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Under pressure from various quarters to solve the political impasse centring the Election Commission, the cabinet of the president and chief adviser, Iajuddin Ahmed, met for over two-and-a-half hours of heated debates on Wednesday.
   The meeting held at Bangabhaban and running from 7:30pm till 10:15pm was the first official meeting of the council of advisers to the caretaker government for five days — with an unofficial meeting of the advisers, minus the chief adviser, held in between plunging the already-beleaguered interim government into fresh controversy.
   At Wednesday’s meeting, the council of advisers decided to form a 3-member advisory committee for administrative reforms headed by Iajuddin himself and comprising advisers Dhiraj Kumar Nath and Sufia Rahman, sources in the cabinet said.
   The cabinet secretary, the principal secretary to the adviser, the home secretary and the establishment secretary will assist the advisory committee that will look into the transfers and postings in the civil administration.
   The sources added that the home secretary briefed the meeting on the present law and order situation, stating apprehensions that a lot of illegal arms have entered the country in recent weeks.
   The home ministry was assigned to draw up a plan to carry out a massive drive to recover illegal arms. It was, however, not decided whether the army would be deployed for the task.
   The cabinet also discussed the Hajj policy at length, deciding that Biman’s Hajj flights would begin from November 26.
   Although the meeting spent a significant amount of time discussing the Awami League-led alliance’s demands that the Election Commission be reconstituted and the chief election commissioner be relieved of his duties, cabinet members would not specify what decision had been taken in this regard.
   The interim administration finds itself in a precarious position as the BNP-led alliance, on the other hand, has taken a strong stance against any reconstitution of the Election Commission, and especially a change of the chief election commissioner, Justice MA Aziz.
   Cabinet members claimed after the meeting on Wednesday that the government has decided on certain steps to tackle the crisis.
   ‘But we cannot disclose any details as it will hamper the process,’ adviser Sultana Kamal told New Age.
   Sources said that the cabinet is considering the induction for further commissioners to the Election Commission as there are no immediate constitutional options to reconstitute the commission.
   Justice Aziz has already rebuffed the government’s requests to resign from the post.
   The pressure on the cabinet may yet increase as BNP insiders have suggested that the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, has hinted at taking an even harder stance by announcing that her party and its allies would not contest the upcoming election if Justice Aziz is relieved of his duties.
   The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, reiterated on Tuesday her party and its allies’ stand that they would not participate in the election if Justice Aziz is not removed.

With the interim government in power and the parliamentary elections only a few months away, some of the most wanted criminals of the country, in jail or exile, are looking for ways to take advantage of the situation.
   While the fugitive criminals are planning to bring an end to their prolonged exile, the criminals in jail are doing everything to get out of prison by using legal loopholes and manipulating trial procedures.
   Sources in the underworld said the criminals, irrespective of party affiliation, would throw their weight behind the aspirants to form the next government and would use such aspirants to get out of the predicament they are in now.
   As the criminals played an important role during elections in the past, some BNP leaders have contacted some fugitive criminals and asked them to work in their favour.
   ‘They [BNP leaders] talked with us on a number of occasions and assured us all kinds of support in Dhaka,’ Subrata Bain, one of most-wanted criminals now living in Kolkata, told New Age over telephone on Tuesday.
   He quoted a BNP leader as saying, ‘We are still in power and the whole administration is working at our instruction.’ But the crime lord said he could not depend on these words as the caretaker government is yet to launch a crackdown.
   Assured by the previous BNP government, almost all the exiled criminals visited Dhaka even amid the drive of the Rapid Action Battalion and went back safe. Underworld sources said some BNP leaders based in one of the alternative power house of the BNP arranged their safe passage with the help of the policemen.
   The fugitive criminals are frequently holding meetings in Kolkata to sort out strategies as the immediate-past BNP government betrayed them soon after assuming office in 2001.
   ‘Many of us worked for the BNP in 2001 elections, but it prepared a list of most-wanted criminals and launched a crackdown to arrest us,’ said Subrata, who was based in Moghbazar and worked for the BNP’s candidate for a Dhaka constituency.
   ‘This time we will be more cautious. We reached a consensus that we will not be used and then ditched,’ said another criminal, Jishan, who crossed the border after killing two Detective Branch officials in the Hotel Sunrise at Malibagh in 2003.
   Nine listed top criminals were captured by the BNP government.
   Jishan is also weighing the option of working for the Awami League and so are top-rated criminal Tanvir Islam Joy and his aide Mukul.
   A former AL lawmaker from the Dhaka city west is maintaining contact with them. ‘We told him to create a ground safe for our return and stay,’ one of them told New Age.
   The criminals, exiled or jailed, have, meanwhile, been carrying out illicit activities such as extortion, killing, abduction and drugs peddling through hundreds of teenaged criminals groomed in Dhaka.
   The jailed criminals meet their followers on court premises while the exiled criminals talk with their men over telephone.
   Some budding criminals told New Age they had eagerly been waiting for the return of their bosses. The new band of criminals has, meanwhile, started participating in political programmes of both the BNP and the Awami League.
   The major parties used the services of the 23 criminals on the police’s most-wanted lists during previous elections. The politician-criminal nexus had a significant influence on the results in three previous elections.
   ‘We were regarded with due importance as winning the elections was crucial for the politicians,’ said one of the most-wanted criminals, talking with New Age over telephone.
   Shortly after the launch of the Rapid Action Battalion in 2004, several key figures of the underworld were killed in the ‘crossfire’ of or ‘encounters’ with the battalion, prompting others to get away.
   Subrata Bain, Khandakar Tanveer Islam Joy, Molla Masud, Haris Ahmed Haris, Kamrul Hasan Hannan (younger brother of the arrested most-wanted criminal Liakat Hossain), Prakash, Imam Hossain, Aga Shamim and Jafar Ahmed Manik are staying in rented houses at Dumdum, Broad Street, Sealdah, Beck Bagan and few other areas in Kolkata.
   Listed criminal Pichchi Hannan was killed in the ‘crossfire’ of the battalion and Alauddin died in mob beating. Killer Abbas, Arman Khan, Liakat Hossain Liakat, Rasu, Titon, Kamal Pasha, Freedom Sohel, Moshiur Rahman Kochi and Bikash are now in jail.
   Mukul, accused in the Badda arms haul case and suspected of being involved in the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka, is staying with his boss, Joy, in a luxurious flat on Broad Street.
   Chhanga Babu and Nabir Hossain Nabi of Mohammadpur, Mobile Kader of Mirpur, Laren, Reaz, Ganda Jahangir, Tajgir, Ekhtiar (accused in Detective Branch people murder cases) of Motijheel, Dakat Shahid of Old Town and Rony of Moghbazar are also staying in hotels in Kolkata and in adjoining areas.

