Saudi king gives women right to vote

Agence France-Presse . Riyadh

Saudi King Abdullah on Sunday granted women the right to vote and run in municipal elections, in a historic first for the ultra-conservative country where women are subjected to many restrictions.

‘Starting with the next term, women will have the right to run in municipal elections and to choose candidates, according to Islamic principles,’ he said in speech

to the Shura Council carried live on state television.

Women’s rights activists have long fought to gain the right to vote in the Gulf kingdom, which applies a strict version of Sunni Islam and bans women from driving or travelling without the consent of a male guardian.

Manal al-Sharif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant who was arrested on May 22 and detained for 10 days after posting on YouTube a video of herself driving around the eastern city of Khobar, said the king’s decision as ‘a historic and courageous one.’

‘The king is a reformist,’ she said of the 86-year-old monarch, whose country was spared a wave of protests rocking the region by which autocratic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt were toppled.

The king’s decision means that women will be able to take part in the elections that are to be held in four years, as the next vote is due to take place on Thursday and nominations are already closed.

In addition to participating in the only public polls in the country, women would have the right to join the all-appointed Shura (consultative) Council, he said in the address opening the assembly’s new term.

‘We have decided that women will participate in the Shura Council as members starting the next term,’ the king said in the unexpected move to enfranchise women.

More than 5,000 men will compete in Thursday’s municipal elections, only the second in Saudi Arabia’s history, to fill half the seats in the kingdom’s 285 municipal councils. The other half are appointed by the government.

The first elections were held in 2005, but the government extended the existing council’s term for two years.

King Abdullah said his decision came because ‘we refuse marginalising women’s role in the Saudi society in all fields,’ and followed ‘consultations with several scholars.’

He did not mention anything about women’s right to drive in the kingdom where they must hire male chauffeurs, or depend on the goodwill of relatives if they do not have the means.

However, he said that ‘balanced modernisation which agrees with our Islamic values is a necessary demand in an epoch where there is no place for those who are hesitant’ in moving forward.

Saudi Arabia has seen many changes since Abdullah became king in 2005.

Norah al-Fayez, who was named to the post of deputy education minister for women’s education in 2009, was the first woman ever named to a ministerial post in the country.

More than 60 intellectuals and activists had called in May for a boycott of the September ballot because ‘municipal councils lack the authority to effectively carry out their role’ and ‘half of their members are appointed,’ as well as because they exclude women.

The Shura Council had recommended allowing women to vote in the next local polls, officials have said.

In April, Samar Badawi said she was suing the municipal affairs ministry for upholding the ban on women taking part in the local poll.

Badawi filed a lawsuit at the administrative court in Mecca against the ministry for denying women the right to register as voters.

Also in April, a group of women defied the ban on women in elections by turning up at a voter registration office in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, in a rare public demonstration against the male-only electoral system.

But they were turned back by the head of the centre who told them women were still banned from voting.

The oil-rich Sunni kingdom has however seen minor sporadic demonstrations by Shiites that took place in its Eastern Province.

Sahrif was the icon of a campaign through which a group of defiant Saudi women got behind the steering wheels of their cars on June 17 in response to calls for nationwide action against the ban on driving.

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has publicly thrown her support behind the campaign, saying that ‘what these women are doing is brave, and what they are seeking is right.’

‘The Saudi woman, will for the first time, become a partner in decision-making. I hope she gets assigned as a minister,’ said Sharif.

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Coastal areas need adequate cyclone shelters

Speakers at a seminar in Khulna on Sunday urged the government for taking effective steps to construct adequate cyclone shelters and making the coastal embankments higher to save the coastal people from cyclones and water surge.

They made the demand at the seminar on ‘Importance of coastal embankment and cyclone shelters for risk reduction of the coastal people’ arranged by Jagrata Juba Sangha with the help of Shapla Nir, Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency at Circuit House in Bagerhat.

Assistant professor of Urban and Rural Planning department of Khulna University Mostafizur Rahman presented the keynote paper at the seminar.

The speakers said that Bangladesh was one of the most vulnerable countries of the climate change and the coastal zone was the most vulnerable area where natural disasters were occurring frequently for past few years.

The coastal zone lacked of adequate number of cyclone shelters and the embankments were not too high to check the water surge, they said, adding that most of the roads towards the cyclone shelters needed repair and reconstruction.

The people had to suffer at the cyclone centres for adequate arrangement of safe drinking water, toilets and storing agricultural products, the speakers said.

Mostafizur Rahman, in his keynote paper, suggested for establishing adequate cyclone shelters with adequate toilets, rain water harvesters and food grain storing capacity, making at least 15 feet high embankment and strong coordination of different government and non-government organisations for risk and loss reduction during disasters.

Chaired by JJS executive director ATM Zakir Hossain, the programme was also addressed by parliamentary standing committee on social welfare chairman Mozammel Hossain, Bagerhat additional deputy commissioner (general) Shahnewaz Talukder and Shapla Neer Bangladesh country director Adushi Ojima, among others.

