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

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The government on Tuesday increased the fares for diesel-run buses, large and small, after it increased fuel prices on Monday amid a disorder in transport fares that has been prevailing for a fortnight.
   The communications ministry Tuesday evening re-fixed the fare at Tk 1.05 a kilometre for diesel-run buses with seats between 42 and 52, and at Tk 1.08 a kilometre for buses with seats between 32 and 36 seats effective from Tuesday following Monday’s increase in fuel prices, an official handout said.
   The handout, however, said special fares for diesel-run buses plying between Mawa and Paturia ferry points has been fixed at Tk 1.08 for large buses and Tk 1.11 for small buses.
   The previous per-kilometre countrywide flat fares for large diesel-run buses was Tk 0.87 and for small buses Tk 0.90.
   Transport workers across the country, however, started charging extra fares from passengers Tuesday morning, aggravating the disorder in transport fare prevailing for a fortnight. The fares they charged were much higher than the fares fixed by the government in the evening, passengers said.
   The passengers also alleged owners of launches plying different routes had increased the fares without the approval of the authorities, prompting altercations in places between passengers and people at the ticket counters.
   The launch owners’ association said they had increased fares from Tuesday in view of increase in fuel prices. Fares for double cabin on the Barisal-Dhaka route has been increased to Tk 900 from Tk 700, for single cabin to Tk 500 from Tk 400, for sofa seats to Tk 300 from Tk 250, and for deck seats to Tk 130 from Tk 80.
   Trawlers, ferries and lorries started charging increase fares on Tuesday although the government did not increase the fares for river vessels and lorries.
   The Bangladesh Bus and Truck Owners’ Association and the Association of Bus Companies, however, rejected the fares the government fixed for buses.
   The Bangladesh Bus and Truck Owners’ Association chairman, GM Siraj, told New Age Tuesday night, ‘The re-fixed fares have made it difficult for us to run vehicles. We reject the fares.’ Siraj demanded Tk 1.60 a kilometre for bus fare.
   The Association of Bus Companies president, Khandaker Rafiqul Hossain Kajol, said, ‘The owners cannot accept the re-fixed fare.’
   The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority chairman, Sunil Kanti Bose, in the late afternoon, held a meeting with the leaders of the three transport sector organisations on fare re-fixation. The transport owners at the meeting suggested that bus fare should be fixed at Tk 1.60 a kilometre, said sources attending the meeting.
   The communications adviser, Ghulam Quader, told reporters at the secretariat stern action would be taken against any charging extra fare in violation of the government order on fares.
   In reply to a query, Quader said, ‘I do not know whether there is any disorder regarding bus fare, but the fare needed to be increased after the increase in fuel prices.’
   The government, for the first time on June 12 after the commissioning of CNG-run buses on the road in 2003, fixed fare at Tk 1.20 a kilometre large buses and Tk 1.10 a kilometre for small buses, which is up from the fare for diesel-run buses.
   When city people are suffering a lot as the CNG-run bus operators are charging fares more than what are fixed by the government, the diesel-run buses are have also started charging extra fares on various excuses, city people said.
   People have been entering into altercations and even clashing with transport people almost every day for a fortnight as the CNG-run buses are charging Tk 5 to Tk 10 more on the rate fixed for city routes.
   Shafiqul Islam, who workers with a private organisation, said, ‘The essential goods price increase with an increase in bus fares for both CNG- and diesel-run buses will only add to the woes of the people.’
   The government Monday night announced the increase in the prices of diesel, petrol and octane. Diesel price a litre was increased to Tk 55, up from the previous price of Tk 40.
   Buses running between Jatrabari and Mirpur Section 10, between Shyampur-Jatrabari and Gabtali, running on the Chittagong Road, between Shanir Akhra Jatrabari to Mohammadpur, between Demra and Mohakhai, Airport, Uttara and Tongi Bridge
   and other diesel-run buses increased fares by Tk 1 to Tk 5 depending on the distance of the routes.
   Buses running between Jatrabari and Farmgate charges Tk 10, up from Tk 7, and between Jatrabari and Mirpur Section 10 Tk 18, up from the previous Tk 14, transport company people said.
   All the CNG-run bus operators are charging extra fare, up by Tk 5 to Tk 10 depending on the distances in the city, although the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority is carrying out mobile courts by filing cases and realising fines.

Downpour for hours on Tuesday disrupted the city life as most of the roads went under knee-high water, causing tailback and sufferings to the people.
   The Met Office said rain caused by active monsoon was likely to continue for two or three more days.
   The Met Office on Tuesday recorded 87mm rainfall between 6:00am and 6:00pm in Dhaka, 39mm in Cox’s Bazar, 33mm in Feni, 71mm in Mymensingh, 71mm in Tangail, 46mm in Barisal, 76mm in Patuakhali, 41mm in Ishwardi and 74mm in Bogra. Rainfall recorded between 6:00am and noon in Kutubdia was 103mm and in Maijdee Court 73mm.
   Roads stretching from Kakrail to the Malibagh crossing, Shantinagar crossing to Shahjahanpur, Purana Paltan to the Dainik Bangla crossing and Naya Paltan VIP Road, roads at Dilkusha, Motijheel and Tikatuli, Bailey Road and Green Road in Dhaka went under knee-high water.
   Although there were a small number of vehicles on the road, city areas faced huge tailback as water collected on the road.
   Vehicles waded through submerged roads and many, especially CNG-run three-wheelers and cars, went out of order as water entered the engines.
   The driver of a CNG-run auto-rickshaw, which went out of order, said, ‘Will we be facing the same situation every year? Will there be no remedy to water stagnation in the city?’
   Many lanes and by-lanes in different city areas also went under knee-high water for lack of proper drainage. People living in areas of Purba and Pashchim Rajabazar, Mohammadpur, Malibagh, Moghbazar, Shahjahanpur and parts of Old Town in Dhaka waded through water to reach their destinations.
   Many alleged unplanned road digging carried out by utility service agencies coupled with incessant shower had multiplied the sufferings of city dwellers.
   Most utility service agencies are carrying out road digging in violation of the guidelines of the one-stop service formulated to stop unplanned digging during the rains.
   Although the Dhaka City Corporation one-stop service prohibits road digging between June and August, agencies are digging even the main roads in different city areas.
   Mokbul Hossain, a resident of Pashchim Malibagh, said, ‘The inhabitants of the area face serious problems every year as water collects on the road for lack of proper drainage system.’
   People attended offices braving the foul weather and many kept indoors. Many waited in long queues to get on buses.
   People who went out of the house needed to pay more in fares as there were a small number of vehicles on the road. Attendance in offices, especially government offices, was thin.

