Main Page «
Metro «
Business «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The law adviser, AF Hassan Ariff, on Thursday said there was no scope in the constitution to form a national government.
   ‘I am not aware of such a move… It was not discussed by the cabinet even,’ said Ariff at a weekly briefing in the secretariat when his attention was called to media reports on the probability of the formation of such a government.
   Asked whether there was any scope in the constitution to form the national government, Ariff, also a legal practitioner, replied in the negative.
   He said the probability of amendments to the Emergency Powers Rules would depend on the judgment of the Appellate Division on the writ petition filed by Sheikh Hasina.
   ‘The matter is now pending with the Appellate Division… The court will decide whether the Emergency Powers Rules requires any amendments,’ he said.
   The High Court on Wednesday quashed the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case against former prime minister Hasina and declared illegal the government’s action in placing the case under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The court also observed that some provisions in the Emergency Powers Rules are contradictory to the constitution.
   In the verdict on the writ petition filed by Hasina, also the Awami League president, challenging the legality of placing the case under the emergency rules, the court said, ‘The sanction given by the government for placing the extortion case under the Emergency Powers Rules is declared illegal.’
   The constitution allows only those cases to be tried under the emergency rules for incidents that have taken place after the declaration of the state of emergency, the court observed in its verdict.
   The law adviser said the government, as per the law, had appealed to the Appellate Division against the verdict.
   On January 31 the law adviser said the fate of the cases in connection with pre-emergency offences filed under the Emergency Powers Rules would ultimately depend on the court’s judgment on the writ petition by Sheikh Hasina.
   When he was asked whether some provisions in the Emergency Powers Rules violated the constitution, Ariff said it was in the court’s jurisdiction to decide which laws were right or wrong.
   He, however, said the government would look into the matter after the court’s judgment.
   Ariff said the government would need to review the restrictions on political activities so that electioneering can begin. ‘We have to consider withdrawal of the state of emergency to create a congenial atmosphere for elections.’
   He, however, declined to give any timeframe for the withdrawal of the state of emergency.
   The Emergency Powers Rules was promulgated in January 2007 by the government of Fakhruddin Ahmed which took over power on January 12, a day after the state of emergency was declared by the president, Iajuddin Ahmed, on the heels of the political turmoil.

Detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday accused the interim government of ignoring the Constitution while running the country.
   ‘This government is bypassing the Constitution while running the country. The Constitution is above all laws. The authorities have to enact laws in line with the Constitution. If the promulgation of any law violates the Constitution, it will be illegal,’ said Sheikh Hasina while speaking to lawyers and reporters at the Special Judge’s Court-1 in the Sangsad Bhaban’s premises.
   Hasina, also the Awami League’s president, was produced at the special court for the hearing in framing charges in a
   corruption case filed against her and seven others by the Anti-corruption Commission for alleged corruption in awarding contracts for three barge-mounted power plants in Khulna.
   The court posted the hearing for February 13 as prosecutors sought time for preparation.
   Hasina demanded that the stalled ninth parliamentary election be held by April-May as the country could not run smoothly without being governed by the eelected people’s representatives. She also said that there is a time limit for emergency which cannot be continued indefinitely.
   ‘Holding the elections within April or May would be the most welcome move of the government,’ said Hasina. ‘We need an elected government right now. A government cannot function properly without public representatives.’
   The Awami League chief also accused the Election Commission of delaying the election on the plea of completing the electoral roll and making national identity cards for voters. ‘If the country could be freed in nine month during the liberation war, why should the Election Commission take so long in preparing the voters’ list?’ questioned Hasina.
   Pointing at the failures of the government, Hasina said price of rice is Tk 40 per kilogram but the government says the market is stable. ‘People’s suffering is intensifying everyday,’ she added.
   ‘The children born today will grow up undernourished,’ she said, adding that people are ‘surrounded by darkness’.
   Commenting on the HC’s verdict on Wednesday that quashed the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case against her, she said the judgement was in line with the Constitution.
   ‘I will win every case lodged against me if the law takes its own course and the judges remain unbiased and do not cave in to any kind of pressure,’ said Hasina, adding that she is being harassed by the government who are making false charges against her.
   She faces two corruption cases and three cases of extortion.

The acting president of Awami League, Zillur Rahman, on Thursday said that no alternative way of handing over power could be accepted other than through holding elections.
   He also said that the concept of a national government ‘cannot be a principle’, but the issue might be raised after elections, if necessary.
   ‘State power should be handed over by holding elections. No other alternative way of handing over power can be accepted,’ Zillur told reporters at his Gulshan residence in reply to a query about recent reports on the issue published in various newspapers.
   The veteran AL leader, in reply to another query, said that his party did not believe in the concept of national government before the elections.
   ‘The concept of a national government cannot be a principle. The issue may be raised only after elections, if necessary,’ he said.
   He said that the Awami League had formed a national government in 1996 even after getting a majority in the elections, but bringing up the issue before the polls was irrelevant.
   Zillur also said that the national elections should be held by May to avoid the adverse stormy weather of June-July.
   He said that the AL’s president, Sheikh Hasina, did not support the statement of the chief election commissioner when he said that all should wait until September to know the date of the elections.
   ‘How can the election be held as per the roadmap if the commission waits until September to announce the date?’ asked Zillur.
   He also said that no meeting was held at his residence on Wednesday, only some senior leaders sat together for a chat.
   ‘If it was a meeting, the other leaders of the party would have been there,’ he said, adding that some leaders fixed up the date for the inter-party talks with the components of the AL-led alliance as per the party’s earlier decision.
   Earlier, the leaders of Awami Sechchhasebak League met Zillur at his residence to donate an amount of Tk 30,000 for providing legal assistance to the detained AL president, but he refused to take the money.
   ‘As we have not opened any account for receiving funds for providing legal assistance to our party chief, I cannot accept the money for this purpose,’ said Zillur, and told them to donate the money to the AL’s fund if they wanted to.
   The Sechchasebak League’s leaders then donated the money to the AL’s fund.
   Zillur, while addressing the gathering, urged the leaders and activists of the Sechchhasebak League to uphold the unity of the party at any cost.