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Preparation for SAFF football starts today

The Bangladesh football team will start their preparation for the SAFF Championship today though the Bangladesh Football Federation decided against holding any residential camp.

The 22-member team will report to national coach Nikola Ilievski today and will play two 45-minute matches against the Under-22 and Under-19 teams at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on the opening day.

The team are expected to play more than half a dozen practice matches against different Bangladesh League clubs and age group teams before starting their skill training on October 23. 

The players have been asked to stay at their homes and report to coach for practice matches scheduled to be held on September 29 and October 2, 7, 10, 14, 18 and 21.

‘I know the players have a tendency to misuse such freedom but I have no other way as I will be busy till November with the Under-19 team,’ said coach Ilievski, apparently  referring to the two players who went to play on hire in Manikganj just  a day before the team’s departure to Lebanon.

‘We will start the residential camp once the Under-19 assignment is over,’ added Ilievski, who has already excluded Zahid Hasan Ameli and Mithun Chowdhury from his squad.

The coach said he is willing to stick to the squad that he announced and thus the chance of Under-22 and Under-19 players being promoted to the senior side is slim at this stage even if they perform extraordinarily in the practice matches.

‘Extraordinarily, impressive huh! I have been watching them for quite a long time. The Under-19 side lost to Sheikh Jamal 1-0 in yesterday’s [Saturday’s] practice match while drew 1-1 with the Under-22 side. They are al the same,’ Ilievski told New Age on Sunday.

The SAFF Championship is scheduled to start on December 1. 

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Stock investors want finance minister, BB governer to go

Stock market volatility in Dhaka led small investors in Barisal to hold a demonstration on Sunday demanding removal of the finance minister and the Bangladesh Bank governor.

They also demanded immediate steps to stabilise the stock market.

The protesters formed human chain in front of Aswani Kumar Hall  followed by a  rally.

The angry protesters got together under the banner of ‘Small Investors Forum Barisal.’

They have been agitating for last few days losing their investment due to market fluctuations.

The forum convener Ahmed Ali presided over the rally addressed by investors Sohel Nobel, Sheikh Manirul Islam, Anwar Hossain.

The small investors demanded waiver on interest on the money they had borrowed for investing in stocks.

They also demanded a mechanism to stop the brokerage houses from forcing them to sell their shares.

Investment Corporation of Bangladesh Barisal assistant general manager in Barisal, Saidul Islam said that fear ‘seems to have been removed from the investors’ mind.

He advised investors to buy shares with strong fundamentals. 

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Automatic vehicle inspection centres yet to be operational

Shahin Akhter

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority is planning to appoint local consultants to run the five automatic vehicle inspection centres lying idle for more than a decade.

Since the Danish International Development Agency handed over the centres, set up under a joint road maintenance and rehabilitation project, to BRTA in 1999, the authorities failed to attract foreign consultants to make the plants operative.

BRTA engineering department director Mohammad Saiful Haque told New Age that under the joint project with Danida, five vehicle inspection centres had been set up in different parts of the country in 1997-98 fiscal years.

Each of the centres, with a capacity to inspected about 150 vehicles per day, was set up at a cost of Tk one crore, he said.

‘But the Danida consultants left the country in 1999 without supporting the operational side of the plants and as a result they could not work for a single day,’ he said.

Saiful Haque said that the BRTA had tried to attract different foreign companies, but they did not show interest in the work.

‘So we have asked the communications ministry to invite tender to appoint local consultants and activate the plants as soon as possible,’ he said.

He hoped tender would be floated for local consultants by this year.

Earlier, BRTA deputy director of engineering department Sheikh Mohammad Mahbub-e-Rabbani told New Age that the centres would check motor vehicles’ fitness by using automatic equipment, including brake testers, alignment testers, smoke testers and under-chassis checkers.

He said that two centres were set up in Mirpur and Ekuria in Dhaka and three others in Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi.

BRTA sources said that at present vehicles were checked manually by 57 motor vehicle inspectors all over the country.

The sources said about 16 lakh registered motor vehicles were plying the country’s roads and all of them needed annual re-registration.

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Akhtar’s book release function in Mumbai called off

Press Trust of India . Mumbai

The scheduled release of Shoaib Akhtar’s controversial book in Mumbai has suddenly been cancelled without any reason being given.

Former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar was to release Akhtar’s biography ‘Controversially Yours’ at the Cricket Club of India premises.  ‘The event has been cancelled,’ confirmed a CCI official, without assigning any reason.

According to sources, the event was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

The sudden cancellation generated speculation that it may be because of less than flattering remarks about India’s batting stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.  In his tell-all autobiography, Akhtar has made many controversial claims, such as iconic Indian batsman Tendulkar did not have the ability to finish matches in the initial stages of his career.

Meanwhile, a protest was held in suburban Dahisar on Saturday against Akhtar, for his comments on Tendulkar. Protesters carried Akthar’s posters on donkey-backs.