The government has warned people in the field administration of monsoon-triggered flood, asking them to get prepared to face any situation although the meteorologists forecast a normal rainfall this year.
   The government order came on Tuesday against the backdrop of incessant rainfall over a couple of days that caused to swell the rivers in the Brahmaputra, Ganges, Meghna and the South Eastern hill basins.
   The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, however, brushed aside any abnormal flooding because of active monsoon in the near future.
   It says the current influence of the monsoon would remain active for two to three more days.
   As for the rainfall in the upper catchment across the border that causes major floods in Bangladesh, a meteorologist in Dhaka said the Indian meteorological office also forecasts a normal rainfall this year.
   But the usual flooding, which inundates seasonally 20 per cent of the country’s land areas, because of rainfall may cause difficulty for a few thousand people.
   The official direction, issued from the food and disaster affairs ministry, said there was a chance of flood in different parts of the country because of incessant rainfall and downpour in the upper basin of India.
   There have been sufficient food grains, cash and other relief materials available and necessary funds for rescue operation with the deputy commissioners to meet the emergency in case of flooding.
   ‘Such materials should be used for emergency relief operation,’ said the order, which asked the officials concerned to contact the control room opened at the food and disaster management ministry.
   The control room will remain open between 8:00am and 8:00pm every day, it said.
   In its regular report, the flood forecasting and warning centre said water level registered a rise at 73 points and fall at 54 points.
   Water level remained static at 15 points, it said, adding that all the rivers were flowing below danger level as of Tuesday.

The Election Commission missed its deadline of at least three tasks, as laid out in the electoral roadmap, with June passing by and is now extending time to complete the tasks.
   The tasks scheduled to be completed by June 30 are delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies, completion of field-level tasks of voters’ registration and the registration of political parties.
   Election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain, when his attention was called to the deadline, Tuesday evening told New Age, ‘I have said it earlier that we have failed to meet the deadline of party registration and the issue of delimitation in now in final stages.’
   The commission missed its June deadline for the registration of political parties for delay in finalising reforms of the electoral law and is now extending the time up to the announcement of the election schedule, which is likely in October.
   In keeping with the electoral roadmap, all electoral reforms, including finalisation of the conditions for registration of political parties, were to be completed by February 27. The commission also set a June 30 deadline for the registration of the parties, which were given three months, April–June, to get registered. But till date there is no sign of finalising the electoral reforms, setting the conditions for registration.
   Election commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain in June hoped the draft of the laws on mandatory registration of political parties with the commission to contest polls would be promulgated in July.
   ‘They [political parties] will be given three months, if required four months, and even up to the time before the announcement of the election schedule to get registered with the commission,’ M Sakhawat Hussain told reporters in his office in June.
   He said political parties would be given adequate time and scope for discussions and meetings to change their constitutions in compliance with the party registration laws.
   In keeping with the electoral roadmap, the commission was supposed to complete the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies through gazette notification by end of June. But the commission on Monday wrapped up the countrywide hearing in disputes over delimitation by taking up objections to the demarcation of 95 constituencies.
   M Sakhawat Hossain on Sunday said they would not take more than seven days after the ongoing hearing in objections to the commission’s delimitation plan.
   According to the roadmap, field-level task of voters’ registration was to be completed by June 30, but it missed the deadline and set July 9 for its completion. According to a progress report, till June 28, a total of 8,03,81,882 crore voters were registered.

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday pressed charges against the Dhaka mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, for amassing illegal wealth of Tk 9.76 crore and hiding information on assets of Tk 9.65 crore in the wealth statement submitted to the commission.
   The commission pressed no charges against his son, Ishrak Hossain, and daughter, Sarika Sadeque, also sued along with the mayor, saying no evidence was found against them regarding the accusations brought against them during the investigation in the case.
   No charges were pressed against the mayor’s wife, Ismat Ara, as the High Court on June 19 stayed any proceedings against her, the investigation officer of the case, Samsul Alam, also a deputy director of the commission, said in the charge sheet filed with the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court.
   In the charge sheet, the investigation officer sought warrant for the arrest of the Dhaka mayor, also the immediate past president of the Dhaka city BNP.
   With Sadeque Hossain Khoka’s case, the Anti-Corruption Commission has pressed charges against
   all the six mayors for amassing illegal wealth and hiding information in the wealth statements.
   Of the six mayors, Mizanur Rahman Minu of Rajshahi and Sheikh Tayebur Rahman of Khulna, both detained, have already been convicted.
   Three other mayors, ABM Mohiuddin Ahmed of Chittagong, Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran of Sylhet and Majibur Rahman Sarwar of Barisal, also detained, are facing various charges, including corruption.
   According to the Local Government (City Corporations) Ordinance 2008 promulgated on May 24 in accordance with the commission’s proposal, a person, who has been sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years on conviction for a criminal offence or an offence involving moral turpitude, will be disqualified from contesting the elections to the city corporations, unless a period of five years has lapsed since the release.
   The commission on April 2 sued Sadeque Hossain and his family accusing him of owning illegal wealth of Tk 17.57 crore beyond known sources of income and concealing information on assets of Tk 9.96 crore in the wealth statement and the family of helping him in committing the offences.
   The plaintiff in the case alleged the mayor had acquired wealth of Tk 17.57 crore beyond his known sources of income and concealed information on assets of Tk 9.96 crore.
   Sadeque submitted his wealth statement to the commission on December 6, 2007 showing that he and his family had owned assets of Tk 10.04 crore, including 11 houses and flats, eight plots, landed property and Tk 5.5 crore in cash, according to the first information report.
   Sadeque, one of the 35 corruption suspects named on the fourth list published by the commission on October 4, 2007, was served with notice on November 18, 2007 to submit the wealth statements.
   The commission’s task forces earlier interrogated the mayor, his wife and daughter in the their house in Old Town of Dhaka, but the forces could not interrogate his son as he was in London, said the sources in the commission.