The Election Commission seems to be in deep water over alleged irregularities and wrongdoings in giving work orders for printing of updated voters’ roll which has caused delay in the process.
   Sources in the EC and owners of some printers, who did not get work orders, feared that the delivery of the printed copies of the updated voters’ roll may not be possible before the announcement of the election schedule as some officials at EC secretariat gave contracts to some ‘incompetent’ firms through ‘underhand dealings’ instead of giving the contract to efficient firms.
   The secretary to the EC secretariat, Abdur Rashid Sarkar, told reporters that he knew nothing about the reported irregularities in tender process. He however, said that if any ‘mistakes’ were found, the secretariat would take ‘drastic action’.
   According to information available, two officials at the EC secretariat gave the work orders to some inexperienced print shops for kickbacks. The firms do not have adequate infrastructure and even were previously blacklisted by the EC.
   The commission officials who inspected the machinery and facilities of the print shops bidding for the contracts, expressed their surprise after discovering that incompetent firms got the job.
   The officials alleged that ‘two officials’ who issued the work orders did not consider inspection reports and selected their favoured companies.
   EC sources said a senior official of the commission, who supervised the tender procedure for printing of the list of 9.32 crore voters, divided the printing work into 38 packages.
   Sources at the EC secretariat, who had inspected the machinery and facilities of the organisations bidding for the contracts, observed the EC should have issued work orders to more than 70 bidders to get the printed copies of the list on time. They also alleged that the officials concerned, through underhand dealing, reduced the package to only 38 bidders, which would delay the printing work.
   Later, the tender committee selected 38 from the 186 bidders and issued work orders to them. Out of the 38 firms, four did not bid for the packages which they got. No firm bid for the packages No 24. But the tender committee issued the work order to a firm without going for re-tender.
   The inspection report shows 51 companies printed voters’ roll in 2000 and 1995. But, the tender committee did not consider the previous experience. There are also allegations that the EC officials even tampered with or destroyed documents of many experienced printers, attached with their tender bids, to select their favoured companies.
   One firm which had made gross mistakes in printing voters’ roll in 2000, got the job this time too, the inspectors said. The then EC secretary blacklisted him and issued orders not to give any work to the firm in future.
   ‘Now it will be impossible to get the printed copies before the announcement of the polls schedule. If we had given the work order to more bidders and competent companies, it would have been possible to get the printed copies in a much shorter time,’ said an EC official.
   The printers will have to submit the printed copies of the list within 45 days of the issuance of work orders. The work order was issued early this month.
   The EC is likely to announce the polls schedule in the first week of December to hold the ninth parliamentary elections in mid-January.
   According to constitution, the EC is obliged to conduct the polls by January 25 as the parliament was dissolved on October 27.

The Awami League-led alliance on Wednesday asked the caretaker government to sack the chief election commissioner, MA Aziz, by November 11.
   Otherwise, the alliance will launch a countrywide siege programme from November 12, cutting Dhaka off from the rest of the country, the alliance leaders warned from a protest rally held in front of the AL central office in the city’s Bangabandhu Avenue.
   The rally was one of many that the alliance held across the country protesting against what it termed ‘the BNP-Jamaat oppression on its leaders and workers’ during its siege programme on October 28 to 30.
   Speaking at the rally AL presidium member Tofail Ahmed called upon the interim government to take steps to remove MA Aziz and two controversial officials from the Election Commission.
   The alliance, he said, will not take part in the upcoming national elections with Aziz as the CEC.
   The BNP-Jamaat-led alliance government had to bow to the people’s demand and ask their man of choice for the office of the chief adviser to the caretaker government, KM Hasan, to stand aside, Tofail claimed, adding Aziz would meet the same fate.
   The alliance will launch an all-out siege programme, if the CEC does not quit by November 11, he reiterated.
   The AL general secretary and alliance coordinator Abdul Jalil called upon the president-cum-chief adviser to the caretaker government, Iajuddin Ahmed, to take steps that would prove his neutrality.
   Referring to a threat of the immediate past prime minister and BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, to the advisers of the interim government, Jalil said the president must not follow the diktats of the BNP.
   He urged Iajuddin not to stand against the people’s will and to ensure reform of the Election Commission.
   The president so far has failed to prove the neutrality of his caretaker administration, alleged AL presidium member Matia Chowdhury and asked him to act with courage.
   The president of Ganatantri Party, Mohammad Nurul Islam, accused the BNP of still conspiring against the caretaker government, while Gana Forum presidium member Pankaj Bhattachariya alleged the BNP was controlling the interim government from behind the scenes.
   Dhaka city alliance coordinator and city AL general secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya chaired the rally. Samyabadi Dal general secretary Dilip Barua, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Syed Zafar Sajjad, Workers Party of Bangladesh leader Hazera Sultana, Ganatantrik Mojdur Party general secretary Zakir Hossain, and AL leaders Mukul Bose and Mahmudur Rahman Manna, among others also addressed the public meeting.

A delegation of the BNP-led alliance on Wednesday met the Chief Election Commissioner MA Aziz, and hoped that the next election would be held under the latter ‘if all abide by the constitution’.
   ‘If all abide by the constitution, election will be held under the authority of this commission. It is a different matter if anyone wants to amend the constitution using sticks,’ MK Anwar told reporters emerging from the meeting.
   The delegation comprising MK Anwar, vice-chairman of the BNP, Mofazzal Karim, a member of the party’s advisory council and Barrister Abdur Razzak of the Jammat-e-Islami, held the meeting with the CEC at his office for over an hour and discussed preparations for the polls and probable date for announcement of the election schedule.
   ‘We wanted to know about the preparations for holding the polls and the probable date for announcement of the schedule,’ said MK Anwar after the meeting.
   The four-party alliance delegation met the CEC a day after their leader Khaleda Zia at a public rally on Tuesday urged the interim caretaker government not to interfere with the functioning of the Election Commission and called upon the commission to go ahead with the preparations for election.
   MK Anwar said the CEC had informed them that preparations were well afoot for holding the polls due in January. But the date of announcing the schedule has not yet been set, he added.
   Asked about the threat of the Awami League-led alliance that it would boycott the polls under CEC, MA Aziz, Anwar said that nothing could be done if any party stayed out.
   Asked whether the polls would be acceptable if the AL did not join, he said ‘what matters is to see if the elections are held as per the constitution.’
   At noon, the visiting two-member Commonwealth delegation met the CEC and discussed about the preparations for the next general election and facilities to be given to foreign observers.
   ‘We have discussed what would be the facilities in terms of the foreign observers’ accreditation, their movement… would there be any restrictions or prohibition on materials,’ said the head of the team, Syed Sharfuddin.
   He told reporters that they were assured that the EC would provide all sorts of cooperation that the commission had extended previously for the international observers to monitor elections in Bangladesh.
   Asked whether the Commonwealth Secretariat would send any pre-election observer team, and how many observers might come to Bangladesh during the election, Sharfuddin said they would first report the outcome of their current fact-finding mission and then the secretariat would decide on it.
   In the morning, a five-member delegation of the Bangladesh Democratic Hindu Party met Aziz and requested him to ensure security of the minority communities before and after the election.

