Frustration among small mahajote partners

The 14-party alliance led by ruling Awami League (AL) has become mostly non-functional since winning power in the last elections. The alliance may break away anytime, sources said.

The alliance was formed to fight together against the then government, take part in the election and also to form government in coalition.

But AL having won a land slide victory in December 2008, could not keep its promise. Sheikh Hasina formed her cabinet unilaterally without discussing with any alliance partner.

Only Dilip Barua of Shyamabadi Dal was made a minister. But Leaders of Workers Party (WP), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Ganotantri Party (GP) and others were not accommodated.

Hasina rewarded Jatiya Party presidium member and younger brother of Ershad as a minister in her cabinet according to her own decision, without discussing it with JP.

The 14-party did not nominate candidates jointly in the last election, rather Awami Legue took decisions about choosing candidates though it offered four seat to JSD leaders and three seats to WP leaders.

Mistrust and discontent are growing day by day as the partners of AL are becoming disillusioned and feeling ignored.

The left-leaning parties are now actively considering to review their position in the alliance and act accordingly. But, as some of the leaders of JSD and WP are still hopeful of getting ministerial posts in the government they are not making any harsh comment in public.

Virtually, the leaders of other parties are eagerly waiting for blessing of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the same way the AL leaders are giving the test of patience.

But it has become almost difficult for them to keep their position and individual party characters intact. Some of the parties might be integrated with AL.

Some leftist parties might even consider break away with the alliance to retain their own identity. WP broke away twice on issue of participation in election in alliance.

AL is rather trying to swallow some of its allies, it is alleged. Political analysts are not finding anything different in Dilip Barua’s party.

Amina Ahmed, wife of National Awami Party (NAP) President Mozaffer Ahmed, is now an MP of Ruling AL. But, she is still a presidium member of NAP. The party, having a historical background, may fade away in AL.

AL also tried to swallow GP. It promised a seat to its late leader Nurul Islam who was a candidate for Chatkhil-Sonaimuri constituency in the last election. But, after his mysterious death GP did not get any nomination.

However, the AL made late Nurul Islam’s wife Prof Rubi Rahman an MP from its reserve women seats’ quota, without bothering to discuss it with the leaders of GP. Rubi Rahman is also a central committee member of GP and was supposed to contest in Chatkhil-Sonaimuri seat following the death of Nurul Islam.

WP president Rashed Khan Menon told the New Nation that they are not commenting anything about their early declaration of forming government of 14-party alliance as the time is yet to come.

He said, “We hoped that the question of alliance will be considered while forming the government. But it did not happen. But, we still hope that it will be considered.”

JSD president Hasanul Huq Inu said, “This government does not reflect the totality of our alliance. The mohajote is in the midway of forming the government.”

GP presidium member Dr Md Shahidullah said, “AL should recognise the importance of other partners of the alliance. It would be difficult to keep the alliance intact unless other partners get their recognition.”

Source: New Nation

Aide says Pakistani Taliban leader Mehsud is dead

Pakistan’s Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who led a violent campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations against the Pakistani government, has been killed in a U.S. missile strike, a militant commander and aide to Mehsud said Friday.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad that intelligence showed Mehsud had been killed in Wednesday’s missile strike on his father-in-law’s house in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area, but authorities would travel to the site to verify his death.

Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials said the CIA was behind the strike. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

“I confirm that Baitullah Mehsud and his wife died in the American missile attack in South Waziristan,” Taliban commander Kafayat Ullah told The Associated Press by telephone. He would not give any further details.

Mehsud’s demise would be a major boost to Pakistani and U.S. efforts to eradicate the Taliban and al-Qaida.

However, Mehsud has deputies who could take his place. Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Taliban commanders were already believed to be meeting in the lawless tribal areas Friday to choose a replacement.

Three Pakistani intelligence officials said the likeliest successor was Mehsud’s deputy, Hakim Ullah, a commander known for recruiting and training suicide bombers. Two other prominent possibilities, the officials said, were Azmat Ullah and Waliur Rehman, also close associates of Mehsud.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Whether a new leader could wreak as much havoc as Mehsud depends largely on how much pressure the Pakistani military continues to put on the network, especially in the lawless tribal area of South Waziristan.