A woman and her four daughters were butchered in a remote village of Mehendiganj upazila in Barisal early Tuesday.
   The deceased were Tanzira Begum, 38, wife of Jahangir Hossain Bepari, a night guard of a private firm in Dhaka, and her four daughters- Anjumanara Begum, 17, Sathi Begum, 14, Jannatunessa Begum, 11, and Ferdousi Begum, 8.
   The police and locals said Tuesday morning, hearing screams of Sagorika, the only surviving 18-month daughter of Tanzira, the neighbours went to the spot only to see the five bodies lying in a pool of blood in two rooms of the house.
   The police sent those to the Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital morgue for post mortem examinations.
   The police picked up Tania Begum, Joinab Begum, and Parvin Begum, three neighbours and nephews of Tanjira, for interrogation.
   They later arrested Shahjahan Boiragi, a suspended sub-inspector of police and Shahid Boiragi, both brothers of Tanjira Begum, after they found inconsistency in their statements.
   The police also recovered some sharp weapons from their houses.
   Suspended police SI Shahjahan usually resides
   at his new house at Sayestabad near Barisal city.
   But he was found at his paternal house on the night of killing, sub-inspector Abual Awal, investigation officer of the incident, said.
   The police and local people suspected that the killings might have taken place as a sequel to a feud over paternal property of Boiragi family or enmity of local people with Shahjahan Boiragi.

Finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam has said fuel oils are still cheaper compared to neighbouring countries despite the latest hikes in petroleum prices effective from Tuesday.
   He said transport cost might go up by 12- 15 per cent due to increases in fuel oil prices, but there was no reasonable ground for unusual hike in rice prices.
   ‘Rice prices would not cross the tolerable limit as a consequence of fuel price hike,’ Aziz told reporters after a meeting on food planning and monitoring at the food ministry Tuesday.
   ‘The measure will contain bank borrowing and stop fuel smuggling to neighboring countries,’ he said.
   Replying to questions about rises in transport fares as an immediate impact of oil
   price hike, the adviser said, ‘There are some repercussions everywhere in the world when oil prices are adjusted. Bangladesh is not an exception,’ he said.
   Asked about the plight of farmers who use diesel for irrigation, Aziz said the government would help them offset the price hike shocks.
   ‘We have earmarked Tk 540 crore in the budget for diesel subsidy for farmers,’ Aziz told reporters.
   The interim government on Monday hiked diesel and kerosene price by Tk 15 a litre to Tk 55, octane by Tk 23 to Tk 90 and petrol by Tk 22 to Tk 68.
   ‘We had no alternative but to adjust domestic fuel prices to global prices,’ the finance adviser said, arguing that
   global oil prices now soared to $142 a barrel from $60 when the domestic prices were last revised in April 2007.
   Food adviser AMM Shawkat Ali, finance secretary Mohammed Tarek, commerce secretary Firoz Ahmed and food secretary Mollah Wahiduzzaman were present at the meeting, which discussed issues relating to food security, food procurement and storage situations.
   The government has so far procured 5,73,482 tonnes of rice from millers, while another four lakh tonnes are in the pipeline, the food secretary told reporters.

Millions of truckers will go on strike across India from today (Wednesday) to protest against higher taxes and rising fuel bills as oil firms force them to buy costlier branded fuel, a union leader said.
   The strike is likely to disrupt goods supplies across the country at just the wrong time for India’s embattled coalition government.
   It is struggling to turn around inflation at its highest in 13 years, while its leftist allies are threatening to withdraw support over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States, raising the prospect of a snap election.
   ‘No meeting is planned with the government and we are going ahead with the strike to save our business,’ said Charan Singh Lohara, president of the All India Motor Transport Congress, which represents both large and small truck operations.
   The strike could slow industrial output and hurt diesel sales.
   A similar week-long strike in August 2004 pulled monthly diesel sales down 9.3 per cent from a year earlier, while annual growth in industrial output slowed to 7.9 per cent from 8.4 per cent in the previous month because of disrupted shipments.
   Lohara said the majority of the nearly 4 million trucks which would stay off the road were long-distance cargo carriers, consuming between 75 and 80 litres of diesel a day.
   He said oil firms had been forcing commercial vehicles to meet half of their fuel consumption through costlier branded diesel for the last ten days.
   GC Daga, director of marketing at Indian Oil Corp, the country’s largest fuel retailer, said sales of the cheaper fuel were still freely available.
   ‘We are selling normal diesel to truckers at our retail outlets on highways, everywhere it is available ... only in cities are we encouraging people to buy branded fuel,’ he said.
   India caps the prices of normal petrol and diesel sold through fuel stations but no such price control exists for branded fuels, which are still far cheaper than if prices were market-determined.
   The government raised the retail price of petrol and diesel by about 10 per cent early this month but most states cut local taxes to soften the impact on consumers.
   ‘Earlier the price gap (between branded and normal diesel) was 50 paise (1.2 cents) a litre, but now this has gone up to as much as 2.25 Indian rupees (5.1 cents) a litre. To save our business, we will take our vehicles off the roads from tomorrow,’ Lohara said.
   He said union members would also be protesting against hikes in road tolls and transport taxes.
   Daga added the price gap between branded and normal fuels had widened after the government cut the excise duty on the latter at the same time as it raised retail fuel prices on June 4.

The chief adviser’s special assistant M Tamim on Tuesday said the government would increase fuel subsidy for farmers from the actual allocation of Tk 540 crore in the current budget if the allocation would not cover the fallout of fuel oil price increase.
   ‘We will closely monitor the fallout of fuel oil price increase on farmers. If required, we will increase fuel subsidy for farmers so that agriculture sector does not face any setback,’ he told reporters in his office on Tuesday.
   The government on Monday increased prices of all major fuel oils, including diesel, kerosene, petrol and octane, by 33 per cent to 37.5 per cent.
   Although the government in the past financial year initially allocated Tk 700 crore for fuel subsidy for farmers, it eventually paid only Tk 250 crore to the farmers.
   Tamim hoped bus owners and businesspeople would show a rational attitude and would not go for windfall profit cashing in on fuel price increase.
   ‘We urge bus owners and businesspeople to show sympathy to common people. They have the main responsibility now. They should not go for making additional profit taking the chance of fuel oil price increase,’ he said.
   Tamim said like all other countries, Bangladesh was also in crisis over the huge recent surge in oil price increase on the international market. ‘Businesspeople should also feel the crisis and show responsible attitude by not increasing the prices of essential goods irrationally taking the opportunity of fuel price hike,’ he said.
   He iterated that the government had been forced to increase fuel price because of record oil prices on the international market. ‘The entire world is in turmoil because of soaring fuel prices and we are facing the impact of the crisis.’
   Tamim urged all major oil-producing countries and the United Nations to take up the issue of swelling oil prices.
   When asked what measures the government would take against errant bus owners and businesspeople, said, ‘In the past, when we tried to enforce something, the result was not good as the government was criticised for taking such measures. We hope everyone will show a rational attitude. However, we will be harsh if our request is not taken into account.’