The Awami League leadership appears to have been divided over the issue of adopting the party’s approaches to the issue of general elections and strategy for restoration of the political process under the emergency rules.
   A group of leaders want to shift their focus on the general elections from the demand for releasing party chief Sheikh Hasina, while the others put her release first of all other issues.
   Presidium member Amir Hossain Amu leads a group of leaders who are willing to go for the general elections even if Hasina remains in jail.
   But a number of other leaders like presidium member Matia Chowdhury and leaders of front organisations want the release of Hasina before deciding anything about the polls.
   Approaches of the grassroots leaders are also close to this standpoint — get the party chief released first and then decide about polls, insiders said.
   Amu leads a camp that is believed to have close contacts with the present interim government and the army. The group has also a stronghold in the Awami League central working committee and commands enough influence to decide the party’s future course of action in the absence of Hasina, who has been in jail since July 16 and facing extortion charges.
   On the other hand, leaders of different front organisations and the grassroots want the party leadership to initiate agitation alongside the legal battle to release Hasina.
   ‘Awami League has taken a clear decision unanimously to participate in the polls,’ Amu told New Age on Wednesday, adding that he announced earlier that the party would free Sheikh Hasina after taking over state power through elections.
   He also said that the party already had full preparation to contest the stalled January 22 polls in 2007 and could easily gear up for the polls planned towards the end of 2008.
   Amu claimed that there was no division in the party over participation in the elections and the leaders in the centre as well as in the grassroots had the same feeling.
   ‘I have visited Dinajpur and Rajshahi areas and exchanged views with the district and thana unit leaders, who expressed their readiness to contest the polls,’ Amu added.
   He also denied having any contact with either the government or the military people.
   ‘How and under what circumstance Awami League will contest the polls will be decided after considering the overall situation at that time,’ said Suranjit Sengupta, another presidium member who is close to Amu’s camp.
   Talking to New Age, presidium member Matia Chowdhury said she supported the leaders and activists of the party across the country who wanted to participate in the polls under the leadership of a free Sheikh Hasina.
   ‘We want to participate in the elections along with Sheikh Hasina. It is very natural to expect that the party will decide about polls after freeing its chief,’ Matia said, terming the idea of a ‘particular circle’ to join polls without Hasina as ‘illogical.’
   Earlier, the party’s Dhaka city unit and front organisations — Krishak League, Juba League, Sechchasebak League, Juba Mahila League and Chhatra League — made their position clear that the party should go to polls only after Hasina walked free. They also pressed the party leadership for taking up action programmes to get their leader released.
   ‘Sheikh Hasina told the party leaders to participate in the polls even without her. But it was her generosity. We will not participate in the elections without our leader,’ acting general secretary of the party’s Dhaka city unit Qamrul Islam said Wednesday.
   Instead of talking about polls now, the party leadership should think about agitation programmes apart from the legal fight to get Hasina released before the elections, he felt.
   Krishak League general secretary Motahar Hossain Molla said that they wanted to participate in the elections with Hasina and demanded agitation programme from the centre to put pressure on the government to free her.
   ‘We want the party to join the polls along with Sheikh Hasina,’ general secretary of the Mahila Awami League, Fazilatunnesa Indira said.
   The grassroots of the party also have strong reservations about the party’s contesting any polls keeping the chief in jail.
   ‘No election will be held without Hasina,’ Khulna city unit president Talukdar Abdul Khaleque told New Age, adding that even the decision of the central working committee would not be followed if it was not endorsed by Sheikh Hasina.

