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The High Court on Monday slapped a ban on lawyers’ movements and public campaigns in any form.
   A High Court bench of Justice MA Matin and Justice AFM Abdur Rahman issued a suo moto ex Parte order of injunctions on lawyers’ ‘gathering, congregating, picketing or carrying out any “gherao”, restricting or limiting access of all persons to the courts, bringing out or holding any procession, rally or human chain or sit-in strike in any court premises, issuing leaflets, banners, and making, giving or publishing statements publicly’.
   The ban came in the wake of lawyers’ movement and strike led by the Supreme Court Bar Association.
   The SCBA president, Mahbubey Alam, told journalists that they would ‘continue legal battles’ against the court order.
   Pro-government lawyers hailed the order, saying the court has the jurisdiction to look into any event which may interfere in the justice delivery system.
   The court issued the injunctions in exercise of its ‘inherent power and under Article 108 of the Constitution, of its own motion and ex parte orders’ which will be applicable to all courts law in the country.
   ‘This injunction shall particularly be binding upon all advocates practising in any court of law in Bangladesh and, in the event of any breach by anyone of this order, proper steps to enforce this order shall be taken including proceedings for contempt of court and, in the case of advocates, such steps shall include making orders prohibiting them from appearing in courts as advocates so long as they shall remain in contempt,’ ordered the court.
   ‘All persons having notice of this order are hereby restrained and an injunction is hereby granted restraining every one of them until further order from boycotting or abstaining from attending any court of law in Bangladesh.
   ‘They cannot resort to such activities either on the basis of any resolutions passed by or decisions of any bar association or the Bangladesh Bar Council or otherwise howsoever.’
   Any of the enrolled legal practitioners or their bodies also cannot go for ‘restraining, discouraging or persuading any advocate or litigant or anyone having any business in any of the courts of Bangladesh by any means whatsoever from attending or appearing before any such court’, said the court.
   Banned also are the activities calculated to interfere with the administration of justice or operation of any court of law in the country or to restrict or limit access of all persons to the courts, their administrative officers and their precincts.
   The court orders restricted issuing leaflets, banners, making, giving or publishing statements publicly ‘in any way whatsoever whether to or by the press and other media or otherwise of any of the acts prohibited’.
   The court, however, kept open an option for any aggrieved person, affected by this order, to seek redress from the court for overturning the orders.
   In case the order is challenged, the attorney general will appear for the court to support this order, the court directed, appointing a panel of jurists as amicus curiae.
   The panel of amicus curiae, which will help both parties in settlement of the dispute, includes Kamal Hossain, Rafique-ul Huq, Mahmudul Islam and Ajmalul Hossain.
   Mahbubey said the SCBA leadership ‘will discuss the matter with the senior members of the association on Tuesday and then plan the next course of action’.
   He, however, refused to make any comment on the order and, covering his face with a handkerchief, said, ‘This is my reaction.’
   Convener of the Sammilita Ainjibi Samanway Parishad, a coalition of pro-opposition lawyers, Amirul Islam, who is also a former vice-chairman of the bar council, told reporters that he was not aware of any such order passed by any court anywhere in the world.
   According to him, independence of the judiciary is linked with the independence of the bar. ‘I am sure that the High Court will consider the matter of independence of the lawyers and bars, and freedom of speech, in the next hearing on the case... Independence of the judiciary is needed to establish rule of law in the society.’
   Former attorney general, AF Hasan Arif, did not make any comment on the order. ‘I can comment only after going through the details.’
   Ajmalul told reporters that it was the first instance of such an order in the country. ‘In India, there is a judgement which is, to some extent, similar to this order.’
   Two leaders of the pro-government lawyers, TH Khan and Jainul Abedin, however, hailed the order and said the court has the jurisdiction to look into any event which may interfere in the justice delivery system.
   In issuing the injunctions the court noted that the republic was established pledging, among others, the rule of law and fundamental human rights, ensuring every citizen a right to have unimpeded access to justice and the courts of law. ‘It is the constitutional duty of this court to protect such a right by ensuring uninterrupted functioning of this court.’
   The court declared that lawyers have no right to strike, that is to abstain from appearing in the court or boycott the court in the name of strike or otherwise, and no lawyer has any right to obstruct or prevent another lawyer from discharging his professional duty.
   ‘If he does it, he commits professional misconduct, interference with the administration of justice and contempt of court and also a criminal offence and is liable to be proceeded against on all these counts,’ the court warned.
   Referring to the agitation over an additional High Court judge’s, that is Faisal Mahmud Faizee’s, certificate dispute, the court opined, ‘Freedom of expression does not embrace a right of the lawyers to strike or call for boycott or abstention from courts, taking out procession in and around the courts, shouting slogans, hurling abuse against the court or its judges.’
   ‘It also does not allow carrying placards with writings directed against the judges, obstructing the chief justice or judges from attending the court by putting illegal siege at the entrance of the court building and entering into the court room of a judge asking him to vacate the court.’
   Such acts are universally accepted as ‘calculated to interfere with the administration of justice and therefore contempt of court’, observed the court.
   ‘The court is duty-bound to insulate judicial functionaries from being demoralised due to such onslaughts by giving full protection to them to discharge their duty without fear. The pressure strategy that has been slammed upon this court must be resisted through legal means. Boycott, abstention or other tactics of filibuster are repugnant to the rule of law.
   ‘We have also taken note that the above group is being opposed by another group of lawyers with similar programme and activities…Some local bar associations are also resorting to the same tactics on flimsy grounds or grounds having no nexus with the judiciary.’