The Awami League and two of its allies on Tuesday demanded the government should withdraw the state of emergency before the forthcoming general elections and not hold upazila polls before national elections.
   The leaders the Awami League and the allies protested at the government’s latest increase in fuel prices.
   They called on the government to revoke the decision as it would add to the sufferings of the people.
   After a meeting with a delegation of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal faction led by Hasanul Haq Inu, at the house of the Awami League’s acting president Zillur Rahman, the party’s acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said the upazila and national elections could not be held under the state of emergency.
   The national elections must be held before the upazila elections and ‘we will
   request the government to do so during the talks with the
   government and hope the government will do so,’ Ashraful said.
   ‘We call on the government to revoke the decision on fuel price increase. Such an increase will increase bus fares and essential goods prices,’ he said.
   ‘We have decided to contest the local government polls together under the banner of Nagarik Committee,’ the Samyabadi Dal general secretary, Dilip Barua, said at a briefing after the meeting with Samyabadi Dal.
   Zillur Rahman, AL presidium member Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Matia Chowdhury, Ataur Rahman Kawser and Syed Ashraful Islam attended the meeting.
   The JSD general secretary, Syed Zafar Sajjad, Moinuddin Khan Badal, Sharif Nurul Ambia and others were on the JSD delegation, and Dilip Barua, Abu Hamed Shahbuddin and others were on the Samyabadi Dal team.
   The Awami League will
   meet two alliance partners, Ganatantri Party and National Awami Party faction, today at the same place.

The commerce adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman, on Tuesday said the government would hold group-wise dialogues with women folk, workers, common people and the media at the national level immediately after completion of regional talks.
   ‘Group-wise dialogues will be held in Dhaka. The groups will include women folk, workers, common people and the media… Before that, we want to complete dialogues with expatriates,’ Zillur said at the secretariat after a meeting of the panel of advisers working for the ongoing dialogue between the government and political parties along with other stakeholders.
   The law adviser, AF Hassan Ariff, and the LGRD and cooperatives adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, attended the meeting with the communications adviser, Ghulam Quader, who is leading the panel.
   Zillur said the government would hold three more regional dialogues in Khulna, Sylhet and Rajshahi divisions. The regional dialogue in Chittagong was held on June 28.
   ‘We will hold talks with political parties left out as of now. We want to hold talks with all stakeholders for qualitative changes,’ the adviser said.
   Asked whether the
   government would hold pre-dialogue talks with the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, as it did with the Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, he avoided giving a direct answer. He said the government in principle wanted to hold talks with all.
   As for delay in releasing Khaleda, Zillur said the issue was in a legal process. ‘We do not want to kill time. We are advancing in a logical manner.’

Withdrawal of the state of emergency, permanent release of party chief Sheikh Hasina and holding parliamentary elections first are among the key issues the Awami League will take up with the interim government in talks tomorrow.
   The party’s central working committee in its Tuesday’s meeting finalised the agenda for the dialogue and its strategy for city corporation and municipality elections, scheduled for August 4.
   Price hike of essentials, trial of war criminals and execution of killers of the country’s founder president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and four national leaders will also be raised in the dialogue with the government leaders, meeting sources said.
   The emergency meeting, chaired by senior presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, warned the government of the disastrous consequences of the steep rise in domestic prices of fuel oils.
   ‘If the masses exhaust their means for survival, they may take any decision which might lead to deterioration of law and order,’ cautioned the party’s acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, while briefing reporters after the meeting.
   Through various activities and decisions, the interim government has already created an impression that it is hostile to political parties, particularly politics, he said.
   Before formulating laws, the incumbents should have discussed those with the political parties which are to ratify the acts after being elected to power, he suggested.
   Ashraf said the government should take into account the demands of political parties.
   The working committee meeting asked the government to turn its full attention to parliamentary elections as it feared that holding of upazila elections might create obstacle to national polls.
   The meeting also expressed deep concern over the government decision of increasing the fuel oil prices price and demanded to withdraw its decision.
   About the local government polls, the AL leader said
   they would contest the elections to city corporations and municipalities under the banner of Nagarik Committee together with the civil society, democratic and pro-liberation forces.
   Ashraf said they would float candidates for city corporation polls after consulting with its allies in the 14-party combine.
   The working committee meeting criticised the caretaker administration for not yet taking any effective step to send detained leaders, including Mohammad Nasim, abroad for better treatment.

Four Iraqis are suing two US firms and their employees for allegedly torturing them at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad five years ago.
   Their lawsuit is against private security contractor CACI International and two of its interrogators, Daniel Johnson and Tim Dugan, and the translation agency L-3 (formerly Titan Corp) and its interpreter, Abel Nakhla, lawyer William Gould said in Istanbul on Monday.
   Their complaint was to be lodged Monday at courts in Maryland, Ohio and Washington – the US states where the alleged
   torturers live – as well as Michigan, where L-3 recruited most of its interpreters, said Gould who met his Iraqi clients in Istanbul.
   He said the court cases would show that the accused were in Abu Ghraib and involved in a conspiracy that included the torture of the plaintiffs.
   Abu Ghraib prison became infamous after the publication in 2004 of photographs showing Iraqi detainees being humiliated and abused by their US guards. The scandal led to the sentencing of 11 soldiers to up to 10 years in prison.
   The majority of the abuse took place at the end of 2003, when CACI and Titan employees were working in the prison, US military courts have said.
   This the second set of lawsuits against CACI and L-3.
   Another group of former Abu Ghraib prisoners filed complaints against the two firms last year in the states of Washington and California.
   One of the current plaintiffs, Suhail Najim Abdullah Al-Shimari, 49, was taken from his Baghdad home in November 2003 and spent more than a year at Abu Ghraib, where he claims to have been subjected to electroshock and night-long cold showers in the winter.
   ‘We think there will be people there in the United States who will want to give us back our dignity... by bringing these people to justice,’ he said via an interpreter.
   Sa’adon Ali Hameed Al-Ogaidi, 39, said he was repeatedly beaten at Abu Ghraib and tied to door handles.
   ‘At times, it seemed they were torturing people to have fun,’ said the former prisoner, who claims to have witnessed guards sodomising prisoners.
   Taxi driver Mohammed Abdwihed Towfek Al-Taee, 39, was taken to Abu Ghraib in 2003.
   He has scars on his leg and head that he said came from beatings with an iron rod. He also said he was forced to drink litres of water while his penis was tied to prevent him from urinating.
   ‘I wish I would be the last person to be detained and to be tortured,’ he said.
   Abu Ghraib was closed in 2006.