The third round of bidding for allocation of offshore blocks for hydrocarbon exploration is not likely to take place in the three-month tenure of the Caretaker Government.
   A meeting of the Energy Division was told on Wednesday that the necessary file-work for inviting the bids might not be completed in the tenure of the Caretaker Government, said sources in the division.
   Energy adviser to the Caretaker Government, Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, who chaired the meeting, however, directed the Energy Division’s officials to expedite file-work so that the bidding could be held in the tenure of the interim government, if possible.
   Officials of the division told the adviser that the bidding documents and model production-sharing contracts (PSC) that would be signed with the selected international oil and gas companies were waiting to be vetted by the law ministry.
   Sources in the division said that it was uncertain when the law ministry would vet the documents as it had already asked for clarification of several points, especially on the changes in the PSC, after they were sent to the ministry two months back.
   ‘We have already replied to the queries made about the PSC, which has been modified for the third round of bidding by making changes in the financial incentives that Petrobangla and the international oil and gas companies will get,’ said a source.
   ‘As it is a complex matter, there is every chance that the law ministry might again seek clarification of different issues, which will further delay the process.’
   Even if bids are invited, the Caretaker Government will not be in office when bids will be submitted and evaluated, as at least six to 12 months are needed to complete such work after receiving the bids.
   Petrobangla prepared the model PSC after bringing about some changes in the existing PSC which was signed with different oil and gas companies working in Bangladesh.
   It also divided sea areas into 26 new blocks for the third round of bidding.
   The immediate past government late last year took the initiative to hold the bidding before the end of its tenure in October, but failed to do so because of shortage of time.
   The first round of bidding for block allocation was held in 1993-94 in 23 onshore and offshore blocks and the second round of bidding was held in 1997-1998.
   The energy adviser, meanwhile, prioritised some works on Wednesday meeting that included expediting the beginning of production of gas at the Bibiyana gas-field and installation of a compressor at Bakhrabad gas systems by November.
   Mashhud also directed the authorities to ensure proper gas supply to Chittagong, which has been suffering gas shortage for months, to ensure production in fertiliser factories ahead of the Boro season.
   Energy officials assured the adviser that the gas problem in Chittagong would be solved after installation of the compressor and start of production at Bibiyana gas-field.
   Energy secretary AMM Nasir Uddin, Petrobangla chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and other high officials of Petrobangla and its subsidiaries were present at the meeting, along with others.

President George W Bush on Wednesday was to address his Republican party’s resounding election defeat after US voters handed the Democrats the House of Representatives amid deep anger at corruption and the war in Iraq.
   After the setback to his Republican party, Bush planned to hold a press conference at 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) as his newly emboldened critics vowed to ask fresh questions about the unpopular conflict and challenge some of his signature economic policies.
   The challenges could come fast. Rahm Emanuel, the architect of the Democratic victory, said early Wednesday that they will push Bush immediately for a new approach on Iraq, including demanding the replacement of defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
   ‘We think Iraq is the single greatest national security challenge in over two generations. We know this can’t be solved by trying to politicize this,’ Emanuel told NBC television, adding that the Democrats were backed by many Republicans in wanting Rumsfeld out.
   Bush spokesman Tony Snow, just days after charging that Democratic policies would invite terrorist attacks on the United States, seemed conciliatory in a statement late Tuesday urging cooperation on key challenges.
   ‘We believe Democrats will have control of the House, and look forward to working with Democratic leaders on the issues that remain foremost on the agenda, including winning the war in Iraq and the broader war on terror and keeping the economy on a growth path,’ Snow said.
   Bush, who on Monday branded Democrats tax-raisers who lacked a plan to win in Iraq or defeat terrorists, was also expected to dump the harsh language of the campaign and reach out to Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to become the powerful speaker of the House of Representatives.
   The Democratic surge will shape Bush’s last two years in office as well as the battle to replace him in November 2008 elections, and was expected to heap pressure on him to change course in Iraq.
   A Democratic House could alter tax and spending legislation and trade agreements, conduct investigations into issues like the flawed case for war in Iraq and call Bush aides to testify at public hearings.
   The White House did not seem disposed to concessions on Iraq. Vice president Dick Cheney said Sunday that ‘it doesn’t matter’ that the war is unpopular ‘in the sense that we have to continue the mission and do what we think is right.’
   But Democrats pointed hopefully to a coming report from a blue-ribbon panel, headed by former US secretary of state Jim Baker and former Democratic representative Lee Hamilton, laying out suggestions on how to pursue the war.
   Recovering from a final campaign push that took him to 10 states over five days, Bush voted at the firehouse in his tiny adopted hometown of Crawford, Texas, Tuesday, and then flew back to Washington to await the judgment of US voters.
   It came through both barrels: exit polls by six US media organizations found US voters citing anger at Washington corruption their top reason for casting a ballot, while many cited their disapproval of the Iraq war and Bush himself.
   Forty-one percent of respondents called ethics scandals extremely important to their vote while 37 percent cited Iraq as critical, according to CNN television.
   CBS television found that 57 percent of respondents disapproved of the war, while 41 approved, and that more voters said they were casting ballots against Bush than to show support for him, by a 37-25 percent margin.
   That helped Democrats pick up far more than the 15 seats they needed to capture the 435-seat House.
   But it was still unclear early Wednesday whether the bitter battle for the upper house would be decided by the time Bush speaks.
   The Democrats picked up four of the six seats they needed, and two more races remained excruciatingly close with results possibly delayed by recounts.
   Republicans struggled during the campaign with revelations of lewd communications between one of their House members and teenaged boys, as well as a mushrooming influence-peddling scandal tied to convicted super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
   Democrats were not immune, with one of their House members in trouble after police reportedly found 90,000 dollars in cash in the freezer as part of a bribery investigation against him.