On Monday, Akhtar is scheduled to attend another function to promote his book in the city.

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Juba League leader arrested

Gournadi police on Sunday arrested a Juba League leader as suspected killing-squad member of murdering a primary school teacher and former JCD leader Farid Zamaddar.

Gournadi police station officer-in-charge ( inspection) inspector Mizanur Rahman and  investigation officer of the case said that Mukul Jamaddar, 35, was arrested from Diashur in Gournadi municipal town in the morning after tracking the mobile–phone calls of the suspected.

Mukul is a member of Gournadi upazila Juba League convening committee and cousin of Nayon Sharif, 29, upazila secretary and Kajal Howladar, 28, vice president Gournadi Government College units of BCL, two prime-accused in the Farid-murder case.

Mukul has been sent to Barisal district police office Sunday noon.

The officer-in-charge of the police station, inspector Nurul Islam, himself took him to the district police office.

The police superintendent of Barisal, Dev Das Bhattacharyya, said that Mukul was shown arrested after he confessed

in primary interrogation that he was in the killing squad.

Mukul would be further interrogated by an interrogation board of different branches of police and would be produced before the court on today, the SP said.

Earlier Gournadi police recorded the statement Shefali an eye-witness of the incident and interrogated Saddam Sardar and Zia Saradar, two BCL activists, in this connection, said the OC of Gournadi police station.

Shah Farid Zamaddar, 29, former president Chandshi union and vice president Gournadi Government College JCD units  and teacher of Pinglakathi Government Primary School under Chandshi union  in Gournadi upazila was chopped to death in open daylight Thursday morning when they were on their way to school.

Shah Jalal Zamaddar, a primary school teacher and brother of the victim, filed a murder case on Thursday night with Gournadi police station.

He alleged that his brother Shah Farid Zamaddar was murdered in a sequel to an altercation he had last month with local BCL cadres.

BCL cadres led by Nayon and Kajal, swooped on Farid when he was on his way to school and chopped him leaving him critically injured at about 9.40 AM Thursday and the attending physician at the upazila health complex declared Farid dead when he was taken there, he said.

In protest against the killing of primary school teacher and former JCD leader, half-day Hartal was observed at Gournadi municipal town on Friday and primary school teachers started week-long protest programme wearing black badges and abstaining from work.

Advocate Talukdar Md Yunus, local AL lawmaker while talking to journalists over cell phone condemned the killing.

He said that he asked the police for holding free and fair investigation and arrest of the killers.

He said that the killing occurred due to personal rivalry and that it had nothing to do with

politics.

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Pakistan can get to the top of world rankings: Waqar

Waqar Younis, who quit as Pakistan cricket coach last week, says the squad he managed is highly capable of taking the country to the top of the world rankings, reports IANS.

Lahore-based Pakistani cricketers and the Pakistan Cricket Board officials gave Waqar a farewell on Friday night at the National Cricket Academy, hours before the former captain left for Sydney.

Waqar, who had said the Zimbabwe tour would be his last, citing personal and health reasons for quitting, was with the team for a little over a year.

‘It’s not like I won’t be coming back to Pakistan as this is my own country,’ said Waqar before departing from Lahore airport.

‘I am leaving for personal reasons, but once things improve, I will definitely give coming back a thought. In the meantime, it was a good experience with the PCB as well as the players. Coaching Pakistan was an experience altogether which went well.’

Waqar, who decided to step down before his contract ended in December, is said to be suffering from a liver ailment for which his Sydney doctors have advised him long-term treatment under their direct supervision.

Despite severe criticism by former captain

Shahid Afridi, Waqar termed his tenure successful as he facilitated the creation of a team that is gelling well.

‘I am leaving the team as a unit and I hope they remain that way. They are capable of giving Sri Lanka a tough time. And with the spirit in the team that I have seen, I am optimistic of good results.’

Former Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam praised Waqar for his services.

‘I have worked with him in various capacities and found him a true professional,’ said Alam.

‘Apart from his wonderful cricketing career, he has now done an excellent job with the team as a coach and obviously his resignation is a setback to our plans.’

‘His performance was outstanding,’ said PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. ‘I can understand the reasons for his wanting to leave and I hope he is able to resolve all his issues. He’s welcome to come back and serve Pakistan cricket any time.’ Sports Desk

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Malinga leads Mumbai to unlikely win

Press Trust of India . Chennai

Lasith Malinga looked stunned when Mike Hussey swept his fast yorker to the boundary. But by the end of the evening, it was Malinga’s turn to leave Chennai Super Kings shattered.

What he couldn’t do with the ball, Malinga ( 37 off 18 balls) did with the bat when CSK had all but wrapped it up. Coming in at No 9, he hit left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati for two consecutive sixes in the 17th over and even Mr Cool MS Dhoni panicked.

He missed a stumping and when Malinga’s edge off Bollinger went to the third-man boundary in the 18th, the match had turned on its head. Mumbai Indians needed 11 off the last over and with Doug Bollinger bowling, the IPL champions still fancied their chances.