The BNP secretary general, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, on Thursday asked the leaders of student front Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal to get ready for instructions from high up in the party to face ‘any situation.’
   ‘Conspiracy is hatched to hold elections by keeping the BNP out of the process. No such blue print will be acceptable and the people will not accept any such farcical polls,’ Delwar told the central committee members of the Chhatra Dal in his house at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
   ‘The BNP activists will bring Khaleda Zia out of the jail. The party is passing the toughest time now and no military dictator had even acted in such a manner to destroy the party,’ he said and urged the Chhatra Dal members to be united and face the situation successfully like the past.
   ‘This party is people’s party and it could not be destroyed even by killing its founder Ziaur Rahman. The same move is on by inflicting sufferings on Khaleda Zia and her family,’ he said. ‘Such moves will be foiled and they will rather strengthen the party.’
   As for ongoing ‘unity move,’ Delwar said, ‘We are not against unity, but the process could only be implemented nullifying the decisions of the October 29 meeting of some standing committee members.’
   ‘Certain quarters gave me death threat and they threatened to ruin my family to press me to join the October 29 meeting. They are still putting pressure on me by oppressing my son today,’ he said.
   BNP organising secretary Mohammad Shahjahan, office secretary Rizvi Ahmed, former Chhatra Dal president Habibunnabi Khan Sohel, Chhatra Dal general secretary Shafiul Bari Babu, vice-presidents Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, Nurul Islam Nayan, Jayanta Kundu, Mostafa Khan Safari and Shahidul Islam Babul, and organising secretary Abdul Kader Bhuiyan Jewel also addressed the exchange of views.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday deferred the hearing till February 10 of the petition filed by government, seeking stay of the High Court’s judgement that quashed the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
   The six-member Appellate Division, chaired by acting Chief Justice M Fazlul Karim, deferred the hearing after Hasina’s counsel requested more time.
   Hasina’s advocate on record, Moulvi Wahidullah, asked for a day’s adjournment as Rafique-ul Haque, her senior lawyer, was not present.
   Attorney-general Fida M Kamal said the plaintiff had no objection to adjournment.
   Additional attorney-general Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters that the government had no objection to the defendant’s lawyers’ request for time because it did not want them to make an issue of it.
   He added that though the chamber judge had set Thursday for hearing the government’s appeal, the case was somehow excluded from the regular daily list of hearings for the day.
   The court still included the case for hearing on Thursday, and Hasina’s lawyers were notified of the development, said Salahuddin.
   The High Court bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Shahidul Islam, in a landmark verdict on Wednesday, quashed the entire trial proceedings in the extortion case after hearing a writ filed by Hasina.
   The court also declared illegal the sanction given by the government for placing the extortion case, which was filed against an alleged offence that took place before emergency was declared, under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The government, a few hours after the judgment, filed a petition with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the execution of the High Court’s verdict.
   The chamber judge, Justice MA Matin, however, refrained from passing an instant stay order and referred the petition to a hearing by the full court, scheduled for Thursday.
   The government, in its petition, said it had appealed against the verdict as the High Court quashed the trial proceedings of the case though it had not been sought by Hasina in her writ petition.

The government on Thursday started construction of roads around Hatirjheel under a coordinated development project of Hatirjheel and Begunbari.
   ‘We have started road construction under the project. The chief adviser will lay the foundation stone of the project soon,’ said the LGRD and cooperatives adviser Anwarul Iqbal at a briefing at Hatirjheel on Thursday.
   The Local Government Engineering Department and the Armed Forces Division are now doing the job. Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha LGED, Water Supply and Sewerage Authority and Armed Forces Division will implement the Tk 1,473.59 crore project.
   About 245 acres of land will be acquired for the project. The LGED will spend Tk 175 crore on its portion, Rajuk Tk 1,218.69 crore and WASA Tk 77.98 crore. Tk 1.92 crore will be spent on the study to be conducted by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
   Anwarul said the government had cancelled the land allotment for the Millennium Holdings Limited. Land allotment of other structures that can hamper the project will also be cancelled.
   ‘The BGMEA has so far failed to produce any approval for its building. I think it should not stand there for the sake of the lake,’ he said.
   ‘We have already stopped the construction work of the Sonargaon Hotel. We will ask it to demolish the portion that will hamper the project,’ he said.
   Anwarul also said only 11 buildings, five on pieces of land privately owned and six on government land, would need to be demolished for the project. Rajuk initially decided to demolish 400 structures.
   The project, which started in July 2007, will be completed by June 2010.
   The project will be funded by the Japan debt cancellation fund and government fund. The government has already allocated Tk 50 crore in the annual development programme for the project this financial year.
   Professor Murjibur Rahman who led the BUET group for the study on the project said the primary objectives of the project are to protect required area for storm water retention, minimise the inundation risk for adjoining areas and reduce related environmental hazards, to restore the Hatirjheel environment by transforming the waste water canal into freshwater lake with the installation of large-diameter diversion sewers along the periphery and to connect an east-west missing link between the Tongi Diversion Road and Pragati Sarani with the construction of a peripheral system.
   He made some recommendations such as rehabilitation of slum dwellers now living in the project area, compensation for the acquisition of pieces of land privately owned and conservation of adjoining water bodies or wetlands not within the project area.
   Project director Haider Ali also spoke on the occasion.

The United Kingdom’s secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, David Milliband, is scheduled to arrive in the capital today afternoon on a two-day tour to assess the latest political developments in Bangladesh and get a first-hand look at the ongoing British development assistance projects here.
   His visit to Dhaka, ahead of the general elections, is seen here as significant as he is expected to spell out the UK’s position on democracy, economic development and human rights in Bangladesh.
   This will be the second high-level visit from the UK since the interim government, headed by the Fakhruddin Ahmed, assumed office in January 2007.
   In December the UK’s secretary of state for international development, Douglas Alexander, visited Bangladesh to review the British development cooperation with Bangladesh.
   During his maiden visit to Bangladesh, Milliband is scheduled to call on the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, and the army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed.
   The British foreign secretary will also hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, and the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda.
   Milliband, apart from meeting the officials of Bangladesh, is scheduled to visit Sylhet and Sirajganj to see the progress of two projects funded by the UK’s Department for International Development. He will also deliver a lecture in the British Council.
   He is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Saturday night.

The Supreme Court Bar Association at a meeting on Thursday vowed to remain vigilant as in the past to protect the constitution and laws of the land.
   In a resolution, the SCBA said the lawyers along with other bar members across the country, irrespective of their party affiliations, would continue the ongoing movement for maintaining the supremacy of the constitution, the rule of law and dignity of the judiciary.
   The meeting took stock of the prevailing situation in the highest judiciary.
   Presided over by the SCBA vice-president, Abdul Mannan Khan, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Rafique-ul Huq, Golam Arif Tipu, Shahara Khatun, Zoinal Abedin, Humayun Hossain Khan, M Enayetur Rahim, Bashir Ahmed, Nurul Islam Sujan, Jahangir Hossain Selim, Awsafur Rahman and Motahar Hossain Saju.