Victorious Democrats, basking in the glow of their sweeping victory in midterm elections, wasted no time in calling on US president George W Bush to change course on Iraq.
   ‘Nowhere did the American people make it more clear that we need a new direction than in the war in Iraq,’ said Democratic representative Nancy Pelosi, set to become the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives.
   ‘Staying the course has not made our country safer, has not honored our commitment to our troops and has not made the region more stable,’ she told supporters at a rally celebrating the Democratic takeover of the House after 12 years of Republican control.
   ‘We cannot continue down this catastrophic path. And so, we say to the president, ‘M President, we need a new direction in Iraq,”’ the California congresswoman said.
   ‘Let us work together to find a solution to the war in Iraq,’ she added in an appeal to bipartisanship with members of Bush’s Republican party.
   Democratic senator Harry Reid, likely to become Senate majority leader if the Democrats manage to win the upper chamber, also urged the president to reassess Iraq, where more than 2,800 US soldiers have died since US troops ousted Saddam Hussein in March 2003.
   ‘President Bush must listen. We must change course in Iraq,’ Reid said. ‘America’s come to the conclusion, as we did months ago, that we must change direction in Iraq.
   ‘Our brave, fighting men and women, we support 100 percent,’ the Nevada senator said.
   ‘But they, as indicated by the Air Force Times, by the Navy Times, by the Army Times yesterday, are calling for change,’ he said in a reference to editorials in the newspapers demanding the resignation of defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
   Representative Rahm Emanuel, an architect of the Democratic victory in the House, said the congressional vote was ‘an unmistakable message of change and new direction for America’.
   ‘Americans have recognized and finally acknowledged that what we’re doing in Iraq isn’t working and we desperately need to change course,’ he said.
   Like Pelosi, Emanuel also pledged to try to set aside party differences. ‘Tonight, we extend the hand of a cooperation to the president, our colleagues across the aisle,’ he said.
   But Emanuel later also insisted that there was bipartisan support for replacing Rumsfeld.
   Democratic party leader Howard Dean said the Democratic election victory was ‘a mandate to do something different in Iraq’.
   Although they seized control of the House, analysts said Democrats will have little room to maneuver on Iraq as there are no ‘good options’ and the war’s management rests in the hands of the executive branch.
   Democrats also appear almost as divided on the war as Republicans.
   Some party leaders want a quick withdrawal, some want a timetable to get troops home and others advocate splitting Iraq into autonomous units.
   The Washington Post noted Wednesday that Democratic leaders have indicated they will not cut off financing for the war.
   ‘In many ways, their greatest power will be their ability to investigate, hold hearings and provide the oversight that they asserted was so lacking in recent years,’ the daily said.
   During the campaign, Bush repeatedly accused Democrats of having no plan to win the war.

Nepal’s governing parties and Maoist rebels clinched a historic peace deal Wednesday that will see the movement join an interim administration and end their bloody 10-year insurgency.
   Negotiators said a new interim government would be formed by December 1 and that both the army and the rebels would give up some weapons.
   A new constitution will be drafted and the role enjoyed by the monarchy–one of the biggest sticking-points of the six-month peace process in the impoverished Himalayan nation–will be reviewed.
   Nepal’s elderly prime minister on Wednesday hailed a peace deal with Maoist rebels as a ‘victory for all Nepalese’, but issued a veiled warning to the country’s increasingly isolated monarch.
   ‘I have taken yesterday’s deal with the Maoists as a historic agreement and the foundation stone for the establishment of a new revolutionary Nepal,’ the prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, told reporters and members of his Nepali Congress Party.
   India hailed the historic peace deal as a ‘victory for the people’ and described it as ‘a significant step’ in its progress towards democracy.
   ‘The decisions taken by the leadership of the Seven Party Alliance led by Koirala and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) ... are a victory for the people of Nepal,’ the foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said.
   The breakthrough ‘has opened the doors to build a new Nepal,’ a government negotiator, Ram Chandra Poudel, told reporters after marathon 16-hour talks ended in the early hours of the morning.
   Rebel spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara called the deal ‘one of the biggest breakthroughs in the history of Nepali politics.’
   The civil war between the Maoists and central government has claimed at least 12,500 lives since 1996.

The Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday reportedly put in a lot of effort in preparing an in-depth report on the price situation and recommended remedial measures to arrest the price-hike of essentials after getting such a directive from the adviser in charge of the ministry, Akbar Ali Khan.
   Apparently disturbed by newspaper reports, Akbar wanted to know the prices of essential commodities in the markets of different parts of the country, and asked the officials to point out reasons behind the price-hike and recommend possible measures that could address the situation, said sources.
   Successive commerce ministers declined to shoulder the commerce ministry’s ‘sole responsibility’ to oversee and control the prices of essential commodities, and some of them eventually lost their jobs because of the price spiral.
   The commerce ministry has time and again blamed other ministries such as finance, home affairs, agriculture, fisheries and livestock, industries, communications and shipping for not playing their due roles in keeping the market prices stable.
   After Akbar asked the commerce ministry’s officials to send an updated report to him, some relevant papers were submitted to the finance ministry, also under the adviser, in the afternoon, the sources added.
   The commerce ministry is expected to suggest increasing exports of a number of items and funnelling funds to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh to enable it to effectively intervene in markets in times of emergency.
   The commerce ministry’s officials were found busy in the room of the additional secretary, Elias Khan, preparing the report through brain-storming sessions and taking print-outs of various documents.
   None them was in a position to talk to journalists till the last moment of office hours.
   Market watchers said that supply shortage caused by increased costs of import has pushed up the retail prices of flour and edible oil significantly in the last couple of weeks.
   Coarse flour was selling on Wednesday for Tk 26 to Tk 27 per kilogram against its previous price of Tk 21 to Tk 22.
   With an increase of price up to Tk 8, bottled soybean oil was selling on the day for Tk 60 to Tk 65 per litre, while non-packed soybean was selling for Tk 60 to Tk 62 per kilogram.

Legendary soccer star Zinedine Zidane is keen to come back to Bangladesh with some international teams, including that of the United Nations, to extend cooperation in the development programmes of Bangladesh.
   Zidane expressed the keenness when he made a courtesy call on the president and chief adviser of the caretaker government, Iajuddin Ahmed, at Bangabhaban on Wednesday.
   The youth and sports ministry adviser, CM Shafi Sami, Nobel peace prize winner and chairman of Grameen Bank Prof Muhammad Yunus, and chairman of the Danone Group were present.
   During the meeting, the president informed Zidane about the progress made by Bangladesh in the education sector.
   He invited the football superstar as an observer during the next general elections, saying ‘now there is only one job before us: to make the upcoming general elections fair and neutral.’
   The president thanked Zidane for his visit to Bangladesh and hoped that it would help raise the standard of football in the country.
   He also suggested the Danone Group chairman to invest in supplying pure drinking water in Bangladesh.
   Zidane expressed his gratitude to the president for giving him the opportunity of the courtesy call.
   ‘I’m overwhelmed with the warm hospitality given by the people of Bangladesh and I’ll come here again if I get the opportunity,’ he said.