But Malinga was in the zone and when Harbhajan hit the crucial boundary with two balls to go, it was all over for CSK. Harbhajan kept his head and finished the job in 19.5 overs, which gave Mumbai Indians one of their best wins ever.

Chasing 159 for victory, the Mumbai Indians started with a flourish with Sachin Tendulkar, sitting in the dressing-room, looking really happy. Davy Jacobs and Aiden Blizzard were going great guns, but the moment Dhoni brought his spinners on, things started falling into place for CSK.

Ashwin had Jacobs stumped down the legs while Raina got the wickets of Blizzard and Suman with subtle variations of flight that left Mumbai Indians in the doldrums.

Local boy R Sathish looked to take the fight to CSK, but Ashwin’s carrom ball had him plumb in front. When Kieron Pollard left, even the biggest Mumbai fan didn’t expect a win, but Malinga had other ideas.

Earlier, Hussey was in a league of his own. He has been playing for CSK for the last three seasons and knows all about the conditions. He knows that the pitch is slow (despite being relaid) and the best way is to wait for the ball instead of committing early.

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Farmers to launch movement for increasing sugarcane price

The Bangladesh Chinikal Akkhchasi Federation, an association of farmers supplying sugarcanes to the nationalised sugar mills, announced on Sunday that it would wage a movement to press a seven-point set of demands including increasing the price of sugarcanes and bringing down the recently hiked price of urea fertiliser to its previous level.

Farmers are losing interest in cultivating sugarcane because of its low price and increased price of urea, said the federation general secretary, Mohammad Akkas Ali, in a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity.

He said, to press its home demands, the federation would wage a movement including handing over a memorandum to the managing directors of the sugar mills on September 29, forming a human chain in front of the National Press Club on October 10, and handing over a memorandum to industries minister Dilip Barua on October 16.

The federation will go for tougher programme, if its demands are not fulfilled by October 20, its president Golam Sarwer told the press conference.

Sugar production is on the wane as the farmers have been producing less sugarcane following an increase in its production costs, the federation leaders said.

The farmers now are getting Tk 83 for a maund (37.3 kilograms) of sugarcane and the federation said they demanded to increase the price to Tk 120 per maund.

Federation leaders Sirajul Islam, Iddris Ali, and Yasin Ali were also present in the conference.

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Four-day match from today

Mushfiqur Rahim and Shahriar Nafees will lead the BCB Red XI and BCB Green XI respectively in the four-day practice match ahead of the home series against West Indies beginning at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.

While Mushfiq has the prospective Test line-up with former captain Sakib al Hasan being the only name missing, Shahriar will lead a team made up of young and experienced players.

Junaed Siddique, otherwise a regular player in the Test line-up, was dumped in Shahriar’s BCB Green, which also include Naeem Islam, Alok Kapali and Roqibul Hassan. 

The selectors picked unheralded Nazmul Hossain Apu to provide BCB Red some support as back-up fielder. 

BCB Red: Mushfiqur Rahim ©, Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Ashra

ful, Shubhagata Hom, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Sohrawardi Shuvo,  Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Nazmul Hossain Apu.

BCB Green: Shahriar Nafees ©,  Junaed Siddique,  Sahgir Hossain, Roqibul Hassan, Alok Kapali, Naeem Islam, Elias Sunny, Shahadat Hossain,  Robiul Islam, Syed Rasel, Nur Hossain,  Alahuddin Babu, Sohag Gazi.

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Oil-gas body begins road march today

Moloy Saha

The national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports will begin its  three-day Dhaka–Chittagong road march today to push for its seven-point demands, including the scrapping of the deal with ConocoPhillips for hydrocarbon exploration in two offshore gas fields in the Bay of Bengal.

The marchers, in three buses, will start for Chittagong this morning after holding a rally in front of the National Press Club at 10:00am.

The organisation’s convener, Sheikh Muhammad Shaheedullah will preside over the rally. Academics Serajul Islam Choudhury and Akmal Hossain, columnist Syed Abul Moksud, the organisation’s member secretary Anu Muhammad and leaders of left-leaning political parties will also speak. The march will reach Comilla today after holding rallies on its way at Sonargaon, Daudkandi and Chandina. The marchers will leave Comilla Tuesday morning and will hold rallies at Chauddagam, Feni and Mirsarai.

On the third day on Wednesday, the marchers will leave Mirsarai in the morning and hold a rally at Sitakundu before holding the final rally in Laldighi Maidan in Chittagong.

Shadeedullah and  Anu in a press statement issued on Sunday called on the people to make the programmes  successful.

They  demanded the scrapping of the model production and sharing contract 2008 and called on the government not to work out the production and sharing contract 2011 for hydrocarbon exploration in onshore gas fields. They alleged that the energy ministry was controlled by multinational companies and some ministry officials were serving the purposes of the foreign companies.

The organisation will hold ‘a grand rally’ in Dhaka on November 30 after holding a march to the Sunetra gas field in October and a national convention in November.