A Dhaka court on Thursday rejected an appeal filed by the detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia for her appearance in the GATCO corruption case proceedings.
   The court of additional metropolitan magistrate Golam Rabbani, issued the order after hearing the appeal filed on Wednesday.
   The judge asked the Anti-Corruption Commission to file the charge sheet in the case by March 9.
   The commission on September 2 filed the case against Khaleda and 12 others for awarding GATCO the contract of container handling at the Inland Container Depot in Dhaka and Chittagong Port allegedly in exchange for money.
   Investigations into the case have been completed, but the commission has not yet filed the charge sheet with the court.
   ‘My client was arrested in the case on September 3, 2007 but she has never been produced in court for hearing,’ counsels of Khaleda Zia, also the BNP chairperson, told the court.
   Long detention without trial was a violation of law. She might be inflicted with serious mental and physical illnesses because of the detention, the lawyer feared.

Tens of thousands of people beat their chests in anguish at Benazir Bhutto’s tomb Thursday as they marked the end of 40 days of mourning for the slain opposition leader.
   The solemn Muslim ceremonies at the family mausoleum in southern Pakistan marked the start of campaigning by her Pakistan People’s Party for elections on February 18, which are seen as a crucial step towards democracy.
   Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir’s widower and political successor, said in a speech to the massive crowd outside the white marble building that he feared he would be assassinated like his late wife.
   ‘We will avenge Benazir Bhutto’s martyrdom in a democratic way,’ said Zardari, wearing a traditional embroidered Sindhi cap and speaking against a backdrop of the party’s black, green and red flag.
   ‘If I succeed, you will see me alive. If I am martyred like her, you will be the ones to take my coffin to the grave.’
   Heavy security was in place for the ceremonies in the rural southern village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, where Benazir was buried the day after her assassination on December 27.
   Hundreds of paramilitary troops and the police stood guard, while walk-though scanners were set up to check the crowds flooding into the mausoleum to throw rose petals over her grave.
   Benazir was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi that touched off days of rioting and forced the elections to be postponed by six weeks.
   Meanwhile, Pakistani officials said they arrested two ‘terrorists’ Thursday over the slaying of Benazir.
   With pressure growing on the government to solve her murder, investigators said they had seized two ‘very important alleged terrorists’ in Rawalpindi on Thursday morning in connection with the attack.
   ‘I can confirm two people have been arrested in connection with the probe into Benazir’s murder and they are being interrogated by the joint investigation team,’ the interior ministry spokesman, Brigadier Javed Cheema, said.
   A statement by a Pakistani investigation team probing the attack said it had ‘arrested two very important alleged terrorists, Hasnain and Rafaqat, this morning from Rawalpindi with the help of the Rawalpindi police.’
   ‘They are being interrogated,’ it added.
   The government has accused a tribal warlord with links to the Taliban and al-Qaeda of masterminding her murder, but Benazir wrote before her death that government and intelligence figures were plotting to kill her.
   A team of detectives from Britain’s Scotland Yard called by the president, Pervez Musharraf, to help investigate her murder returned to Pakistan earlier Thursday and is set to present its report by the end of the week.
   Pakistani authorities have warned that politicians are at risk of further attacks in the run-up to elections. Many have dismissed it as a way of keeping parties opposed to president Pervez Musharraf off the streets.
   Despite the warnings, and the bitter cold, many visitors including women and children stayed overnight in tents before rising at dawn to chant verses from the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book.
   People arrived on foot – some from towns hundreds of kilometres away – and others by trucks and buses. Many were listening to cassettes of Benazir speeches.
   ‘We have to win this election – in our leader’s words, democracy is the best revenge,’ mourner Nabi Bux Kalhoro said as songs of mourning blared over loudspeakers.
   The PPP has said it will officially begin campaigning from Thursday for the polls, which have so far seen none of the raucous electioneering that is customary in Pakistan.
   With the party reportedly driven by divisions following the killing of its charismatic yet dominating leader, it began earlier this week to try to coalesce support behind Zardari by making public Benazir’s will.
   The document names him as her political heir, dispelling rumours that she had actually picked their 19-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari over her husband, who has been hit by unproven corruption charges.
   Bilawal was later chosen by the party as co-chairman, but Zardari is acting as regent while Bilawal completes his degree at Oxford University.