The finance adviser to the caretaker government, Akbar Ali Khan, on Wednesday denied having any ‘gap or differences’ between the chief adviser, Iajuddin Ahmed, and other members of the advisory council.
   ‘We [the advisers] are talking and there is scope for more talks with him [the president and chief adviser],’ Akbar told journalists at the finance ministry, when his attention was drawn to criticisms made by the immediate past prime minister, Khaleda Zia, against the role of advisers.
   The finance adviser, without naming and blaming anyone, said the advisers had been acting as per the constitution, in the light of the constitution.
   ‘We will certainly do whatever the constitution permits us to do and will not do anything which is not permitted by the law of the land,’ Akbar, also a former cabinet secretary, said, expressing determination to carry forward their constitutional responsibilities for holding the general elections.
   Asked about separate meeting held by the advisers minus the chief adviser and president, Akbar regretted that loss of mutual trust among the citizens had caused a ‘huge blow’ to the Bangladesh society today. ‘We, too, are the citizens of Bangladesh. Will we not be able to invite or join a tea party?’
   Referring to the existing political culture of making quick reactions to anything, Akbar, who served the World Bank after retirement from civil service, said many people love to react immediately without knowing the ‘full text’ of any information. ‘We all should keep patience before making any comment,’ he said.
   Another adviser said to New Age, ‘It is a of great regret that we in Bangladesh are neither Bengalees nor Bangladeshis. We have either BNP people or Awami League people in a highly divisive society.’

The president and chief adviser to the caretaker government, Iajuddin Ahmed, on Wednesday called upon members of the armed forces to extend all-out cooperation to the interim administration and the Election Commission, upholding their professional efficiency, sincerity and impartiality.
   ‘Impartial role of the armed forces as part of the law-enforcement forces is crucial in national elections,’ he said. ‘Your sincere, efficient and impartial role in the past in assisting the Election Commission to hold a successful, free and fair election has been able to earn confidence of the people and various international organizations,’ Iajuddin said expressing his firm belief that the armed forces will play similar role this time also rising above all controversies.
   He was addressing senior members of the three services at Senkunja in the Dhaka cantonment Wednesday morning. Officers at the rank of lieutenant colonels and above of different units of Dhaka, Mirpur, Rajendrapur, Gazipur and Postagola were present.
   The army chief, Lieutenant General Moeen U Ahmed, the air force chief, Air Vice-Marshal Fakhrul Azam, and the navy chief, Rear Admiral Mohammad Hasan Ali Khan, were present on the dais.
   On his arrival at Senakunja, the president was received by three chiefs and other senior officials of the armed forces.
   The president, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces, said it was necessary to keep the armed forces on alert for some time to rein in indiscipline just before the handover of power by the past regime following the end of the eighth parliament.
   Iajuddin appreciated the role of the armed forces for upholding its image, patience and tolerance in maintaining peace during the transitional period.
   He also reminded that it was the constitutional responsibility of the caretaker administration to assist the Election Commission to hold a peaceful, fair and impartial election in the stipulated timeframe.
   ‘The ensuing parliamentary election is vital for maintaining constitutional continuity, flourishing democracy, and ensuring development of the country and welfare of the people,’ he said. ‘I firmly believe that with concerted efforts of all concerned, we will be able to present the nation a fair, impartial and acceptable election,’ he said.
   ‘The present non-party caretaker government is pledge-bound to perform its constitutional responsibility properly,’ he asserted. He recalled that the patriotic armed forces had enough efficiency and zeal to assist in the election process.
   Lauding the role of the armed forces in different national crisis and curbing terrorism, he said they have to remain ever ready to respond to the need of the people and the country.
   Iajuddin hoped that the armed forces, as a disciplined and unique organisation, will continue to play a bold role as they did in the past to maintain law and order and a congenial atmosphere for peace in society and continuity of the development and economic activities.
   From Senakunja, the president drove to the headquarters of the Armed Forces Division where he met the chiefs of the three services.

Democrat Keith Ellison on Tuesday became the first Muslim to win a seat in the US Congress despite a bitter campaign marked by sharp personal attacks.
   ‘Tonight, we made history,’ Ellison said in a victory speech to supporters. ‘We won a key election, but we did much more than that. We showed that a candidate can run a 100 per cent positive campaign and prevail, even against tough opposition.’
   Ellison won a strong majority but amid controversy over his past links to a radical Muslim group, his support was well down on the 70 per cent won by his Democratic predecessor who retired from the House of Representatives.
   Republican rival Alan Fine fought a relentless campaign attacking Ellison’s past association with the controversial Nation of Islam group, seeking to use it as a sign of anti-Semitism.
   Ellison also attracted controversy over unpaid parking tickets, campaign violations and his family life.
   On the campaign trail Ellison, an attorney and two-term state legislator, downplayed his religion and blamed the media for keeping it in the news.
   ‘I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility,’ Ellison said. ‘I feel like I’ve got a lot of work to do. I feel like I’ve got to pull people together and keep them together. We’re having fun tonight, but tomorrow, it’s on.’
   Ellison, who said he converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam in college, insists his involvement with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was limited to helping organise a 1995 march by black men in Washington.
   He was supported by the National Jewish Democratic Council as well as a prominent Minneapolis Jewish newspaper, which endorsed him over Fine, who is Jewish.
   The Reverend Jesse Jackson, a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, also campaigned for Ellison, who ran on a populist platform.
   He has called for an immediate pullout of US troops from Iraq, greater reliance on renewable fuels, and for a universal, government-paid health care system.
   Speaking of the controversy about his background, Ellison said: ‘We showed that we are stronger when we build bridges between communities rather than trying to divide and conquer.’
   He added: ‘We are working for an America where everybody counts, where everybody matters, and where peace is our guiding principle. We’ll do it together.’
   Ellison’s candidacy has drawn international attention.
   His election has ‘huge symbolism’, said Larry Jacobs, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota.