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UPDF man killed in Rangamati

Assailants gunned down an activist of United People’s Democratic Front at Talukderpara of Baghaichhari in Rangamati on Sunday morning.

The UPDF blamed its rival Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity for the killing. But PCJSS denied the accusation outright.

Police and local people said an armed group of four to five people swooped on a tea stall at Talukdarpra where Mohanlal Chakma was having tea with two other UPDF activists at around 9am and opened fire on them.

Mohanlal, son of Rangachan Chakma of village Ugalchhari, died on the spot but the other two managed to escape.

Police said the attackers left the scene immediately after their operation.

Rangamati district UPDF organiser Alakesh Chakma alleged the goons of PCJSS made the attack and killed Mohanlal.

The PCJSS assistant publicity secretary Sajib Chakma claimed the party was not involved in the shootout as it has no organisational activities in that particular area. ‘That area is dominated by UPDF and some people who left us,’ he said.

Banghaichhari police officer-in-charge Naimuddin said they had recovered the body of Mohanlal and sent it for autopsy. He could not confirm Mohanlal’s identity.

Meanwhile, members of Border Guard Bangladesh cordoned off the area and conducted a search to find out the assailants.

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NTC fighters enter Sirte

  National Transitional Council fighters prepare their weapons prior their fights in the city of Sirte on Saturday. ­— AFP photo

Agence France-Presse . Sirte

Hundreds of fighters for Libya’s new rulers thrust into Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte from the east on Sunday, as NATO warplanes pounded the coastal city for a second straight day.

Flashing V-for-victory signs, the fighters moved into Sirte on pickup trucks and larger lorries, backed by three artillery tanks as they shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest), an AFP correspondent said.

Other fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council held their ground west of the Mediterranean city, as deadly clashes also raged in the western oasis of Ghadames near the Algerian border.

And west of Sirte, NTC forces assembled outside Bani Walid for a fresh assault on the town, the only other remaining Gaddafi redoubt.

As they rolled in from Sirte’s eastern gate, two ambulances sped out with sirens ablaze, and other NTC fighters emerged from the Gaddafi bastion, where they said there were small arms firefights.

‘We are fighting with Kalashnikovs and small arms around the city centre,’ Mar’ee Saleh of the Ali Hassan Jabar Brigade said.

‘We are firing at Gaddafi’s men but their return fire is not very strong,’ he said as he exited from the eastern gate.

Saleh added that ‘NATO carried out several strikes today. I saw them myself.’

Many of the pickup trucks entering the city carried food and water supplies, as well as mattresses, an indication the fighters were planning to take positions inside Sirte, the correspondent said.

West of Sirte, however, NTC forces held their ground saying they had received instructions not to launch a fresh assault into Sirte to allow NATO to carry out operations.

On the political front, NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said an interim government would be announced next week and that Gaddafi’s internationally ‘banned weapons’ were now under its control.

Earlier, one of the fighters stationed at Sirte’s eastern gate said fighters were looking for land mines.

‘We fear that Gaddafi forces have buried land mines on the outskirts of the city. So we are careful. So far today it has been quiet after heavy clashes yesterday,’ said frontline fighter Abdul Hameed.

Fighters stationed west of Sirte told another AFP correspondent they had been told by the NATO coalition to stay put on Sunday and hold back a planned new assault on the city.

NATO aircraft launched at least a dozen air strikes around Sirte on Sunday morning, a correspondent said.

On Saturday, NATO warplanes blew up 29 armed vehicles, a firing position, two command and control nodes and three ammunition storage facilities in the area, the alliance said in an operational update.

On Saturday fighters entered Sirte in what appeared to be a pincer movement from the south and the east.

‘Our troops went seven kilometres inside through the eastern gate and there were sporadic to sometimes heavy clashes with Gaddafi’s forces,’ said commander Mohammed al-Marimi of the Fakriddin Sallabi Brigade.

Misrata Military Council spokesman Abdel Ibrahim said seven NTC fighters were killed and 145 wounded.

The fighters used tanks and pickups mounted with anti-aircraft guns to clear roadblocks set up by Gaddafi forces and drove towards Sirte city centre, erecting their own defences in advanced positions.

On a beach road surrounded by craters and pock-marked buildings, a 106mm anti-tank cannon repeatedly pounded Gaddafi positions, backed by a barrage of mortar fire and multiple rocket-launchers.

One Sirte resident who managed to flee early on Sunday said fighting subsided at around 7:00pm on Saturday.

‘There are African mercenaries roaming across the city. They are firing at houses with anti-aircraft guns in district one’ on the western edge of Sirte, he said, refusing to give his name for security reasons.

He also said he twice saw one of Gaddafi’s sons, Mutassim — once in a command centre in a hospital basement, over the past three weeks.

Front line fighters in Sirte have repeatedly said Mutassim is holed up in its southern outskirts.

Saturday’s assault came after reports of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the city of around 75,000.