The trial of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and seven others in the barge-mounted power plant graft case was on Tuesday adjourned again till July 10 as the records of the case are still with the High Court for the hearing in her petition which sought the case to be quashed
   M Firoz Alam, the judge of the special judge’s court 1 set up on the Jatiya Sangsad complex, passed the order after the counsels of both the prosecution and the defence sought adjournment of the proceedings.
   The trial in the case, in which the depositions of six prosecution witnesses have so far been recorded, was held back on June 12 as the High Court on June 11 asked the special court for the records. The High Court had issued the order during hearing in the petition filed by Hasina, also the Awami League president, seeking the case to be quashed.
   The court on June 18 had deferred the trial till Tuesday for the same reason.
   On the other hand, the High Court bench of Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Mashuque Hossain Ahmed on Tuesday posted for today the hearing in Hasina’s petition after a hot debate between the attorney general and Hasina’s counsels over the jurisdiction of the bench to hear the petition.
   The petition came on the list of the cases to be heard by another bench of Justice MA Quddus and Justice M Rezaul Karim. The bench kept the matter off the list in the morning as Hasina’s counsel Shafique Ahmed and additional attorney general told the bench that the matter was heard in part by the bench of Justice Khademul Islam and that bench would hear it again.
   The counsels accordingly went to the bench of Justice Khademul Islam for an accommodation of the case for hearing.
   At around 2:00pm, the attorney general, Fida M Kamal, rushed to the bench and said the bench had no jurisdiction to hear the petition.
   Opposing his plea, Shafique Ahmed argued although the jurisdiction of the bench had been changed, there was no bar on hearing the case in the bench as the matter was partly heard earlier.
   Fida Kamal argued the matter should not be considered partly heard as it was not mentioned in the case records.
   ‘The court asked for the case records from the trial court causing a halt to the trial even before issuing any rule which should not be usually done,’ he contended.
   Justice Khademul Islam said the attorney general should not dictate the court.
   Referring to the order passed by the bench on June 15, the court said, ‘We have asked for the records and mentioned that the matter would be heard later… It means that the matter is partly heard and now we can hear the case.’
   The attorney general conceded it and the hearing in the case was posted for today.
   Meanwhile, as the special court resumed at 10:35am, Hasina’s counsel Sahara Khatun said the hearing in Hasina’s petition for quashing the case remained inconclusive in the High Court and the special court should adjourn the trial proceedings until the High Court resolves the matter.
   The chief prosecutor, ABM Sharfuddin Ahmed Khan Mukul, also supported the defence plea.
   The judge also told the counsels he did not get back the records of the case forwarded earlier to the High Court.
   Hasina was represented by her counsel Sahara Khatun as the court had earlier exempted her from personal appearance.
   The Awami League chief, who was temporarily released on June 11 by an administrative order for her treatment overseas, is now in the United States.
   The only other accused now detained in jail, former power and energy secretary Toufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, was in the dock on Wednesday.
   Six others accused — former Power Development Board chairman Noor Uddin Mahmud Kamal, Summit Corporation managing director Mohammad Aziz Khan and its director Mohammad Farid Khan, United Group chairman Hasan Mahmud Raja and its director Abul Kalam Azad and Bangabandhu Memorial Museum curator Syed Siddiqur Rahman — are still in hiding.
   The court on May 18 framed charges against the eight for their role in awarding a foreign company and its local partners the contract for the installation of the 100MW barge-mounted power plant in Khulna in exchange for Tk 3 crore.
   The trial in the case began on June 21 and the court has so far recorded depositions of six prosecution witnesses. The trial has, however, been halted since June 12.

The Bangladesh government should repeal or amend new anti-terror laws, which are ‘shocking’ and violate fundamental freedoms and basic fair trial rights, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
   The country’s military-backed government approved the laws in May and adopted them in June.
   They widen the scope of terror offences and provide for fast-track trials for offenders.
   ‘Bangladesh needs fair and effective laws to combat terrorism,’ Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
   ‘The ordinance sweeps far too broadly, disregards normal standards of proof and establishes harsh penalties for anyone who publicly expresses support for banned organisations,’ he said.
   ‘It’s shocking that such
   an important law could be enacted in the shadows, without public input — particularly by a government that says it is in power to reform the political system.’
   He said the laws ‘should be repealed or amended to meet international standards’.
   The home minister, MA Matin, has said the interim government ‘toughened the existing anti-terror laws to combat terrorists’ including home-grown, Taliban-style Islamic terror groups.
   Muslim-majority Bangladesh has been hit by a series of attacks by banned Islamic groups in recent years, including 400 blasts on one day in August 2005 by the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
   Under the new laws, anyone found to be involved in terrorist activities faces at least 20 years in jail and possibly the death sentence.
   Sponsors of terrorism face
   up to 20 years in jail, and campaigning for a banned group carries a penalty of up to seven years’ jail.
   Human Rights Watch said the laws set out an overly broad definition of terrorist acts ‘contrary to United Nations recommendations,’ and undermines freedom of expression.
   ‘It is also deeply regrettable, in a country where serious problems have been identified in due process of law, such as the use of torture to gain convictions, that the ordinance allows the death penalty,’ Adam said.

The BNP secretary general, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, on Tuesday demanded that the interim government should immediately revoke its decision on fuel price increase.
   ‘Increased fuel prices will only add to the sufferings of the people, who are already in a terrible situation caused
   by essential goods prices spiral,’ Delwar said in a statement.
   Increased fuel oil prices will add to the costs of production of goods and transport, he said.
   By irrationally increasing fuel prices, the ‘unelected government’ has proved it hardly cares for the wellbeing of the people, Delwar said.
   Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, a joint secretary general of the BNP mainstream, demanded that the government should release the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, from jail to create an atmosphere conducive to holding national elections.
   He also demanded the release of Khaleda’s sons Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman for treatment overseas.
   ‘The government has already released some top political leaders. We hope it [government] will prove its neutrality by releasing Khaleda Zia,
   her sons and other political leaders and activists detained in jail,’ he said at a briefing in Dhaka.
   He also demanded that the government should review its decision on the increase in fuel prices.
   Asked about the unity process in the BNP, Gayeshwar said, ‘The matter remains as it is. It will be settled after the release of the party chairperson.’
   BNP leader Abu Sayeed Khan and Juba Dal leaders Abdus Salam, Mia Mohammad Selim and Shafiqul Islam attended the briefing.