The Caretaker Government on Wednesday, in a bid to reshuffle the administration again, has transferred five secretary-level officials, six additional secretaries and 37 joint secretaries.
   The establishment ministry has issued separate gazette notifications to this effect.
   AKM Shamsuddin, secretary to the women and children affairs ministry, has been transferred to the primary and mass education ministry as secretary; Abdul Haque, secretary in charge of primary and mass education, has been shifted to the women and children affairs ministry as acting secretary; Azizul Islam, member of the Privatisation Commission, has been made a member of Planning Commis-sion; and Ataur Rahman, director-general of BCS Administration Academy, has been sent to the Privatisation Commission as member. Bhupendra Chandra Dev-nath, acting member of Planning Commission, has been transferred to the BCS Administration Academy as director-general (DG).
   Sheikh Altaf Ali, registrar of the Cooperatives Directorate, has been transferred to the information ministry as additional secretary, replacing Major M Masud who has been made DG of NIPORT.
   Shafiqul Islam, an additional secretary on special duty at the establishment ministry, has been transferred to the Planning an Development Academy as DG; ASM Rashidul Hye, DG of the Fisheries Development Corpor-ation, has been transferred to BCIC as chairman; Habibullah Majumder, member of the Land Reform Board, has been sent to the Rural Electrification Board as chairman; and Dr M Gholam Mostafa Talukder, DG of the Planning and Development Academy, has been made chairman of BADC.
   Mahfuzul Haque, joint secretary of the education ministry, who was under a transfer order as commissioner of Chittagong Division, has been transferred to Khulna Division in the same position, and Mokhlesur Rahman, joint secretary of the Economic Relations Division, who was under a transfer order as commissioner of Khulna Division, has been sent to Chittagong as commissioner.
   Mushfiqur Rahman, joint secretary of the civil aviation and tourism ministry, has been transferred to ERD as joint secretary; Nurunnabi Talukdar, an OSD, has been shifted to the home affairs ministry; Akhter Ahmed of the home affairs ministry has been sent to the housing and public works ministry as joint secretary; Nazrul Islam Khan, an OSD, has been transferred to the education ministry as joint secretary; and MA Akmal Hossain Azad, an OSD, has been posted to the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division as joint secretary.
   Mohammad Iqbal, an OSD, has been sent to the housing and public works ministry as joint secretary; Ibadat Ali, member of the Administrative Appellate Tribunal, to the defence ministry as joint secretary; Shamsul Alam Khan of the housing and public works ministry to the science and information and communication technology ministry as joint secretary; Mesba Ul Alam of the science and ICT ministry to the civil aviation and tourism ministry as joint secretary; and Humayun Khaled of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation has been transferred to the education ministry as joint secretary.
   Twenty-five joint secretaries were transferred on deputation by another gazette notification.
   AKM Jahangir of the Finance Division, has been transferred to the Relief and Rehabilitation Directorate as DG; Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam, an OSD, to the Jute Department as DG; and Fakhrul Islam, an OSD, has been deputed as director of the Bangladesh Tourism Corporation.
   M Abdul Bari, divisional commissioner of Dhaka, has been made executive director of the National Nutrition Programme while Ahmed Hossain Khan, an OSD, has been transferred to Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner’s office in Cox’s Bazar as commissioner.
   Mezbah Uddin, an OSD, has been made registrar of the Patent, Design and Trademarks Department, while Muhammad Nazrul Islam, DG of the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development in Comilla, has been transferred to the Youth Development Department as DG.
   Quamrul Islam, project director of the Palli Progati Project, has been made DG of BARD in Comilla, and Mridula Bhattacha-rjee, an OSD, has been made DG of the Press Institute of Bangladesh.
   Ranjit Kumar Chakrabarty and Ayesha Begum, both OSDs, have been deputed as directors at the BIWTC. Ahmed Hossain, an OSD, has been deputed as member of the Administrative Appeal Tribunal, while Mobasshera Begum, another OSD, has been sent to the Privatisation Commission as director.
   Shamsul Huda, an OSD, has been made director of the Privatisation Commission, and Rafiqul Islam, former deputy commissioner of Patuakhali district, has been sent to the Bangladesh Tariff Commission as member.
   M Abdul Quddus, an OSD, has been made member of BCSIR; Sunil Kanti Bose, member of BIWTA, has been made chairman of BIWTA; Moinul Huq, ex-DC of Kushtia, has been made member of BIWTA; MM Iftekhar-e-Alam, DG of the Jute Department, has been made chairman of BRTC; and Abidur Rahman, an OSD, has been deputed as registrar at the Cooperatives Department.
   Sharif Tayebur Rahman, an OSD, has been deputed as member at the Land Reform Board; Qamrul Hasan of the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division, has been made DG of
   Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy; Shah M Monsurul Huq, an OSD, is now member of Bangladesh Land Port Authority; Enamul Huq of SPARSO has been appointed project director of Palli Pragaoti Prakalpo; and Monwara Begum, an OSD, has been deputed to the Bangladesh Tourism Corporation as director.

Two lawyers of the Supreme Court have been appointed state defence counsels to move six jail petitions filed by six condemned kingpins of the banned Islamist organisation Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh seeking permission to appeal against the High Court verdict that approved their death sentences.
   The solicitor’s office of the law ministry on November 6 appointed Khalilur Rahman Bhuiyan and Md Salahuddin as state defence counsels to move the petitions in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
   The notices of the appointments were served on the counsels on Wednesday.
   They moved the case for the condemned militants as state defence counsels before the High Court as well.
   Salahuddin did not receive the appointment letter, as no advocate-on-record was appointed till Wednesday afternoon.
   According to the appointment letters, Bhuiyan will conduct the jail petitions of JMB supremo Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his second-in-command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, his brother and military operations commander Ataur Rahman Sunny.
   Salahuddin will move the petitions for Abdur Rahman’s son-in-law Abdul Awal and bombers Iftekher Hassan Al Mamun and Khaled Saifullah. The Supreme Court on Sunday adjourned for a week the hearing in the petitions and ordered the attorney general to take proper steps for appointing a state defence lawyer to defend the condemned militants.
   In the jail petitions, the condemned militants rejected the existing judicial system under the constitution terming it manmade, and urged the Supreme Court to try them by constituting a court guided by Islamic laws.
   The High Court on August 31 approved the death sentences of seven militant kingpins awarded by a Jhalakati court on May 29 for killing two assistant judges in a bomb attack on November 14, 2005.
   Another condemned militant Asadur Rahman had been absconding since the killing of the judges.

The caretaker government dramatically stepped in on Wednesday to suspend the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s tender process of selling marketing rights.
   The BCB was expected today to choose from between two rival bids by Nimbus Communications Limited and Zee Telefilms Limited for a six-year marketing deal.
   ‘We have received a faxed message from the sports ministry and immediately suspended the tender process,’ BCB president Ali Asghar confirmed to New Age.
   ‘I have asked our general secretary to meet the sports adviser, CM Shafi Sami, and explain our position. After the meeting we will take our next step,’ said Asghar.
   Sources said that the caretaker government mainly responded to the call of the Combined Sports Family, a group of sports organisers mainly backed by the 14-party alliance, who demanded no agreement be signed before the next government is elected to power.
   Earlier, on Wednesday the Board had received two bids from Singapore-based Nimbus and Indian firm Zee Telefilms.
   A total of six companies had brought the schedules from the BCB after it issued an international tender last month but only officials of the two companies turned up before the stipulated 10:00-12:00pm submission deadline expired.
   The four companies that pulled out are ESPN-Star Sports, World Sports Group, Bukhater Investment Limited and Equister-USA.
   The BCB was expecting to earn around $40 million by selling the rights up to March 2012, though the officials hinted that the stake could be much higher with two bitter rivals Nimbus and Zee making the bids.
   Nimbus defeated Zee in earning the Indian television rights for four years in February by agreeing to pay $612 million, which was $82 million higher than then what Zee offered to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
   The bids of Nimbus and Zee also had relieved BCB officials as they were at loggerheads with ESPN-Star Sports over some conditions of the previous deal. ESPN had paid the BCB only $11.75 million for the previous contact, which included a provision ensuring a privilege for the company in the coming deal.
   To sidestep ESPN, the BCB issued a tender to sell the marketing rights instead of making a tender for television rights in particular. Anyone who will now be interested to buy the television rights will have to go to the holder of marketing rights.