A court in Dhaka on Monday imposed an ad interim injunction on a Supreme Court Bar Association decision to revoke the associate membership of the law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister, Moudud Ahmed.
   The court also asked the president, secretary and other members of the SCBA executive committee, and the Bangladesh Bar Council to show cause within a week why the May 17 resolution of association on expulsion of Moudud and the May 18 letter that conveyed to him the decision should not be declared mala fide and beyond the association’s jurisdiction.
   ‘In the meantime the defendants [the association and the bar council] are restrained from giving effect in any manner to the resolution and the letter,’ ordered assistant judge Mujibur Rahman.
   The order came upon hearing of a law suit Moudud had himself filed before the affidavit commissioner in the Dhaka court compound.
   The minister did not, however, appear in the court and was represented by Lutfey Alam, Sanaullah Mian, Abdullah Mahmud Hasan and Muhsin Mian. About 50 other lawyers were present for Moudud.
   In his affidavit, Moudud said he had received a letter on May 21 issued by the secretary of the association asking him to show cause as to why the decision of his expulsion should not be given effect.
   ‘If they resolve to expel me, then there is nothing for me to explain and thus the letter itself says the decision has been taken without any jurisdiction and in mala fide intension in order to demean my image.’
   There is mo provision in the constitution of the bar association for such expulsion excepting the procedures detailed in article 51, he said.
   According to the constitution, the bar association may, only by a resolution adopted by two-thirds majority at a special general meeting convened for the purpose, censure, suspend or expel any member for wilful breach of any provision of the constitution or violation of a decision of the general meeting or the executive committee or for unprofessional and dishonourable conduct, said Moudud.
   Such special general meetings must be convened on a minimum seven-day notice and the resolution has to be adopted after sufficient notice to the member concerned and after providing him adequate opportunity to defend himself, he added.
   Moudud claimed he had not been informed of any such general meeting nor had the meeting been convened on a seven-day notice nor had his expulsion been incorporated in the agenda of the meeting.
   Besides, he said, there is no provision either in the SCBA constitution or in the Bar Council Order for expulsion of any member for any statement in the session of the parliament.
   According to the Bangladesh Bar Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Rules 1972, no removal of any advocate from the membership of a bar association may be recognised by the bar council, unless it be for non payment of the dues of the association or for any misappropriation of the funds or of the property of the association, said Moudud.
   After the court order, he told reporters that the decision of his expulsion was mala fide and politically motivated.
   Moudud said he might consider filing a defamation suit against the SCBA leaders after the disposal of the present case.
   The association also revoked the associate membership of the speak of Jatiya Sangsad, Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar, on May 17 for violating discipline by making statements on the ongoing movement of the association against Justice Faisal Mahmud Fayezee.
   Taking part in an unscheduled discussion in Sangsad on May 16, Moudud said the Supreme Court should draw up contempt charges against lawyers who were agitating and creating anarchy on the court premises.
   The speaker termed the agitation before the chief justice’s office ‘unconstitutional’, and said the chief justice could take action against the lawyers for their ‘indecorous behaviour’.