NATO forces struck at Gaddafi forces after reports emerged from Sirte of ‘executions, hostage-taking, and the calculated targeting of individuals, families, and communities within the city,’ a coalition statement said.

The assault on Ghadames, 600 kilometres southwest of Tripoli, came at dawn, killing at least eight NTC fighters and wounding 50, said Muhandes Sirajeddin, deputy chief of the local council.

‘The attack began at around 5:30am (0330 GMT). Around 100 Gaddafi loyalists, including mercenaries who came from around Algeria (across the border), and groups of Tuareg took part in the fighting,’ he said.

Sirajeddin and two other residents said clashes were still under way in Ghadames, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Roman ruins.

Heavy fighting also raged in Bani Walid, the only other remaining pro-Gaddafi bastion, with NTC fighters coming under fire from inside the town, an AFP correspondent said.

NTC commander Omar Mukhtar said his men are ‘regrouping’ but would not attack on Sunday.

‘We are getting ready,’ he said, as an AFP correspondent saw five tanks rolling up to the front line.

NTC forces believe that Gaddafi’s most prominent son, Seif al-Islam, is holed up in Bani Walid. ‘We know exactly where he is,’ Mukhtar said.

Meanwhile, the remains of more than 1,700 prisoners executed in 1996 by jailers at Tripoli’s notorious Abu Salim prison have been found in a mass grave in the capital, a National Transitional Council spokesman said Sunday.

‘We found the place where all these martyrs were buried,’ said Khalid Sharif, spokesman of the NTC’s military council, adding it was proof of ‘criminal acts’ by Gaddafi’s regime.

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3rd day of agitation observed collecting mass signature

The inhabitants of both Bangladeshi and Indian enclaves observed their third day programme on Sunday, out of their 10-day agitation programme, collecting mass signature in favour of their demands for early implementation of the enclave exchange deal between Bangladesh and India.

The general secretary of India-Bangladsh Enclave Exchange Co-ordination Committee of Bangladesh chapter, Golam Mostafa, inaugurated the campaign of mass signature collection at about 11:00am on Sunday at Phulbari central Shahid Minar as their third- day programme.

The leaders of India-Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Co-ordination Committee and the people of Dashear Chhara enclave told this correspondent that they had collected mass signature in Phulbari and Bhurungamari upazila in Kurigram in favour of their demands.

People of all the 162 enclaves inside Bangladesh and India are observing their 10-day (September 23-October 2) agitation programme demanding a specific time frame for early implementation of the enclave exchange deal in line with Bangladesh-India land boundary agreement of 1974, popularly known as Mujib-Indira Pact, according to the leaders of India-Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Coordination Committee.

The movement would continue until realisation of their demand, the leaders said.

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Ctg court grants remand to 23 Jamaat, Shibir men

Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Chittagong

A Chittagong court on Sunday granted two days’ remand to 23 detained Jamaat-Shibir men in connection with August 20 clash with law enforcers in the city’s Muradpur area.

The Panchlaish police produced the 36 Jamaat-Shibir activists before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Muntasir Ahmed seeking five-day remand.

The court, however, granted two days’ remand to 23 Jamaat- Shibir men after hearing of both the parties and ordered to interrogate another 13 Jamaat men at the jail gate.

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Hasina’s stand is ‘you’re either with me or against me’: Yunus

A leaked US embassy cable has observed that a prophet has no honour in his own country, at least as far as Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus and the Awami League-led government attitude towards him is concerned.

The cable sent to Washington from the US embassy in Dhaka on November 30, 2009, said, ‘Prime minister Sheikh Hasina and foreign minister Dipu Moni made clear their distrust and suspicion of Yunus in several recent meetings with senior US government officials.’

WikiLeaks on August 30, 2011 released a number of diplomatic cables which had noted that while the government claimed Yunus was engaged in corrupt practices at Grameen Bank, his ties to the military-controlled interim administration and his brief contemplation of a role in

Bangladesh politics were more likely the reasons for Awami League’s disdain.

‘No one in Bangladesh can escape politics, however,’ said the November 30, 2009 cable.

One of the cables said Yunus wanted to resolve whatever ‘misunderstanding’ existed with Hasina over his efforts and organisation Grameen Bank and asked the US government to assist him in urging Hasina to change a long-standing rule that gave the government control over his position as Grameen Bank chairman and sought US help to resolve the problems.

Hasina signalled her displeasure with Yunus by refusing to ratify the interim regime’s ordinance that had empowered the Grameen Bank board of directors to appoint its chairman, said the November 30, 2009 cable sent by the then US charge d’ affaires Nicholas Dean.

‘Fearing [that the] government displeasure with him would jeopardise Grameen Bank and his other initiatives, Yunus requested the US ambassador to put in a good word with Sheikh Hasina on behalf of Grameen and Yunus,’ the cable read.

On November 5, 2009, when the US ambassador at a meeting with Hasina raised the Yunus issue, ‘the prime minister theatrically rolled her eyes and shook her head.  She spoke at length about her estrangement from Yunus and nodded her agreement when an advisor in the meeting characterised Yunus as ungrateful for the Grameen Phone deal that the prime minister had made possible.’