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim Tuesday demanded the government quash sodomy accusations against him, saying he was the victim of a ‘conspiracy’ to prevent him from seizing power.
   Anwar, a former deputy premier who spent six years in prison on sodomy and corruption counts before a stunning return to politics in March elections, said he was still on track to become premier with the help of defectors.
   ‘This government is under siege,’ he said, adding he was targeted because of ‘the close possibility of me taking over’ and his plans to re-enter parliament through a by-election, which had now been delayed.
   ‘I will advise them to drop the charges because they are frivolous and malicious. I will fight every inch, I will fight them and fight them hard. This is a second round of dirty games,’ he told a press conference.
   ‘I have all the evidence and an alibi. This is a conspiracy.’
   The prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has faced calls to quit since the election debacle and a recent unpopular fuel price hike, denied there was any plot against Anwar.
   ‘The government is not involved in any conspiracy to frame anyone,’ he said, insisting he would not interfere in the police investigation into the claims levelled by a 23-year-old man who was a volunteer at Anwar’s office.
   Abdullah also hit out at the United States after it said it would oppose any politically motivated investigation of the opposition leader and that it hoped there was no ‘pattern’ in the new accusations.
   ‘This is a statement that I consider as tantamount to an interference in our internal affairs,’ Abdullah said, adding that the foreign ministry would send a protest note.
   ‘(It) implies a feeling of prejudice in our system and abuse of power,’ he said. ‘We have a government, we have laws and regulations. We know how to investigate... and this is our own business.’
   Anwar launched an offensive against the government a day after emerging from the Turkish embassy where he fled over the weekend saying his life was in danger.
   He filed a complaint against the police chief and attorney-general, and planned a public rally for Tuesday night as well as a national roadshow to attack the allegations.
   Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 in the midst of the Asian financial crisis which heightened his power struggle with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
   Shortly after, he was charged with sodomy and corruption, and appeared in court with a black eye after a beating from the police chief.
   Anwar’s complaint alleged that the police chief, who was then the investigating officer, and the attorney-general, who was then the prosecutor, falsified the investigation into the assault.
   Abdullah defended the two figures, saying they were ‘responsible people and they know their jobs and would not be involved in anything illegal’.
   The premier’s United Malays National Organisation helms a national coalition that has ruled the country since the former British colony won independence after Second World War.
   The opposition alliance made a surprisingly strong showing in March, grabbing one-third of the seats in parliament and undermining the coalition’s longtime hold on power in this nation of 25 million.
   Analysts say the new allegations could actually help Anwar, by galvanising support for the charismatic figure.
   The 60-year-old spent six years in jail until the nation’s highest court overturned the sex conviction. He emerged in poor health and spent several years recuperating and working as an academic.
   ‘A large number of people do not believe the allegations, and this whole episode may have benefited Anwar more than it has damaged his reputation,’ said Ibrahim Suffian, a pollster from the Merdeka Centre.

The interim government has permitted authorities concerned to evict around 700 families from shanties on government land in the capital city.
   The cabinet committee on law and order made the decision at a meeting on Tuesday with the home affairs adviser, MA Matin, in the chair at the secretariat. The law adviser, AF Hassan Ariff, and the LGRD and cooperatives adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, among others, attended the meeting.
   The meeting, which reviewed the overall law and order, discussed whether trade union activities, now restricted under the state of emergency, could be relaxed to a limited extent, according to sources attending the meeting.
   ‘The cabinet committee on law and order has given permission today to evict 100 families living illegally on the railway land allotted for the construction of a hall for female students at Dhaka University,’ the home secretary, Abdul Karim, told reporters after the meeting at the ministry.
   He said although the university authorities had already given the work order for the hall construction, it could not begin the job because of slums on the piece of land.
   ‘The committee has also allowed the authorities concerned to evict 500–600 families from the slums near the Mirpur zoo,’ the secretary said, adding the Narayanganj district administration had been asked to take steps for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers still occupying the land of the Adamjee Jute Mills, now an export processing zone.
   He, however, said the meeting observed law and order was better and at a satisfactory level in comparison with the situation of the previous year.
   Asked whether the situation still warrants the state of emergency, the secretary said it was not discussed at the meeting. He said relaxation of trade union activities was discussed, but no decision was made.
   As for impact of fuel price increase on law and order, the inspector general of police, Nur Mohammad, said, ‘We do not have any apprehension following the fuel price increase. Normal policing will continue. All have been asked to keep watch.’
   Hundreds of slums were demolished in the capital city as elsewhere evicting tens of thousands of people initially when the government of Fakhruddin Ahmed assumed office in January 2007.
   Following adverse criticism of the eviction drives, the government later decided not to evict any slum dwellers without approval of the cabinet committee on law and order.

Pakistani forces demolished two buildings used by militants in the Khyber tribal district on Tuesday on the fourth day of an operation against rebels there, officials said.
   Pakistan said it launched the operation in Khyber on Saturday to tackle militants who were threatening the northwestern city of Peshawar and attacking convoys supplying NATO and US troops in Afghanistan.
   Security forces on Tuesday blew up an empty building used as a local headquarters of the hardline Lashkar-e-Islami in the Khajoori area, a security official said.
   The building was previously the residence of Lashkar-e-Islam’s founder, Mufti Munir Shakir.
   ‘No one was injured or arrested as the building was completely empty when blown up through dynamite,’ he added.
   Separately Lashkar-e-Islam followers attacked the empty house of a religious leader who was a rival of LI’s chief, Mangal Bagh, in the town of Pir Killay near the Afghan border, the officials said.
   Troops moved the LI men away but they dynamited the house, which belongs to Pir Saifur Rehman, head of the Taliban-linked Ansar ul Islam group, the officials said.