Justice MA Aziz of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court was made the chief election commissioner on Monday.
   The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, appointed Aziz under the provisions in articles 48(3) and 118(1) of the constitution upon the advice of the prime minister, Khaleda Zia.
   The chief justice, Syed JR Mudassir Hossain, swore Aziz in as the chief of the Election Commission in the afternoon.
   Aziz succeeds MA Syed, a career bureaucrat, who completed his five-year tenure on Saturday.
   Khaleda, who successfully kept the name of the new chief election commissioner secret, recommended him in a written advice to the president earlier in the day.
   Many senior ministers did not even know about her choice, sources in the government said.
   The opposition political parties criticised the government for the appointment without any consultation with them. The Awami League, the largest opposition in the parliament, rejected Aziz as the chief election commissioner.
   Aziz later told journalists that he would discharge his duties in line with the provisions of the constitution, his conscience and rationality.
   After being sworn in, Aziz went straight to his office at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar from the Supreme Court and met officials at the commission.
   He became a High Court Judge in June 1996 and was elevated to the Appellate Division in January 2004.
   Aziz is the ninth CEC of the country since the independence. Justice M Idris was the first and completed his five-year tenure from July 7, 1972 to July 7, 1977.
   He was succeeded by Justice AKM Nurul Islam who took over the following day and discharged his duties till February 17 in 1985 as the longest serving chief election commissioner.
   Justice Chowdhury ATM Masud succeeded him on February 17, 1985 and completed his tenure on February 16, 1990.
   After the expiry of his tenure, Justice Sultan Hossain Khan took over on February 17, 1990 and was in the office till December 29, 1990.
   Justice Mohammad Abdur Rouf was then appointed on December 30, 1990 and discharged his duties until April 18, 1995. Justice AKM Sadeq took over office on April 27, 1995 and held the office till April 6, 1996.
   Mohammad Abu Hena took over on April 9, 1996 and discharged his responsibilities till May 8, 2000.
   Syed took over on May 23, 2000 and completed his five-year tenure on May 21.
   MA Aziz, son of late Abdul Wahed, was born at village Amboula in Agailjhara upazila of Barisal on September 30 in 1939.
   He completed his BA honours in 1961 and master’s degree in 1962 from the Department of History, Dhaka University.
   He obtained Bar-at-Law from Inner Temple, London, in 1969 and started as a lawyer of the High Court.

The new chief election commissioner, MA Aziz, on Monday claimed himself as non-partisan and non-controversial having no link with any political party.
   ‘I am not a man of anybody… I am the man of all,’ Aziz told journalists after joining his new office at the Election Commission at the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka. ‘I have no political ambition whatsoever.’
   ‘By profession I am a judge. As the chief election commissioner, I will discharge my responsibilities in accordance with the constitution, my conscience and rationality so that I am not misunderstood,’ he told journalists earlier at his Supreme Court chamber after taking oath.
   ‘My main duty is to hold election in a manner which is free, fair and impartial, and acceptable to all,’ he said. ‘I don’t have any enmity or favour or disfavour towards anyone.’
   Aziz hoped he would get cooperation from all quarters, including the political parties, in discharging his duties.
   ‘The politicians can give me suggestions. Anyone belonging to any political party can discuss with me with an open mind,’ he said.
   ‘Politics is for the people of the country. I do not have any interest to remain isolated from people,’ Aziz said when he asked about the controversy created centring the appointment of the CEC.
   When asked what if the opposition parties do not accept him, he said, ‘It’s a political question. ‘I don’t think they will reject me.’
   ‘If anything happens like that, I will try to convince them,’ he said adding he had never been affiliated with any political party.
   Aziz said even if he was requested to contest in an election without spending a single penny, he would say no.
   He identified the political trend of blaming each other after defeats as a ‘crisis of values’.
   Aziz urged all to be tolerant. ‘I am not tough and strict. Good behaviour doesn’t need money and time.’
   About the six-point proposals on electoral reforms submitted by his immediate predecessor, Aziz said, ‘I don’t know about the proposals. I only can say that he [MA Syed] was a nice and learned person.’
   ‘You cannot solve anything overnight. It will take time to resolve the problems,’ Aziz added.
   Aziz, who was informed that he did not need to resign from the Supreme Court, said he would not go back to the judiciary on completion of his tenure as the chief election commissioner.