Afghanistan warned Thursday of catastrophe if NATO abandoned its mission as the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and her British counterpart flew into the heart of the Taliban insurgency.
   Rice and the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, made their surprise visit amid heated debate among NATO nations about the mission, with countries in the volatile south calling for more help and some threats to pull out.
   It would be ‘catastrophic’ for the world to abandon Afghanistan, a presidential spokesman said before Rice and Miliband held talks with the president, Hamid Karzai.
   But the government was confident the nations in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force would find the resources needed to see through the mission, Homayun Hamidzada said.
   ‘The consequences of not finishing the job here, and we have seen them first-hand in the events of September 11, will be catastrophic for the region and the world,’ he said.
   Rice and Miliband met around 200 soldiers at a major NATO airbase in southern Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban movement, before their talks with Karzai.
   ‘As the debate hots up in our countries about what you’re doing and the difference you’re making, we’ll be defending you heart and soul,’ Miliband told troops at Kandahar Air Field.
   Rice said their efforts would leave an ‘extraordinary legacy of peace and democracy’ for Afghanistan and the world.
   US forces led the invasion of Afghanistan that removed the hardline Taliban from government weeks after the September 11, 2001 by the al-Qaeda terror network, which then had bases in Afghanistan.
   Despite the efforts of nearly 60,000 international troops working alongside Afghan forces, the Taliban’s insurgency was its most deadly last year with more than 6,000 people killed, including nearly 220 international soldiers.
   As Rice and Miliband began their visit, a car bomb struck a NATO military vehicle in the eastern province of Khost and wounded three soldiers, the alliance’s International Security Assistance Force said.
   ISAF did not give the nationalities of the wounded but most foreign troops in the east are US nationals. Police said the attack, similar to scores carried out by the Taliban, was a suicide blast and the bomber was the only victim.
   ISAF commanders have been calling for around 7,500 extra troops to fight the Taliban threat. The force comprises 42,000 troops from 39 countries – some of them in their most fierce fighting for decades.
   En route to Afghanistan, Rice told reporters that she was confident there would be more troops. The United States has already pledged to send around 3,200 reinforcements in the spring, when the violence traditionally heats up.
   ‘Frankly, I hope that there will be more troop contributions and there need to be more Afghan contributions,’ she said.
   When asked what would happen if other NATO countries failed to contribute, she said: ‘In the final analysis, you will see more troop contributions.’
   ‘The problem is we have to make sure they are the right troop contributions and in the right place.’
   Germany has however rebuffed US calls for more troops in the battle-scarred south, the scene of most of the fighting against the Islamist Taliban militia, in a tiff played out publicly.
   Canada has meanwhile threatened not to extend its mission beyond next year unless it gets more support.
   Domestic support among some ISAF nations for the mission has plummeted as more troops are killed and as the violence has escalated along with the country’s opium production.

US chargé d’affaires Geeta Pasi said on Thursday that due process and international standard of human rights should be followed in the cases going on with the court.
   She also said that the elections must be held as per the government-declared roadmap to allow people to select their leadership.
   Geeta Pasi called on law adviser Hassan Ariff at his office and disclosed her government’s stand on these issues.
   The US diplomat had said that the cases should be transparent and international standard of human rights be maintained in dealing with the cases, Ariff told reporters about the meeting.
   ‘International standard is maintained here as the accused has right to defence, trial process is open and they have access to the High Court,’ he explained the situation.
   Geeta Pasi said the US government supported the caretaker government of Bangladesh to implement the roadmap.
   ‘We talked about participatory process in the elections…There must be elections that allow people to select their leadership,’ the US diplomat told reporters at the secretariat. She said her government would like to see the country returns to democracy as soon as possible.
   ‘I look forward to establishment of institutions to facilitate the elections,’ Geeta mentioned.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion on Thursday said it would correct the procedures of its cases filed under the Emergency Power Rules if there was any directive from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
   The High Court on Wednesday quashed the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case filed against detained Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina under the emergency rules and declared illegal the trial of the case under the rules.
   Though the case was not filed by the ACC, there are many cases filed by the commission under the Emergency Power Rules against top politicians, including former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina.
   ‘If there is any direction in the final judgement of court (Appellate Division), the Commission, if needed, will take corrective measures,’ said ACC director general for administration Hanif Iqbal at a regular briefing as he was asked whether the Wednesday’s High Court verdict would have any impact on the ACC cases.
   He informed that the commission approved the issuance of notices to BNP leaders Jahanara Begum and Sarder Sakhawat Hossain Bakul for their wealth statements.
   The commission has approved submission of charge sheets in cases against former minister Shajahan Siraj and wife, former Awami League MP Makbul Hossain and wife, and Doctors Association of Bangladesh leader AZM Zahid Hossain and wife as well as their counsel Mojahidul Islam for concealing asset information.
   The ACC also approved the filing of a case against former CBA leader of Water Development Board Abul Kalam Azad and his wife for hiding wealth information.

Enayetur Rahman Bappi, managing director of private television channel NTV, was released from the Dhaka Central Jail on Thursday.
   The High Court granted him bail and the relevant document reached the jail authority Wednesday afternoon. After completion of all formalities, the authority released Bappi at about 11:00 am Thursday, said deputy inspector general of prisons Major Shamsul Haider Siddiqui.
   The Rapid Action Battalion personnel arrested Bappi on March 6 in 2007 on charge of illegally possessing a car imported under tax-free quota for lawmakers.
   They seized the Hummer vehicle from a building at Karwan Bazar in the city on the previous day. The vehicle was imported tax-free by lawmaker, Harun-or Rashid in 2005 and sold out to Bappi. Law bars lawmakers from selling tax-free cars before three years of purchase.

India on Thursday re-imposed a ban on a pan-Islamic students’ organisation with suspected links to Muslim militant groups, a report said.
   The Press Trust of India quoting unnamed government officials said the ban, which was first imposed in 2001 on the Students Islamic Movement of India, would be renewed after its expiry on Thursday midnight.
   ‘The ban, which is in force until Thursday, will be re-imposed Friday for two more years,’ a home ministry official said, adding the decision was taken by the security cabinet.
   New Delhi says it suspects links between SIMI and pro-Pakistan guerrilla organisations which are blamed for carrying out attacks in India.
   ‘The decision to continue the ban on SIMI was taken as the group continues to indulge in unlawful activities,’ Press Trust quoted the unnamed official as saying. Nearly three dozen groups including pro-Pakistani Kashmiri militant groups Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami have been outlawed by India.