Mehsud has al-Qaida connections and has been suspected in the killing of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan views him as its top internal threat and has been preparing an offensive against him.

For years, the U.S. considered Mehsud a lesser threat to its interests than some of the other Pakistani Taliban, their Afghan counterparts and al-Qaida, because most of his attacks were focused inside Pakistan, not against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

That view appeared to change in recent months as Mehsud’s power grew and concerns mounted that increasing violence in Pakistan could destabilize the U.S. ally and threaten the entire region.

The Pakistani intelligence officials said Mehsud’s body was buried in the village of Nardusai in South Waziristan, near the site of the missile strike.

One official said he had seen a classified intelligence report stating Mehsud was dead and buried, but that agents had not seen the body since the area is under Taliban control.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in Islamabad he could confirm the death of Mehsud’s wife but not of the Taliban leader himself, although information pointed in that direction.

“Yes, (a) lot of information is pouring in from that area that he’s dead, but I’m unable to confirm unless I have solid evidence,” he said.

Another senior Pakistani intelligence official said phone and other communications intercepts — he would not be more specific — had led authorities to suspect Mehsud was dead, but he also stressed there was no definitive evidence yet.

An American counterterrorism official said the U.S. government was also looking into the reports. The official indicated the United States did not yet have physical evidence — remains — that would prove who died. But he said there were other ways of determining who was killed in the strike. He declined to describe them.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.

A local tribesman, who also spoke on condition his name not be used, said Mehsud had been at his father-in-law’s house being treated for kidney pain, and had been put on a drip by a doctor, when the missile struck. The tribesman claimed he attended the Taliban chief’s funeral.

Last year, a doctor for Mehsud announced the militant leader had died of kidney failure, but the reports turned out to be false.

In Afghanistan, Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said Mehsud’s fighters would cross the border into eastern Afghanistan occasionally to help out one of most ruthless Afghan insurgent leaders Siraj Haqqani.

“He was an international terrorist that affected India, Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Azimi said without confirming Mehsud was dead.

In March, the State Department authorized a reward of up to $5 million for Mehsud. Increasingly, American missiles fired by unmanned drones have focused on Mehsud-related targets.

Pakistan publicly opposes the strikes, saying they anger local tribes and make it harder for the army to operate. Still, many analysts suspect the two countries have a secret deal allowing them.

Malik, the interior minister, said Pakistan’s military was determined to finish off Pakistan’s Taliban.

“It is a targeted law enforcement action against Baitullah Mehsud’s group and it will continue till Baitullah Mehsud’s group is eliminated forever,” he said.

Pakistan’s record on putting pressure on the Taliban network is spotty. It has used both military action and truces to try to contain Mehsud over the years, but neither tactic seemed to work, despite billions in U.S. aid aimed at helping the Pakistanis tame the tribal areas.

Mehsud was not that prominent a militant when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions. In fact, he has struggled against such rivals as Abdullah Mehsud, an Afghan war veteran who had spent time in Guantanamo Bay.

But a February 2005 peace deal with Mehsud appeared to give him room to consolidate and boost his troop strength. Within months of that accord, dozens of pro-government tribal elders in the region were gunned down on his command.

In December 2007, Mehsud became the head of a new coalition called the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistan’s Taliban movement. Under his guidance, the group killed hundreds of Pakistanis in suicide and other attacks.

Analysts say the reason for Mehsud’s rise in the militant ranks is his alliances with al-Qaida and other violent groups. U.S. intelligence has said al-Qaida has set up its operational headquarters in Mehsud’s South Waziristan stronghold and neighboring North Waziristan.

Mehsud has no record of attacking targets in the West, although he has threatened to attack Washington.

However, he is suspected of being behind a 10-man cell arrested in Barcelona in January 2008 for plotting suicide attacks in Spain. Pakistan’s former government and the CIA have named him as the prime suspect behind the December 2007 killing of Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister. He has denied a role.