A suicide bomber killed at least 42 soldiers at an army base in northwest Pakistan Wednesday, in what appears to be a revenge attack for a missile strike against an al-Qaeda training camp, officials said.
   Witnesses said the huge explosion at Dargai in North West Frontier Province sowed panic, and left body parts and shredded clothing scattered across a parade ground where trainee soldiers had gathered for morning assembly.
   ‘Forty-two recruits died in the attack and others are hospitalised, some are in critical condition,’ military spokesman major general Shaukat Sultan said.
   The spokesman condemned the bombing, the deadliest since the Pakistan army was deployed in the tribal region about five years ago to hunt down al-Qaeda militants.
   He described it a terrorist attack and warned the death toll could rise. Other security officials said 20 people were wounded.

Existing tax regulations bar the caretaker government from publishing the lists of people who whitened untaxed money during the regime of the past government and also those who evaded tax, the caretaker adviser on finance, commerce and telecommunication ministries said on Wednesday.
   ‘It is not possible (for us) to publish the names of those who whitened their black money during 2005-2006 as the present tax regulation restricts disclosing their names,’ said Akbar Ali Khan, emerging from a meeting with senior revenue officials.
   ‘Same is the case for tax defaulters,’ he said.
   Citizens’ rights groups have been demanding publication of the names of black money possessors, bank loan defaulters and large-scale tax dodgers, and campaigning for barring them from contesting national elections.
   The bureaucrat-turned-adviser expressed his utter dissatisfaction over the dismal picture of revenue earnings and asked the National Board of Revenue officials to stop releasing goods imported by different ministries, including the defence procurements, on the basis of deferred payment system.
   ‘The system of deferred payment would no longer exist,’ asserted Akbar, hoping that the measure would help generate more revenue earnings.
   Petroleum products imported by the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation will remain outside the purview of the latest decision, he elaborated.
   NBR high-ups told the adviser that they would soon swoop on different government, autonomous and private institutions, which are yet to deposit with NBR the amount they had already collected as tax at source.
   According to the latest information, the revenue earnings saw only nine percent growth between July and October over the year-ago period.
   Revenue earnings during the period of the present fiscal year totaled Tk 10,195.25 crore, NBR sources said.
   Akbar apprehended that revenue earnings shortfall could be between Tk 4,500 crore and Tk 5,000 crore than the target of Tk 41,055 crore set for the current fiscal year, given the current trend of earnings growth.
   Expressing his frustration, the finance advisor said the situation of dismal revenue earnings and soaring prices of a number of essential items could aggravate further if current political situation does not improve.
   ‘Political instability shows little chance to end in coming days despite our all-out efforts to get rid of the mire,’ a frustrated Akbar told the newsmen.
   He promised to continue fine-tuning of the present economic structure so that a balanced economic footing is left for the next government.
   The adviser at the meeting assured the revenue officials of allocating adequate funds to purchase required number of computers to accelerate the revenue activities.

Hamas’ military wing called Wednesday on Muslims around the world to attack American targets following reports that an Israeli tank strike killed 18 people in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.
   The Hamas-led Palestinian government distanced itself from the call, saying its fight was with Israel.
   Hamas militants have historically directed their suicide bombings and rocket attacks only against Israeli targets.
   ‘America is offering political, financial and logistic cover for the Zionist occupation crimes, and it is responsible for the Beit Hanoun massacre. Therefore, the people and the nation all over the globe are required to teach the American enemy tough lessons,’ Hamas’ military wing said in a statement sent to the agency.
   But Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian government, said the group had no intention of attacking American targets.
   Hamas’ political wing, led by the prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, tries to distinguish itself from the military wing. But the two entities both report to the group’s exiled leadership, based in Syria, and frequently coordinate with each other.
   Haniyeh said efforts to form a national unity government with moderate president Mahmoud Abbas were suspended because of the attack. Israeli defence minister Amir Peretz ordered the army to halt artillery attacks in Gaza.
   But an Israeli government spokesman said Israel will continue its operations in Gaza aimed at halting Palestinian rocket attacks.

A court on Wednesday issued warrants for arrest of five ex-army personnel for failing to appear in court to make their depositions in a case filed against former military dictator, HM Ershad and his four associates.
   The retired army personnel were named witnesses in Maj Gen MA Manzur murder case.
   Additional district and sessions judge, Amirul Islam, also ordered the police to produce the witnesses before the special court near Dhaka Central Jail on January 31, 2007. The date has been scheduled for the next hearing after public prosecutor appealed seeking time.
   Three people—HM Ershad, Kazi Emdadul Haq and Mostafa Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan—from among five defendants, who were charged in 1995 with the murder, appeared before the court on the day.
   The rest two—Abdul Latif and Shamsuzzaman Shams—are also accused in the case, but the High court stayed charge framing against them for the murder.
   According to prosecution, Manzur was shot dead at Chittagong Cantonment where he was taken by the then police superintendent from the custody of police in Panchlaish. He was picked up by Major Kazi Emdadul Haque on June 1, 1981.
   The victim’s younger brother, Abul Mansur, lodged a complaint with Panchlaish police on February 28, 1995. ‘Some distraught people shot his
   brother in the head from a point blank range and killed him in cold blood,’ Mansur said in his complaint. A total of 48 people were named as witnesses in the case.
   The witnesses against whom warrants of arrest have been issued, are— former air force chief, Sadar Uddin, three colonels, Mohammad Kamal, AZ Tofail Ahmad, Ferdous Hasan Khan, and Naik Nurul Islam.
   Earlier on October 3, the court recorded statements of one witness and summoned the five witnesses, but they did not appear. A total of eleven witnesses have so far given depositions in the case.

A visa-on-arrival deal aimed at attracting tourists to Malaysia had allowed thousands of foreigners to overstay in the country, reports said Wednesday.
   Under a move introduced on September 1, Malaysia has allowed tourists from 24 countries to apply for a visa upon arrival, for a fee of 100 ringgit (27.56 dollars), as part of a campaign to promote 2007 as ‘Visit Malaysia Year’.
   But the home affairs minister, Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, said all of the nearly 3,000 applicants had overstayed their onemonth visa, and immigration authorities were having difficulties tracking them down, the Star daily newspaper reported.
   ‘We have been generous to them by charging 100 ringgit and giving them one month to visit the country, but they have taken advantage of our kindness and refused to go home,’ Radzi was quoted as saying.
   ‘How (can we) trace them easily–they look like Malays, Indians and Chinese of this country,’ he said, referring to Malaysia’s main racial groups.
   Some two-thirds of the overstayers were from India, while most of the rest were from China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the state Bernama news agency reported.
   Overstayers in smaller numbers were from countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal, Congo and Nigeria, it said.
   The minister said the visa programme would continue, but also be reviewed.
   Malaysia is one of the largest importers of foreign labour in Asia. Foreign workers, both legal and illegal, accounted for about 2.6 million of its 10.5 million workforce, officials have said.