Pakistan on Wednesday took off air for a second time a private news network known for its independence, a network official said, despite assurances by the president, Pervez Musharraf, to his allies that he would uphold media freedom.
   AAJ television suddenly vanished from cable networks in Islamabad and several other cities late Wednesday as it aired a popular politics and current affairs talk show, Tariq Chaudhry, Islamabad bureau chief for the network said.
   ‘We were not informed by any authority, nor did they warn us before this unannounced blackout,’ Chaudhry said.
   Musharraf shut down private news channels after he imposed emergency rule in November and only allowed those who signed a code of conduct under harsh media laws to operate again.
   The emergency rule was lifted in December, but many news channels remained off air for weeks and months. No government official was immediately available to comment on the fresh restrictions on AAJ broadcasts.

Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda on Thursday brushed aside any doubt over holding the general elections within 2008 as he had not got any indication from both the chief adviser and the army chief for delaying the polls.
   ‘There is no indication in this [statements of chief adviser and army chief] of delaying or not holding elections on time. I don’t know why the confusion over holding polls on time has been created. We are advancing right on schedule,’ said the CEC.
   He emphatically said that there is no valid reason for doubting that the elections will be held in due time.
   Referring to discussion with Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed on February 4 on preparations for election, the CEC said, ‘We met the chief adviser and he said that there is no turning back…He told us, in as gentle a manner as he could, that there must be no sluggishness.’
   Describing his meeting with army chief General Moeen U Ahmed at the police parade recently, he said, ‘When I happened to meet him, he repeatedly asked me if everything is alright, and if preparations are being made according to the schedule.’
   ‘They (army) are now part of government and we’re not getting indication that from them there should be any dillydallying (in holding elections) or polls should not be held in time,’ said the CEC.
   Huda made the statement at a meeting with a delegation of the Peshajibi Samannay Parishad, a combine of 14 professional groups, at the EC secretariat.
   The CEC once again emphatically said, ‘our entire credibility depends on holding elections within 2008.’
   ‘We must do it [hold elections in time]. This is our promise to the people of the country. Do or die — we’ll complete our task. Everyday we hear doubts being expressed by many people. I don’t know why they should do so. There are no reasonable grounds for doubt,’ he said
   The CEC said they are doing a lot of work, like preparing the polling stations and training the registration officers, of which the members of the public are not aware.
   ‘We’ve many plans — plan A, plan B — we’ll adopt another if one doesn’t work. But the elections must take place, and we’re assuring you again,’ he said.
   A 12-member PSP delegation, led by its convener Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, editor of Bangladesh Observer, met the EC with their 15-point suggestion for conducting free and fair elections.
   The delegation of professionals suggested lifting the state of emergency immediately, starting dialogue this month and publishing a specific timetable and agenda of the dialogue.
   The PSP delegation expressed their apprehension to the EC that the elections might be delayed due to the EC’s intention of delimiting the constituencies. The CEC disagreed. He said their objection would be considered if any complexity arose.
   About the PSP’s suggestion not to link the dialogue between political parties and the EC with the dialogue between the political parties and the government, the CEC said that it is up to the government.
   ‘We didn’t want to link it [the two dialogues]…He [CA] himself linked it up, so it’s up to him,’ he said, saying that the CA himself, during the recent meeting, asked about the dialogues’ outcome and wanted a copy of the draft that the EC has prepared on the outcome.
   About the EC’s delayed political dialogue, Huda said the elections could not be deferred to hold a dialogue with only one party, meaning the split BNP.
   ‘We’ve to work simultaneously. One thing is linked to another, like the second round of dialogues [with the political parties] and with that party [BNP]…After completing the dialogue, the reforms to electoral laws will have to be completed by March, as per the election roadmap. Thereafter, the political parties will be registered by June,’ he said.

The police in Nepal’s capital staged raids overnight on the headquarters and four branch offices of the controversial youth wing of the country’s former rebel Maoists, officials said Thursday.
   Senior police official Sarbendra Khanal said the group was suspected of ‘holding people illegally and having weapons in their offices,’ in violation of the Himalayan nation’s 2006 peace deal.
   ‘We did not make any arrests, nor find any weapons,’ said Khanal, adding that the police deployed more than 300 officers to raid the Young Communist League headquarters and four Kathmandu branch offices.
   Since its formation after a 2006 peace deal between the former rebel Maoists and the government, the YCL has been accused of abductions, assault and extortion.
   A YCL leader warned the police against future action.
   ‘We are being as patient as we can but we won’t put up with this kind of police activity,’ said Sagar, a Maoist youth leader in Kathmandu who only uses one name. ‘This kind of action is very harmful for the peace process.’
   Small groups of YCL activists protested Wednesday night, burning tyres and chanting slogans against the police, Sagar said.
   The Maoists – hardened guerrillas who controlled large swathes of Nepal’s countryside – have been given positions in an interim government, and their army has been contained in United Nation’s monitored camps.
   The YCL claims to have 900,000 members nationwide.