The main opposition, Awami League, has rejected outright the appointment of Justice MA Aziz as the chief election commissioner as the issue was not consulted with opposition parties.
   ‘Ignoring the demands of the people and all democratic forces, the government set a shameful example of politicisation of the election commission. We are rejecting such an appointment,’ the AL general secretary, M A Jalil, told reporters after a brief meeting of the party presidium Monday evening.
   Jalil, however, avoided labelling Aziz as a partisan person and told journalists that his party would come up with elaborate reaction later.
   Besides, different opposition parties criticised the government for appointing the chief election commissioner without consulting the political parties.
   Jalil said when the entire nation was anxiously awaiting an appointment of a CEC on consensus basis, the BNP-Jamaat government had tipped Justice MA Aziz as the new chief of the Election Commission without any discussion.
   The government’s unilateral appointment of the CEC without consulting the opposition political parties proved that it was part of a blueprint of ensuring its return to power in the coming general election, Jalil said.
   He further said the government had appointed the CEC in the same way it had appointed the president and facilitate the appointment of a former international affairs secretary of the ruling BNP as the chief adviser of the next caretaker government by extending the retirement age of judges to ensure BNP-Jamaat’s victory in the coming election.
   Asked why they were expecting that appointment of the CEC would be held on the basis of consensus as there was no constitutional compulsion, Jalil said while in power the Awami League had written two letters to the BNP leadership seeking names for the appointment of the chief election commissioner, but, the BNP did not propose any name.
   Asked why they did not propose any name for the CEC, Jalil said, ‘If they wanted, we would have provided.
   Jalil, earlier, told the journalists that his party would not propose any name for the CEC.
   The leaders of different political parties of the opposition camp said this unilateral appointment of the government had raised the question of their ill motive and it would deepen the country’s political crisis.
   The coordinator of the 11-Party Alliance and Workers Party general secretary, Bimal Biswas, told New Age that the government had followed the might is right policy and they had appointed the chief election commissioner unilaterally without showing any respect to the public opinion and demand of the political parties.
   When the opposition political parties were demanding reforms in both the caretaker government system and election commission, this appointment would create confrontational politics.
   Terming the new appointment frustrating, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Mujahidul Islam Selim, told New Age that such appointment would provoke political conspiracies also.
   ‘Now election became the game of crores of taka and chances for honest men in the election have decayed, so if the referee be neutral or not in the game is not important,’ he said.
   The CPB will not participate in such farce elections, Selim said.
   A faction of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal led by Hasanul Huq Inu also rejected the appointment of the new CEC.
   Party president Hasanul Huq Inu and general secretary Syed Jafar Sajjad in a statement called upon the new CEC MA Aziz to reject his appointment to honour the people’s opinion.
   A faction of the Jatiya Party chairman Anwar Hossain Monzu and secretary general Sheikh Shahidul Islam said in a statement that it was a desire of the people that the government would have appointed the CEC following consultation with the political parties.
   There is no alternative to consensus on resolving any political crisis, the JP leaders said.
   They expressed surprise over such an appointment.

The provision for zero-tariff at the import stage will not be withdrawn completely in the budget for the next fiscal year as was earlier planned, according to sources in the National Board of Revenue.
   The government will instead rationalise the tariff structure, taking into account the interest of local, especially agro-based, industries.
   The finance and planning minister, M Saifur Rahman, who is known to be against zero-tariff, has recently asked officials of the revenue board not to go for complete elimination of the facility, said highly placed sources in the government.
   The number of items that currently enjoy zero-tariff is likely to be halved, said the NBR sources.
   ‘However, the poultry and agro-based sectors will have nothing to worry as far as duty-free import of raw materials is concerned,’ a high official in the customs department told New Age. ‘The finance and planning minister is heavily in favour of maximum tariff facility for these sectors.’
   Five hundred and nineteen items currently enjoy zero-tariff.
   Computer and accessories, raw materials of poultry feeds, tractors, fertiliser, live bovine animal, parent stock of one day chick, fish fry, bovine semen, different vegetable products, bulbs, tubes, roses, potatoes, cereals like barley, oats, maize (corn), paddy and different types of seeds fall under the category.
   Mustard, caster oil seeds and cotton seeds, different industrial wastes, copper wares, precious metal ores, calcium hydrogen orthophosphate, and vitamin A to vitamin E also enjoy the facility.
   Different organic compounds, pharmaceutical products like glands, vaccines for humane medicine, insulin, scrap paper, newspaper, magazine, nylon, polyester fibre, synthetic fibre, fibre glass, different mechanical appliances, combing machines, textile spinning machines, carding machines and weaving fabrics are also entitled to zero-tariff.
   Complete withdrawal of the facility will hit hard the pharmaceutical, ceramic, computer, agro-based and poultry sectors hard. Import of photovoltaic generator, computer disk packs, parts and accessories of vehicles will also bear the brunt, sources in the business circle said.
   The NBR chairman, Khairuzzaman Chowdhury, has already been vocal in his opposition to zero-tariff.
   ‘Zero-tariff should be eliminated,’ he said during a pre-budget discussion with a delegation of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry on April 6.
   He also called for termination of the tax holiday scheme.
   His observation came amid persistent appeal from businesspeople for restructuring the current import duty slabs, which, they believe, make a comfortable room for imported finished goods and put the local industry in peril.