The Bangladesh Non-government Primary Schoolteachers’ Association on Wednesday announced to go on a hunger strike from November 27 if the government did not cancel a circular issued in late 2004 stipulating retrenchment of about 25,000 primary schoolteachers.
   ‘According to the circular issued by the primary and mass education ministry in late 2004, some 25,000 teachers appointed before 1992 at the non-government primary schools across the country will lose their jobs if they fail to meet the qualification required by the ministry by November 18 this year,’ the association president, M Shamsul Alam, told a press conference in the city.
   He said they would go on a hunger strike in the city’s Muktangon from November 27, if the government did not revoke the circular by November 15.
   ‘If the government implements the decision, some 25,000 teachers and their families will be thrown into a subhuman life,’ Shamsul Alam said.
   Some 100,000 teachers are employed at about 20,000 non-government primary schools across the country.

The US ambassador, Patricia A Butenis, on Wednesday, again urged the political parties for restraint to pave the way for holding free, fair and non-violent general elections.
   The US envoy made the call during an unscheduled meeting with the Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, at the latter’s Shudha Sadan residence.
   ‘… it’s crucial for next elections to be non-violent. The United States stands for free, fair and non-violent general elections,’ Butenis told reporters after more than an hour-long meeting.
   Butenis, who is engaged in shuttle diplomacy between the parties, Election Commission and caretaker administration, appreciated Hasina’s stance on caretaker government.
   She called upon all parties to exercise restraint and extend cooperation to the caretaker government without creating any pressure to hold the elections with the participation of all political parties.
   The US envoy held the meeting three days ahead of the AL-led combine’s latest November 12 deadline for the caretaker government to implement their 11-point demand that includes removal of the chief election commissioner and ensuring neutrality of the caretaker government.
   Briefing newsmen, AL presidium member Kazi Zafarullah said the meeting focused on latest political development and the functioning of the interim caretaker administration.
   ‘We want to see the caretaker government functioning neutrally, but we’ve not yet noticed that,’ he said, adding: ‘If we see the sincerity of the caretaker government through its activities, we may consider our agitation programme.’
   Asked if the issue of the Election Commission came up for discussion, Zafarullah said they had stated their position about the Election Commission.

The European Union on Wednesday requested the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, to explore ‘options carefully’ for putting an end to the stalemate over recasting the Election Commission.
   The visiting three-member EU delegation discussed with her ways and means for making the January, 2007 general elections free and fair.
   The EU will send a strong observation mission here to monitor the polls according to the UN standards, the delegation informed the BNP leader.
   Asked about the ongoing impasse over reconstitution of the Election Commission, Frank Meyke, the ambassador of Germany which holds the current presidency of the EU, told reporters: ‘We have urged both the leaders [Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina] to look into the options carefully.’
   ‘We have sought maximum support from the BNP chairperson so that the elections can be held in a free and fair way,’ he said after meeting Khaleda at her Banani office on Wednesday evening.
   ‘The European Union will send long and short-term observation missions here to monitor the elections maintaining the UN standards,’ the ambassador of the European Commission, Stefan Forwein, told reporters.
   ‘The union will take necessary measures so that observation can be done in a well monitored way,’ he said.
   Expressing concern over the political violence, Frank Meyke said they had urged political parties to avoid violence and to expedite their endeavours for making the elections credible.
   Fritz Meijndert, the Charge D’ Affaires of the Netherlands, the BNP secretary general, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, and the party chairperson’s adviser, M Morshed Khan, were present at the hour-long meeting.
   Briefing reporters, Morshed Khan said the BNP chairperson had assured the ‘EU troika’ that her party would take all necessary measures to maintain peace and play due role to make the polls free and fair.
   ‘We shall not leave any stone unturned,’ Khan, also former foreign minister, said.
   ‘The envoys told us that the EU would sent a 130-member observation mission,’ he said. ‘But we have suggested that more observers should be sent…We want observers in every constituency.’
   The EU troika met the Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday and made similar requests.

The High Court on Wednesday de-listed from hearing a contempt-of-court case against the CEC, Justice MA Aziz, and three others including election commissioners Justice Mahfuzur Rahman and SM Zakaria, for non-compliance with the HC directive for updating the electoral roll.
   The Awami League general secretary, MA Jalil, filed the case, along with a writ petition challenging the validity of the election secretariat under the Prime Minister Office, in January.
   According to daily cause list, the contempt case coupled with the writ petition came up for fixing the date of hearing in the court’s order of the day.
   When the matter came up before a division bench comprising Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, Barrister M Amir-Ul Islam, the counsel for Jalil, prayed for de-listing both the cases.
   After hearing Amir, the court passed the order of de-listing the cases from hearing.
   Earlier, Barrister Amir had submitted an application seeking hearing in both the cases before a division bench headed by Justice MA Matin. But nothing had happened.

Iran on Wednesday hanged in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas a Bangladeshi convicted of murdering his brother-in-law, the ISNA news agency reported.
   The man, only identified as MM and who reportedly also abused his wife, was executed for killing Mohammad Momenieh some seven years ago with a stone.
   His sentence was to have been carried out three years ago. But according to Iranian law there needs to be a complaint from either the parents or the children of the victim to execute the prisoner–not from the wife.
   However, neither was available so his sentence was not carried out.
   After an exhaustive search via the Bangladeshi embassy in Tehran and the Iranian foreign ministry failed, the Iranian judiciary authorities decided to go ahead with the execution, the report said.
   The judicial killing brings to at least 116 the number of people executed in Iran this year, according to an AFP tally based on press and witness reports.
   Amnesty International has said there were 94 executions in Iran in 2005.
   Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed robbery, apostasy, blasphemy, serious drug trafficking, repeated sodomy, adultery or prostitution, treason and espionage.

Nancy J Powel, a senior national intelligence official of the United States, met the Bangladesh Bank governor, Salehuddin Ahmed, on Thursday as a part of her three-day visit to Bangladesh.
   During the short meeting, Salehuddin informed her of different measures taken by the central bank as well as the government to check terrorist financing and money laundering.
   He also informed her that as information technology platform was not strong enough in Bangladesh, it would take some time before the anti-money laundering had wide coverage.
   In response, Powel promised her government's cooperation in training and software development for anti-terror financing and anti-money laundering measures.
   Senior officials of the central bank, foreign ministry and US embassy in Dhaka were present in the meeting.

At least 65 civilians were killed and over 300 injured Wednesday in heavy shelling by government forces in eastern Sri Lanka, Tamil rebels and residents said, marking the heaviest reported casualties since the collapse of peace talks last month.
   Sri Lankan military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said he was not aware of civilian casualties, but confirmed ‘heavy artillery and mortar bomb exchanges’ in the embattled district of Batticaloa.
   Medical sources said 65 bodies were brought to the main Vakarai hospital in the rebel-held part of the Batticaloa district.
   ‘There are at least 65 bodies of blast victims who have been taken to hospital,’ a medical source in Batticaloa said. ‘At least 300 people have been taken to three hospitals in the district.’