Thailand won praise overseas for its return to civilian rule, but its cabinet full of newcomers Thursday faced immediate doubts at home over its competency and plans for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
   The European Union hailed the kingdom’s return to democracy, while the United States announced a resumption of military aid suspended after the coup in September 2006.
   But at home prime minister Samak Sundaravej’s government faced widespread criticism over a cabinet that even he described as ‘ugly’ because so many relatively inexperienced figures dominated top positions.
   Samak, who led the People Power Party to victory in December elections by openly campaigning as Thaksin’s proxy, is also trying to temper expectations that he would quickly grant the exiled billionaire an amnesty to allow his speedy return home.
   After the coup, a military installed tribunal banned Thaksin and 110 of his top aides from politics for five years.
   Thaksin faces separate corruption charges filed by military backed investigators, which could land him and his wife in prison.
   His wife has told a Thai court that he would return home in May to defend himself, but Thaksin has given no firm plans for ending his self-imposed exile in Britain, where he has bought the English Premier League football club Manchester City.
   Samak said late Wednesday that he would only consider an amnesty for Thaksin in two years, which he said would allow time for political tensions to ease.
   The leaders of anti-Thaksin street protests that precipitated the coup have already threatened to stage fresh demonstrations if the new government interferes with the court cases against Thaksin.
   Samak’s efforts to put off discussion of an amnesty may help appease those critics, said political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University.
   ‘Samak needs breathing space to actually govern the country. This is a manoeuvre to keep the pressure away and then to create a working space and time to prove his worth,’ Thitinan said.
   So far the military has indicated that it plans to stay out of politics.
   ‘There should not be any more coups because that would affect our country’s credibility,’ air force chief Chalit Pukbhasuk said Thursday as he announced that the junta has officially dissolved.
   ‘We must have confidence in democratic rule,’ he told reporters.
   Analysts worry that the new cabinet lacks the political gravitas needed to pull the economy out of the doldrums while steering through the minefield of competing interests within Samak’s six-party coalition.

Thailand is considering giving zero-tariff access of a good number of items from Bangladesh to its market as a measure for enhancing trade ties between the two countries.
   Meanwhile, the first lot of 1,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand will arrive on February 26, under a government contingency measure for the import of rice to stabilise the market.
   These and other matters of cooperation between the two Asian countries came up when newly appointed Thai ambassador Chalermipol Thanchit made a courtesy call on the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, at his office on Thursday.
   The envoy apprised that the new government of Thailand took office Wednesday and their foreign policy would now be ‘focused towards South Asia’.
   The head of caretaker government congratulated the new Thai government and prime minister, saying that Bangladesh attaches great importance to its relations with Thailand.
   Ambassador Chalermipol Thanchit further said Thailand Petroleum Authority was interested in gas exploration in Bangladesh.
   Trade, commerce, investment and increased bilateral cooperation and no-visa system also came up at the meeting for discussion.
   The chief adviser welcomed the Thai interest, saying that his government has approved a new production sharing contract model regarding gas and oil exploration. Tender will be floated in this regard, it was informed at the meeting.
   ‘Thai investors can invest in Bangladesh availing of the advantage of prevailing business-friendly environment,’ he said.
   He noted that tremendous improvement of Chittagong seaport service and sound law-and-order situation would be helpful for foreign investors.
   Besides, he informed that the government had been simplifying business and investment rules and regulations as well as improving investment climate through the Regulatory Reforms Commission and Bangladesh Better Business Forum.
   The chief adviser said Thailand could presently invest in tourism and agro-processing sectors.
   He welcomed infrastructure building by Thai investors, which would be a ‘win-win situation for both the countries taking into account the cheap labour force in Bangladesh’.
   The ambassador said he would try so Thai investors invest in Bangladesh, particularly in constructing Elevated Expressway and Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
   The chief adviser thanked the Thai government for their concern and contribution regarding cyclone Sidr. He said the government wanted to buy rice from Thailand. The ambassador said he would try to encourage Thai investors through those Thai investors who have invested in Bangladesh and stressed exchange of visits.
   The chief adviser termed it good strategy, hoping that potential businessmen will come here.
   The ambassador mentioned that a group of Thai investors was now visiting Bangladesh and they were keen to invest in factories and industries.
   Referring to short visit of the Thai crown prince to Dhaka, the ambassador said the prince was impressed staying for some time here and wanted to come back again. The chief adviser invited the new prime minister of Thailand through the ambassador to visit Bangladesh.
   Secretary to the CA’s office Kazi M Amiunl Islam and CA’s press secretary Syed Fahim Munaim were present.

Family members of the eight Bangladeshis convicted in Saudi Arabia on Thursday urged the caretaker government to take immediate steps to bring them back home alive. They made the appeal at a press conference at the office of Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh at noon.
   They said a total of 14 Bangladeshis had been accused of killing an Egyptian national in Saudi Arabia and eight of them condemned to death. However, two of them managed to flee back to Bangladesh.
   After conviction, the eight convicted Bangladeshis appealed to the higher court in Saudi Arabia.
   Those condemned to death are Mamun, 25, son of Mannan Sarker, Shafiqul, 23, son of Khowazuddin and Masud, 25, son of Shamsul Haque of Tangail, Faroque, 38, son of Jamal Uddin of Comilla, Suman, 25, son of Abdul Hye of Kishoreganj, Masud Rana, 25, of Brahmanbaria and Motiar Rahman, 28, son of Shahid Khan of Faridpur.
   However, the identity of another convict could not be ascertained.
   Parents of the convicted Bangladeshis said their sons intercepted the Egyptian victim on April 28 last year while he was stealing electric cable from Al Tuek Company in Riyadh where the Bangladeshis used to work.
   Being resisted, they said, the Egyptian national along with his associates attacked the Bangladeshis triggering a clash in which the Egyptian national died.
   ‘I want to get my son back, back alive,’ Jamal Uddin, father of convict Faroque, said.