On November 11, 2009 ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer met with Hasina, when the former was also interested in meeting with Yunus.

 ‘Most keenly, the prime minister felt Yunus had exercised poor judgment by courting military officers who had presented Yunus the possibility of coming to power through military backing in early 2007,’ the cable said. 

‘Perhaps we don’t work together.  But we don’t stop him.  When I was in Sweden (recently), Yunus was there and we exchanged hands.  It is our family tradition.’ Hasina was quoted in the cable to have said. 

When ambassador Verveer met with foreign minister Dipu Moni the next day, however, the latter had a litany of complaints against Yunus. Dipu Moni presented a range of allegations against Yunus and Grameen. 

‘She complained about the high interest rates Grameen charges its customers and alleged that the bank used “vicious practices” to recruit customers and obtain loan payments,’ the cable read.

Dipu Moni said, ‘Yunus broke rules and Grameen didn’t comply with Bangladesh law, including auditing requirements.  Many people in Bangladesh were upset when Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize given his corrupt practices.’

She also said government leaders understood the power of Yunus’ international reputation and therefore ‘bit our tongues’ when accolades were heaped upon him. 

According to the cable, on a personal note, Dipu Moni the foreign minister also complained that Yunus did not visit Sheikh Hasina in the hospital after she was injured in a 2004 bomb attack.

Ambassadors Verveer and James F Moriarty met with Yunus on November 11, 2009, when Yunus disputed all the allegations and said he and Grameen complied with all laws, including annual audits.

Yunus agreed that the prime minister likely viewed him as part of the caretaker government that tried to remove her and her rival, Khaleda Zia of the opposition BNP, from Bangladesh’s political scene. 

Yunus said Hasina’s attitude was, ‘you’re either with me or against me.’ 

 This dispute also raises questions about the long-term future of Grameen Bank.  Yunus is 69 years old.  Yunus told Moriarty and Verveer that he had offered to retire on a number of occasions, but the bank board had refused his offers, claiming there would be a run on the bank if he left. 

Yunus said he had been grooming a successor, but claimed government leaders had wooed that person into their camp and now he was working against him within the bank.

Another cable sent to Washington on August 12, 2009 by the then US ambassador James F Moriarty in Dhaka, said when the ambassador had met with Yunus on August 9, 2009 to congratulate him on winning the presidential medal of freedom, Yunus reported that tensions between him and the prime minister continued, but he hoped to meet with her soon to clear any misunderstandings over his efforts and organisation. 

Yunus said he had not yet received an appointment with Hasina despite his sending in an urgent request in late July 2009. Yunus perceived that even supportive government officials felt pressured to distance themselves from his recommendations and proposals.

Moriarty in another cable he sent to Washington on May 11, 2009 disclosed that Yunus had asked that the US assist him in urging Sheikh Hasina to change a long-standing rule giving the government control over his position as the Grameen Bank chairman.

Bangladesh’s 2007-2008 caretaker government passed an ordinance removing the GOB’s authority to select the bank chairman, but the parliament has not yet ratified that ordinance, the cable said.

In a May 10, 2009 meeting with the ambassador, ‘Yunus requested our input on the best way to request the PM reconsider her refusal,’ Moriarty said in the cable.

Yunus also discussed with the ambassador his disappointment over the AL government. He said the new government had to focus on the nation’s power needs and improve the quality of government bureaucracy in order for Bangladesh to weather the current economic turmoil, it said.

During the meeting Yunus said parliament had refused to approve an amendment to legislation that established Grameen Bank in the early 1980s; the amendment would have given the bank’s board of directors, rather than the government (as has been the practice), the authority to select the chairman of Grameen Bank, a position held by Yunus since the bank’s inception and renewed every two years.

In order to create Grameen Bank in 1983, Yunus sought support from the government to transform his micro-credit venture from a charitable organisation to a full-fledged bank, the cable said.

The government of Bangladesh passed an ordinance creating Grameen Bank, that decreed that the government would own 60 per cent of the bank and would have the authority to appoint its chairman. 

‘Since 1983, the GOB’s share of Grameen Bank has gradually declined; now the government only owns 5 per cent of the bank.’

The GOB has also continued to re-appoint Yunus the bank’s chairman.  However, Yunus has long desired to change the rule giving the GOB control of his position as chairman, the cable said. 

Over the years, Yunus told the ambassador, he had applied repeatedly to the GOB to amend the rules regarding the selection of the chairman.

The ambassador and Yunus went on to discuss more generally the prime minister’s performance during her first four months in office.

Yunus was critical of Hasina’s actions to strengthen the central government at the expense of local government.  He also criticised the AL government for exacting petty retributions against the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader Khaleda Zia.  ‘This is a divisive strategy,’ Yunus said.  The prime minister ‘must build bridges.’