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, will lead the Bangladesh delegation to the 6th summit of the leaders of developing 8, popularly known as D-8, scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 8.
   This was announced by the foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, on Tuesday. The theme of the summit is ‘Meeting challenges through innovative cooperation’.
   The foreign adviser said this would be a significant gathering of the leaders of government of some of the largest Islamic countries —Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, Turkey, Nigeria and Egypt.
   He said the D-8 was set up in 1997 with an objective to promote economic and trade cooperation among the eight largest Muslim economies. The group seeks to create new trade opportunities, promote linkages and enhance standards of living among the member states.
   Iftekhar said the group today had a volume of trade of $49 billion among themselves, up from $14.5 billion in 1999.
   The last summit was hosted by Indonesia on May 13, 2006 while Bangladesh hosted the second one in 1999.
   The summit will be preceded by a two-day meeting of foreign ministers, where Bangladesh will be represented by the foreign adviser. The senior officials called commissioners in D-8 will meet on July 3-4.
   He said Bangladesh would use this chance to strengthen bilateral ties with Malaysia as well.
   ‘As we all know, Malaysia is a significant destination for our manpower export. While the numbers are large, the challenges are also many. We will meet our appropriate Malaysian counterparts to address some of these issues,’ Iftekhar concluded.
   The chief adviser is expected to depart Dhaka on July 7 and return on July 8.

Mystery was surrounding the whereabouts of Nepal’s controversial former crown prince Paras Tuesday after he flew out of Kathmandu amid speculation he was planning to leave the country for good.
   He was last seen boarding a plane to Bangkok a day after Nepalese newspaper Nata Patrika (New Paper), quoting family sources, said he could be planning to go to Singapore as early as Tuesday.
   However, Nepal’s honorary consul general to the city-state said he knew nothing of the visit.
   When asked about the visit MN Swami said: ‘No one informed me.’ He said if Paras was visiting in an official capacity, the consulate general would have to be notified to make arrangements. But he added: ‘He’s no longer a crown prince.’
   When asked by journalists as he entered Kathmandu airport Tuesday if he planned to return, Paras smiled and made no comment.
   Nata Patrika had said Monday that Paras was leaving for the city-state, adding that he ‘has called for his wife and children to join him after two weeks.’
   Kathmandu Airport officials said the former prince boarded a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok, but said they did not know his final destination.
   On Tuesday, The Himalayan Times reported that the ex-prince was headed to Singapore to find a school and home for his three children and wife, but that he would not be living there himself.
   ‘Paras will return to Kathmandu once his family is settled in there,’ the English-language daily said, quoting an unnamed source close to the former prince.
   A Nepalese embassy official in Bangkok said: ‘We have read this too but we have no idea about this. The embassy has no idea about this.’
   It said 36-year-old Paras was concerned for the safety of his family following the end of the 240-year-old monarchy and the withdrawal of all royal privileges.
   Paras’ father, King Gyanendra, became the last of the Shah dynasty on May 28.

The Indian parliament (Lok Sabha) speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, on Tuesday underscored the need for removing misunderstanding and resolving disputes to help promote better relations and cooperation among countries of South Asian region in general, and India and Bangladesh in particular.
   The Indian Lok Sabha speaker was addressing a West Bengal- Bangladesh dialogue organised by the South Asia Free Media Association at Santiniketan.
   Praising SAFMA for taking initiative towards promotion of better understanding and cooperation among people of SAARC countries, Somnath said, journalists should always be objective in their professional duties.
   Referring to the role of Rabindranath Tagore who believed in universal brotherhood, he said, the Nobel laureate had set up Visva Bharati University with the objective of promoting this philosophy.
   The function was also addressed, among others, by SAFMA secretary general Imtiaz Alam, leader of the Bangladesh delegation Zahiduzzaman Faruque, National Press Club president Shaukat Mahmood and vice-chancellor of Visva Bharati University Rajat Kanta Roa and SAFMA Indian chapter president KK Katyal.
   Regarding Indo-Bangla relations, Somnath said, ‘Bangladesh occupies a special place in the hearts of all people of West Bengal. It is not understandable why there are still some disputes and misunderstandings between the two countries.’

Number of attacks by Royal Bengal Tiger on human beings has increased alarmingly in and around the Sundarbans, especially in its western part, after the cyclone Sidr ravaged the world’s largest mangrove forest in November 2007.
   At least 11 people, including two from one family, were killed in tiger attacks in a month only in Munsiganj area of south-western Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira district.
   Locals fear the number would be even bigger as many more victims, mostly woodcutters and fishermen, might stay unreported in deep forest and numerous channels crisscrossing the mangrove.
   A tiger was trapped and beaten to death last month after it killed three people in a village.
   Villagers now stand guard in groups at night and let off fireworks or beat drums as they fear that the killed tiger’s female partner might invade the village any time for a revenge. They scream in chorus on sighting of any tiger or sensing any suspicious sound or movement to alert the fellow villagers.
   Announcements from loudspeakers of local mosques are a common practice at Munsiganj, a pocket of human habitat with some 40,000 population surrounded by channels and forest.
   ‘Tiger crosses the river [Chunkuri river] very often to prey on humans,’ said Rabiul Islam, caretaker of the Water Development Board office at Munsiganj.
   The 50-year-old man and many others, either born or living for long in the locality, believe that tigers become desperate for human flesh once it preys on a human being.
   ‘Once a tiger tastes human blood, it becomes addicted to it and looks for human being,’ Azibar Rahman, another resident of the area, told New Age, sharing their common observations of tiger’s behaviour.
   ‘We trapped a tiger and beat it to death on Saturday morning [June 21] as it had killed three people here,’ said Azibar of North Kadamtala village on the river around 100 yards off the jungle.
   ‘Around 40 thousand people in Munsiganj are passing sleepless nights in fear of tiger attacks. They return to homes before the sunset, while some people stay in other places at night for safety,’ said Ayub Ali, a local journalist.
   Local people, who live in the neighbourhood of the tiger’s habitat and know about the big cat’s behaviour and movement better than any other, linked the recent trend of tiger attacks to the November 2007 cyclone.
   Many tigers moved close to localities as they either lost their natural habitats or were displaced from their domains after the cyclone Sidr hit the Sundarbans first and most, they said.
   Massive deaths of usual and small preys of tigers caused by the cyclone might also have forced many tigers to turn to villages to prey on domestic animals and even humans, said some of the locals, who risk going deep into forest for cutting wood and fishing in the channels.
   Apurbo Kumar Bhowmik, sub-divisional engineer of WDB in Sathkhira, said Royal Bengal Tigers might have shifted to the Sathkhira side from the deep forest after Sidr. ‘These tigers are now in want of food and attacking humans and other animals in the locality,’ he mentioned.
   Ainun Nishat, country director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said the main reason behind the increase in tiger attacks was shortage of the their natural foods due to shrinkage of forest and other factors worsening the biodiversity in the area.
   ‘More and more people are now entering the forest for various purposes… Dependence on the Sundarbans resources has increased, affecting its biodiversity,’ he mentioned.
   Habitats of tigers and other wild animals in deep forests were badly damaged by Sidr, forcing many tigers to shift to the Sathkhira side, which was less affected by the 2007 cyclone, according to forests officials.
   The Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans is home to about 500 Royal Bengal Tigers.
   ‘Locals have been alerted to further attacks of tigers. We have strengthened patrolling as attacks have increased remarkably after Sidr,’ Mohammad Solaiman, station officer of forests department at Munsiganj, told New Age on Monday.
   He said incidence of tiger attacks increased both inside and outside the forests in Sathkhira area, with more people depending on the forests.
   ‘We are receiving an increased number of reports of tiger attacks for last few months,’ the forest official added.
   Fishermen in the forests claimed that tiger attacks increased inside the forest too. They claimed the deaths from tiger attacks would be much bigger than official counts as many victims, mostly fishermen, in deep forests remained unreported.
   Fishermen, including minor boys, go for fishing in channels in deep forest and stay in boats for a month or long. They often become easy preys for hungry tigers and very little is known about their safe return, locals and forest officials said.