The police on Thursday arrested former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s adviser ASM Hannan Shah again at the gate of Narayanganj jail, shortly after he was freed on bail.
   Fatullah police arrested him on charges of violating emergency rules and took him to the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Golam Mahbub.
   The court ordered him to jail.
   Sub-inspector Bhuiyan Mahbub Hasan, who filed a case against him with Fatullah Police Station on Thursday, told the court that Hannan Shah had held a rally with about 200 party workers near the jail gate soon after his release from prison.
   The police alleged that the rally breached the emergency rules.
   ‘The rally spread panic among people and halted traffic on the road past Narayanganj jail,’ the SI said.
   In court, Hannan Shah denied joining any rally and said the case filed against him was false.
   The BNP leader told the court: ‘I am a retired army officer and a former minister. I am a member of a political party. Up to eight plainclothes security officials took me to court by microbus shortly after I left the jail. I did not join any rally. I did not violate any emergency powers rules. If I had attended any rally, reporters would have known it.’
   His lawyer Shakhawat Hossain Khan said, ‘There was no rally and there was no traffic jam.’
   Hannan Shah was earlier arrested on November 7 for his alleged links to violence near former president Ziaur Rahman’s grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on National Revolution and Solidarity Day.
   On January 30, the High Court declared illegal his detention and granted him bail.

A man suspected of murdering three family members shot dead a Los Angeles SWAT team police officer and wounded another during a bloody gunbattle early Thursday, authorities said.
   The fatality was the first in the 41-year history of the Los Angeles Police Department’s elite tactical response unit, the police said.
   The drama erupted in the northern Los Angeles suburb of Winnetka after police were phoned by a man inside the home at around 9:00pm Wednesday who claimed to
   have shot dead three family members.
   The police arrived at the scene and entered the building shortly after midnight, engaging in a fierce gunbattle which left one officer dead and another injured.
   The man then barricaded himself inside the home.
   Shortly after day-break at around 6:30am smoke could be seen coming from the home at the centre of the standoff with around 200 police officers laying siege to the building, television footage showed.

A teenage boy, detained in jail in connection with a murder case after his arrest on December 2, 2007, was released on bail on Wednesday.
   The media earlier reported that the boy, Nur-e-Alam Sabuj, now 13, was accused in the Tera Shahjahan murder case. Sabuj was only eight when Tera Shahjahan, a wanted criminal, was lynched on September 16, 2003. The police submitted the charge sheet in the case showing the boy to be 19 years old.
   SM Sohrawardi Jacob sought bail for Sabuj in the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Barisal on Wednesday.
   Chief judicial magistrate Mainuddin Islam, after hearing, ordered the police to stand the boy in the witness box, rather than in the dock. The court granted bail to Sabuj and ordered that he should be released from the courtroom and should not be taken to jail again. He was released at about 10:00pm.
   The police arrested Sabuj, now a Class VI student, and his father Abdus Sobhan at their house on December 2, 2007 after the investigation officer of the case, Meer Kashem, submitted charge sheet against 51 people, including the two, on October 27, 2007.
   According to the birth certificate issued by the Barisal City Corporation, Sabuj was born on November 15, 1994.
   Subinspector Meer Kashem, who received reward from the inspector general of police for submitting the charge sheet, said he had included the name of Sabuj as 19-year-old young man in the charge sheet according to the statements of witnesses. The Barisal Metropolitan Police commissioner, Khan Sayeed Hassan, earlier said he would investigate the matter.
   Tera Shahjahan’s wife Shahanara Parvin Renu on September 21, 2004 filed the case against 20 people. After political changeover, she also filed another case with a magistrate’s court on June 5, 2007. After investigation, the police on July 25, 2007 recorded it as a regular case against 25 people and on October 27, 2007 submitted the charge sheet against 51 people, including the Barisal mayhor, Mazibar Rahman Sarwar.

A fire broke out in a tin-shed building on the secretariat compound Thursday evening in which a computer was burnt.
   Fire service officials said the fire had originated from an electric short circuit in the office of Anwara Sultana, an administrative officer of the labour and employment ministry, at about 6:15pm. A computer and a table were burnt.
   The secretariat employees had put out the flames before fire fighters could reach the place, they said.
   No casualty was reported.

At least two Dhaka University students, belonging to Islamist organisations sustained head injuries as they scuffled with activists of progressive student bodies at Madhu’s Canteen on Thursday, campus sources said.
   Witnesses said the scuffle erupted at around 11:30 am, when four to five activists of the Chhatra Mukti, student wing of Hizb ut-Tahrir, went to the Madhu’s Canteen to circulate a leaflet against reservation of quotas in recruitment in public services and faced resistance from activists of left leaning student organisations.
   The Chhatra Mukti activists were chased and beaten up on the campus, witnesses said. One of them, Khalid Rahman Mintu, a third-year student of applied chemistry, and Islami Chhatra Shibir activist Mainul Huq, a fourth-year student of Urdu department, were injured. Both of them were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with head injuries.
   Later, leaders of the left organisations met vice-chancellor Professor SMA Faiz and demanded ouster of the fundamentalist and religion-based student organisations from the university.
   They also demanded convening a meeting of the Paribesh Parishad, an informal body formed during 1980s incorporating student body leaders to monitor campus situation in absence of the university’s students union.
   The vice-chancellor said he would discuss the issue with all the organisations.
   Proctor Aka Firoz Ahmed said absence of the student’s union led to a complicated situation.