On the heels of frequent ferry disasters, the government on Monday launched a clampdown on the defective vessels and those plying without necessary papers.
   Thirty faulty lunches, trawlers and cargos were seized, the same number of employees detained and Tk 9 lakh was collected as fine on the first day of the drive, which will continue ‘till the river routes are freed from faulty vessels’, the department sources said.
   Six shipping department teams, each led by a magistrate, conducted the drive on the Sadarghat-Fatullah, Narayanganj-Kanchpur and Narayanganj-Munshiganj routes.
   ‘This time, we have declared war against unfit vessels and the vessels plying without necessary documents,’ the shipping department director general, captain AKM Shafiqullah, told New Age Monday night.
   ‘We will not spare any vessel plying in any part of the country by flouting rules and endangering lives of people,’ he said. ‘The drive will continue until we make the river-route safe.’
   ‘As the unauthorised vessels either stop plying or disperse in other parts of the country during drives in the capital, the present drive will be a lengthy one to track down all of them.’
   The unauthorised vessels will be fined the maximum amount of Tk 30,000 and we will realise it so that the owners stop plying such vessels, he said.
   The department officials said the drive would be expanded throughout the country in phases.
   Though the department does not have the exact number of unauthorised vessels plying across the country, officials believe the number will be several thousands.
   Like previous drives, the department, is facing shortage of manpower and fund that, according to the officials, help unscrupulous owners to slip and continue plying their vessels afterwards.
   ‘Despite our limitations, we will increase the number of mobile teams and continue the drive,’ Shafiqullah said.

The cabinet on Monday asked the minister for shipping to take immediate measures to prevent launch disasters.
   The cabinet in its weekly meeting, with the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, in the chair, expressed its concern about the recent launch capsize at Aricha.
   The cabinet asked the minister to take measures for strict monitoring of licence and fitness of motor launches.
   The meeting also approved in principle a bill that proposed enactment of a law to transform the Jagannath College into a full-fledged university.
   The Jagnnath University Bill will now be examined by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and will then be placed before the cabinet for approval.
   The bill is expected to be put forward for passage in the next session of Jatiya Sangsad, said the minister for law, Moudud Ahmed, after the meeting.

Seven more activists loyal to the United People’s Democratic Front were abducted Sunday evening by the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti. The total number of abducted after Friday evening now stands at 14.
   The police said none of the abducted was rescued till Monday afternoon.
   The latest incident of abduction might have been a sequel to an incident where a Samiti activist was shot at by the Front activists in Chengi Square in the Khagrachhari town at 6:00am Sunday.
   The Samiti sources said the Front activists shot at one of their activists, Shiblu Chakma, 23, when he went to Chengi Square to bill posters on walls.
   The Samiti denied the allegation that the Samiti had abducted 14 Front activists.
   The confrontation between the two began late Thursday when student fronts of both the parties prepared to celebrate the 16th founding anniversary of the Pahari Chhatra Parishad. Six activists of both parties were injured Thursday night.
   The Samiti and the Front have backed their student fronts to celebrate the founding of the Parishad on May 20, as the students became divided into two factions belonging to the two parties.
   The abducted were Nona Chakma, Dipen Chakma, Purna Bikash Chakma, Bizok Chakma, Erbo Chakma, Satyapriya Chakma and Boiddya Chakma, all on Sunday.
   Mitra Chakma, Sumon Chakma, Nipon Chakma, Sushil Chakma, Uddipan Chakma, Sanadhan Chakma and Grima Chakma were abducted on Friday. All are aged between 17 and 26 years.