The acceptability of Bangladesh’s next elections will depend on the people of the country although the outside world checks the fairness and credibility of the polls, said the US ambassador in Dhaka, James F Moriarty, on Tuesday.
   Moriarty came up with the views when he was asked whether the elections would be acceptable to the international community if major parties would boycott the polls.
   ‘We will observe the elections in the sense of just going around seeing whether the elections are free, fair and credible. That is important, and, on the other hand, how acceptable it is will depend on the people of Bangladesh,’ said Moriarty after he had called on the foreign affairs adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, in his office.
   Emphasising the restoration of democracy, he said, ‘We leave it to the people of Bangladesh to decide how they would get back to the democratic path.’
   Touching on the issue of local government polls before the general elections, Moriarty said it was interesting to see the Awami League going to local elections. He said he had felt encouraged to see the government taking necessary steps going down the path to democracy by the end of this year.
   Asked about the release of the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, Moriarty expressed his ignorance about the matter, but hoped that the BNP would be able to play an appropriate role in the local elections.
   On the BNP’s five-point demand, he said the government and the BNP should talk about it, stating that the people of Bangladesh have strong opinion about it.
   As for speculations on an electoral college to elect the president, Moriarty again said it was obviously something the people of this country would need to decide.
   He said the United States was probably the only democracy that had an electoral college electing its president.
   Moriarty said, ‘We think it works well. We have been playing for more than 200 years now. But there are lots of other ways to elect a president. Again we leave it to the wisdom of the people of Bangladesh.’

Bangladesh has yet to decide on recognising the independence of Kosovo, a territory in the Balkans which declared independence in February, as Dhaka waits for perceived national interest to make any such decision.
   ‘In such cases [recognising Kosovo], perceived national interest is always the key,’ the foreign affairs adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, told newsmen on Tuesday after the US ambassador, John F Moriarty, had called on him at the ministry.
   Moriarty met the adviser to pursue Dhaka’s recognition to the newly cut-out Balkan state.
   Iftekhar said a decision in this regard could be made soon in consultation with other Islamic countries.
   He, however, admitted the OIC member states were split up on the issue of Kosovo’s independence, and the latest Islamic Conference of the Foreign Ministers in Uganda failed to reach a consensus on the matter.
   Asked why Bangladesh cannot take an independent position on Kosovo, Iftekhar said Bangladesh attaches priority to ‘perceived national interest and how far we will be benefited from such a political matter.’
   He hoped a formal decision regarding the independence of Kosovo would soon be made.
   He noted while the United States and some European countries had accorded formal recognition to Kosovo, this had been strongly opposed by Russia, to a certain extent by China, and some others.
   Apart from Kosovo, Iftekhar said Darfur and Bangladesh’s peacekeeping role were also discussed.

Zheng Jie became the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam semi-final as the wildcard claimed an historic 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory over Czech 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
   Zheng will now play American sixth seed Serena Williams, who defeated Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-0 win.
   Zheng, the lowest ranked player left in the women’s singles, was playing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, but the world number 133 produced a heroic display to blow Vaidisova away in the final set.
   The 24-year-old doubles specialist, who stunned top seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round, will play former two-time champion Serena Williams in the last four.
   Li Na was the only other Chinese to reach the last eight of a Grand Slam, at Wimbledon in 2006, but she went no further.
   Now Zheng, who had only won two singles matches at Wimbledon before this year, has surpassed that achievement.
   Vaidisova arrived in south-west London reeling after six first round exits in her last seven tournaments, but that slump was forgotten as the 19-year-old advanced to her second successive Wimbledon quarter-final.
   The Chinese hadn’t dropped a set en route to the last eight and that sparkling form continued as she broke in Vaidisova’s first service game before saving three break points to retain the lead.
   Vaidisova, the youngest of the eight quarter-finalists, looked her tender age as Zheng scrambled to save three break points again.
   Zheng was gifted the first set when Vaidisova tamely double faulted in the eighth game.
   The often erratic Czech hit back to break for a 3-2 lead in the second set.
   A blistering backhand winner from Zheng earned a quick break back. But Vaidisova had found rhythm on her ground-strokes and broke again to take the set.
   That set up a nerve-jangling decider, which perfectly suited a teak-tough competitor like Zheng.
   She was scrapping for every point and gradually wore down Vaidisova. The decisive break came in the fourth game when Vaidisova sent a backhand wide.
   Zheng went for the kill and broke again for a 5-1 lead before serving out the most important win of her life.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque is the Awami League candidate for Khulna city mayoral election set for August 4.
   The district and metropolitan Awami League announced the candidature of Abdul Khaleque, former state minister, at a press conference on Tuesday.
   District AL president Sheikh Harunar Rashid, general secretary Gazi Abdul Hadi and city AL general secretary Mizanur Rahman Mizan, among others, were present.
   Khaleque told the press conference that if elected mayor he would discharge the responsibilities neutrally.

Three bombs exploded at an office of the International Organisation of Migration in east Nepal that helps Bhutanese refugees to settle in third countries, the police and government officials said on Tuesday.
   It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the blasts, in the eastern town of Damak late on Monday. No one was hurt, the police said, although there was minor damage to the buildings.
   It was the third attack on the IOM in Nepal since some Western countries, including the United States, began taking in some of the 107,000 Bhutanese of ethnic Nepali origin that live in Nepal earlier this year.
   They fled their homes in Bhutan or were expelled after demanding democracy in the 1990s.