries’ visit to Dhaka this month and in April. Indicating Dhaka’s willingness to host the summit in April, Morshed said the government would remain busy with parliament’s budget session in June-July, and then there would be coming the rains while Ramadan beginning in the later part of the year. A PTI story from Islamabad Thursday said Pakistan was trying to work out a new schedule for holding the summit in mid-April. Diplomatic sources said India gave the indication that mid-April would be their convenient time to join the summit when Indian parliament will be in recess. Earlier, the summit was postponed twice — once for tsunami and another for India’s pull out.
Journalists receive death threats in Ctg
STAFF CORRESPONDENT, Chittagong
A Chittagong based journalist of daily Bhorer Kagoj, received a letter of death-threat, written allegedly by the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh on Thursday. The letter reached the Chittagong bureau office of the daily by post in the afternoon where the senders also warned the journalist, Samaresh Baidya, a senior staff correspondent, not to file any report against the Jamaat-Shibir leaders of Satkania in future. ‘You have written a number of false stories against our leader Ahmedul Haque Chowdhury last year and if you continue reporting against any of the Jamaat-Shibir leaders, you will be awarded death sentence,’ said the letter signed by three persons who identified themselves as, Mohammad Jasim, Mohammad Bulu and Ahmed Hossain, all residents of Satkania upazila in Chittagong, claiming them as well-wishers of Jammat and Shibir. Earlier, Samaresh in one of his reports published in the daily on March 2 said the Satkania upazila unit ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, Nurul Haque in a meeting demanded to the RAB to bring the journalists under crossfire. Earlier, the bureau chief of the weekly Ajker Surjyadoy, Jubair Siddiqui also received a death threat, the police sources said. Both the reporters lodged two separate general diaries with Kotwali police station.
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