The NBR revenue earnings in the July-April period of the current fiscal stood at Tk 23,047.81 crore, which is about 72 per cent of the annual target, according to the National Board of Revenue sources.
   The current fiscal budget has fixed the annual target of revenue collection from the board sources at Tk 32,190 crore.
   Total collection in April, however, slipped by Tk 419.62 crore or 13.95 per cent to Tk 2,587.48 crore compared to Tk 3007.1 crore collected in March 2005.
   The collection in 10 months was 13 per cent higher compared to the same period of the previous fiscal, the NBR said.
   The total revenue earning in the current fiscal was fixed at Tk41300 crore of which 78 per cent have to be collected from the NBR sources.
   Of the NBR components, income tax collection in the July-April period amounted to Tk 3765 crore which was 60 per cent of the budget target of Tk 6277 crore.
   According to the budget projection, income tax has to contribute 19 per cent of the total revenue collection this year.
   Collection of value added tax has amounted to Tk 8177.73 crore in the period which was about 76 per cent of the annual target.
   As per the budget, the tax authority has been suggested that collection from VAT should contribute 33 per cent of the total collection, including the NBR income sources.
   The revenue board has collected Tk6312.5 crore from customs duties while earnings from other components amounted to Tk 4792.6 crore in total.
   The annual target of non-NBR components has been fixed at Tk 1450 crore. The finance ministry statistics showed that Tk781 crore had been collected from the source in the July-February period which was 54 per cent of the annual target.
   As far as non-tax revenue concern, collection in the first eight months amounted to Tk3742 crore which was 49 per cent of the annual target of 7660 crore.

Tahmina Sultana, a member of the Ekdanta union council at Atgharia in Pabna on Monday announced that she would sell her kidneys to repay her loans as she has no other option.
   Talking with newsmen at the Crime Reporters’ Association office in Dhaka, Tahmina said she decided to sell her kidneys after she had failed to repay her loans.
   She earlier borrowed the money at the time of elections in 2003 and to pay the wages of labourers for a project in her locality.
   ‘I had to borrow Tk 1.5 lakh from moneylenders; but the amount now increased to Tk 4 lakh on interest,’ she said.
   ‘I have failed to repay the money. The moneylenders have hired people to collect the money and they have been threatening me and my family members,’ she said.
   She has now been staying off her family in the face of threats, she said. She blamed the local chairman, Ataur Rahman Rana, for ‘hatching a conspiracy’ against her.
   ‘As my uncles are associated with the Awami League, Rana, who is also general secretary of the BNP’s Atgharia unit, has been holding me back from development works for the people of my area’, she alleged.
   ‘The chairman did not pass a single project although I had submitted at least 10 from the time I was elected member on the reserved women’s seat in the union council in 2003,’ she said.

US magazine Newsweek has changed its policy on using unnamed sources, a week after it was forced to retract a report blamed for riots in Muslim countries.
   The magazine said that in future anonymous sources will only be used with the approval of top editors.
   Newsweek’s editor-in-chief apologised for the retracted article that claimed the Koran had been desecrated by interrogators at Guantanamo Bay.
   Anti-US riots in Afghanistan following the publication left at least 15 dead.
   The White House said the 9 May report–in which it was said the Koran had been flushed down the toilet–had done ‘lasting damage’ to the country’s image.
   Newsweek retracted the report last week saying its ‘knowledgeable US government source’ was not sure where he had read the allegation.
   Honour requires us to–redouble our efforts to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again
   ‘The cryptic phrase ‘sources said’ will never again be the sole attribution for a story in Newsweek,’ the chairman and editor-in-chief, Richard Smith, wrote in this week’s edition.
   From now on, only top editors will have the authority to allow the use of unnamed sources in Newsweek reports, he said.
   ‘We got an important story wrong, and honour requires us to admit our mistake and redouble our efforts to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.’
   In his letter to readers, Smith also apologised to readers and to anyone ‘affected by violence that may have been related to what we published’.
   Protests against the US and Newsweek spread across the Muslim world after publication of the report.
   A number of Islamic leaders have since rejected Newsweek’s retraction and called for more demonstrations.