___

Munir Ahmad reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros, Nahal Toosi and Zarar Khan in Islamabad, and Pamela Hess in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Source: Yahoo! New Service

আমু রাজ্জাক তোফায়েল সুরঞ্জিত সভাপতিমণ্ডলী থেকে বাদ

কাউন্সিলের পাঁচ দিন পর পূর্ণাঙ্গ কমিটি ঘোষণা করেছে আওয়ামী লীগ।

১৫ সদস্যের সভাপতিমণ্ডলী থেকে বাদ পড়েছেন আমির হোসেন আমু, আব্দুর রাজ্জাক, তোফায়েল আহমেদ, সুরঞ্জিত সেনগুপ্ত ও আব্দুল জলিল। তাদের রাখা হয়েছে ২০ সদস্যের উপদেষ্টা পরিষদে।

সভাপতিমণ্ডলীতে নতুন যোগ হয়েছেন- ইউসুফ মোহম্মদ হুমায়ুন, রাজিউদ্দিন আহমেদ রাজু, লতিফ সিদ্দিকী, সাহারা খাতুন, ওবায়দুল কাদের ও সতীশ চন্দ্র রায়।

সভাপতিমণ্ডলীতে বহাল থাকছেন- সৈয়দা জোহরা তাজউদ্দিন, সৈয়দা সাজেদা চৌধুরী, শেখ ফজলুল করিম সেলিম, মহীউদ্দীন খান আলমগীর, কাজী জাফরউলআহ, মতিয়া চৌধুরী ও আতাউর রহমান খান কায়সার।

দলের সাধারণ সম্পাদক সৈয়দ আশরাফুল ইসলাম পদাধিকার বলেই থাকছেন সভাপতিমণ্ডলীতে।

বৃহস্পতিবার সন্ধ্যায় প্রধানমন্ত্রীর বাসভবন যমুনায় সৈয়দ আশরাফুল ইসলাম সাংবাদিকদের কাছে নতুন কমিটি প্রকাশ করেন।

গত ২৪ জুলাই আওয়ামী লীগের কাউন্সিলে শেখ হাসিনাকে সভানেত্রী ও সৈয়দ আশরাফকে সাধারণ সম্পাদক নির্বাচিত করা হয়।

পূর্ণাঙ্গ কমিটি গঠনের জন্য কাউন্সিল সভানেত্রীকে দায়িত্ব দেয়।
Source: BdNews

Flower cultivation now a profitable venture

Commerce Minister Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan yesterday said commercial flower production is now a profitable venture and that unemployed youths can build their career in this field.

“Now, flower is a symbol of not only purity and beauty but also profitable business. Many unemployed youths can enter the job market through commercial flower cultivation, as flower has a huge demand both at home and abroad,” the minister said while inaugurating the Unesco Club Flower Show and Competition-2009 in the capital.

National Association of Unesco Clubs in Bangladesh organised the flower show at Banbeis Bhaban at Nilkhet in the city where a total of 75 participants exhibited flowers in small bunches into hand-made basket in Japanese Ikebana style and also displayed rare species of flowers.

Appreciating the participants for their interest in gardening, the minister said such initiatives could lead to some economic benefits for both flower growers and sellers.
Referring to the huge demand for flowers at home and abroad, he said every corner of a homestead and rooftops of buildings can be used to grow flowers.

Prof Dr Aminul Islam, Cambrian College Chairman MK Bashar and Unesco Clubs Secretary General Mahbubuddin Chowdhury also spoke at the programme presided over by Adviser to the Unesco Clubs Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron.

The flower growers identified a number of obstacles such as non-availability of seeds and lack of technical knowledge, marketing facilities and preservation facilities.

Flower cultivation can be developed into an industry in the country like in India and Thailand if adequate facilities can be provided for farmers, they added.

Sadia Priyanka won the first prize while Nasreen Chowdhury and Sonia Razzaque obtained the second and the third positions respectively in the competition. Education Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman gave away prizes among the winners.

Source: Internet