Moriarty commented, ‘Despite, or perhaps because of, Yunus’ international reputation, many among Bangladesh’s political elite regard the Nobel Laureate with suspicion.  In the atmosphere of Bangladesh’s cult-of-personality politics, Sheikh Hasina and others likely view Yunus’ achievements and stature as a threat to their authority; in their minds, his very brief attempt to establish a political party in the early days of the 2007-2008.’

‘Yunus and his supporters, including the United States, need to convince the prime minister that an independent Grameen Bank is in her interest,’ he concluded.

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Clean technology brick kilns can drastically reduce mortality in city

A brick kiln control law is under the active consideration of the government for curbing serious environment pollution by outdated and energy-intensive brick kilns, state minister for environment and forests Hasan Mahmud said on Sunday.

Speaking at a workshop in the city he said such pollution was having an adverse impact on the environment.

The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment Project of the Department of Environment and the World Bank jointly organized the workshop entitled, ‘Introducing energy-efficient clean technologies in the brick sector of Bangladesh’ to share the key findings about the country’s brick manufacturing industry.

The speakers included, among others, Ministry of Environment and Forestry joint secretary Mohammad Nasiruddin, Department of Environment director general Monowar Islam, WB acting country director Zahid Hussain and Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Abul Quasem.

World Bank senior environmental specialist Shakil A. Ferdausi presented a paper on ‘alternative and improved brick kiln technologies’ and WB economic consultant Lelia Croitoru on ‘economic costs and benefits of different technologies’.

Chinese energy specialist Jie Li and brick expert Hui Xiao presented a paper on ‘China’s experience in transforming the brick industry.’

The two WB environment specialists said that pollution by fixed chimneys in more than 90 percent of brick kilns in Bangladesh account for up to 20 per cent of premature mortality due to environmental factors.

They said that 530 highly polluting and energy-intensive kilns with fixed chimneys in north Dhaka which produce 2.1 billion bricks a year are also the city’s main source of fine particulate pollution.

They called for immediate replacement of the out-dated kilns by cleaner brick making technologies such as the vertical shaft brick kilns and the hybrid Hoffmann kilns which are more socially profitable than the highly polluting fixed chimney kilns.

They said that replacement of northern Dhaka’s existing brick kilns with vertical shaft brick kilns would cut down premature mortality by more than 60 percent while hybrid Hoffmann kilns would reduce it by 45 percent.

They said that the brick-making industry contribute about one per cent to the country’s GDP and generate about a million jobs.

Other speakers described the higher cost of flood free land and its shortage as hindrances to switching over to brick kilns with cleaner technologies.

They said that operating brick kilns with cleaner technologies would require flood free land.

For a solution they suggested for setting up of industrial parks on flood free land exclusively for a brick kilns.

The two experts said that their reports would provide the government and other stakeholders the information they need for developing an energy efficient brick making industry in the country that would use only cleaner technologies.

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Govt listing kidney trade case sensational

Bdnews24.com . Dhaka

The home ministry has ordered authorities to include the kidney trading case in the list of sensational cases.

Signed by deputy secretary Smriti Rani Das, the order was forwarded to the inspector general of Crime Investigation Department on September 21.

The case was filed with Kalai police station on August 29 in line with the Organ Transplantation Act 1999, section 10(1) and Bangladesh Penal Code 326/307/420.

Some unscrupulous brokers have long been manipulating the underprivileged in Jaipurhat into selling their kidneys for money. A recent media report said that over 200 poor people in Kalai upazila had already sold their organs.

Following the report, the police have arrested six people including the ring leaders from Jaipurhat, Bagerhat and Dhaka. Three of them admitted to their crimes.

On September 19, the High Court ordered the government to form a committee to investigate this and submit the report within 15 days.

Before that on September 11, the parliamentary standing committee on health ministry recommended that the authorities should seek out the illegal kidney traders and act against them.

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Govt obstructing campaigns for Sept 27 rally: BNP

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday alleged that the Awami League-led government kept obstructing BNP-led alliance campaigns for the ‘grand rally’ the party planned to hold in Dhaka on September 27.

The party’s joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a briefing said that BNP activists had been barred from any kind of campaigns for the rally.

‘The police and ruling party goons are obstruction BNP activists from whatever they are trying to do for the rally. They are stopped from distributing leaflets, posting bills, set up gates and making announcements on PA systems,’ Rizvi said.

The BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, is expected to roll out action programmes of the BNP-led alliance against the government at the rally scheduled to be held in front of the BNP’s central office at Naya Paltan.

The government on September 22 informed the BNP about its rejection of the BNP’s appeal for using Paltan Maidan for the rally.

‘We wanted to hold the rally in Paltan Maidan but the government did not allow us to use the ground. Now it is trying to foil the rally at Naya Paltan too,’ he said.

Rizvi expected that good sense should prevail prevail on the government so that it extends its cooperation in holding the rally.

The party’s joint secretary Salahuddin Ahmed, organising secretary Fazlul Huq Milan, international affairs secretary Nazim Uddin Alam and economic affairs secretary Abdus Salam also attended.

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