The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Two rare invaluable terracotta statues of Hindu God Vishnu were stolen from the Zia International Airport on Friday as they were about to be shipped to Paris by a flight of Air France for exhibition at Guimet Museum in France.

Police arrested 12 employees of the National Museum, Civil Aviation Authority, Air France, airport ground handling operations, Ansar and the shipping agency for questioning.

Besides, police launched a combing operation at the airport and surrounding areas, including ponds and ditches employing divers of Bangladesh Navy to recover the invaluable artefacts.

Following the incident, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs has reportedly convened an emergency meeting to discuss the overall situation.

There were 13 wooden-made crates containing 147 pieces, which were scheduled to be sent to France by a cargo plane of Air France.

When the French Embassy was contacted at about 1:30pm yesterday, the officials said the remaining 12 crates should be sent. Nine crates had already been uploaded to the plane, while the joint forces seized these remaining crates. Several members of Ansar were arrested from the airport.

Besides, Jahangir Alam of the National Museum and Zakaria of Varendra Research Museum and all supervisors were arrested.

In the face of strong opposition of artists and cultural activists, a total of 147 artefacts packed in 13 crates were taken to the cargo complex at ZIA from the National Museum on Friday afternoon.

The artefacts were taken to the airport by a large carrier of Homebound courier services. Later, the Homebound authorities handed them over to Air France authorities after customs checking at the airport. The Air France cargo flight arrived late for dense fog. The crates were waiting for the aircraft.

When the crates were about to be loaded in the cargo aircraft of Air France, one of the cartons was found missing. In the missing crate there were two statues of Hindu God Vishnu. Later the empty crate was found outside the northwestern perimeter of the airport grounds in a residential area.

"The statues, weighing about 64 kilograms, were in a wooden-made crate that went missing from the Cargo Village at Zia International Airport late Saturday," deputy commissioner of police Khandaker Rafiqul Islam said.

"We have detained 11 men from the air cargo operator and airport staff for interrogation," he said, adding the authorities have also suspended further shipment of the remaining artefacts.

RAB Director-General Hasan Mahmud Khondaker said the arrested persons were taken to the RAB custody for interrogation.

Hearing the dreadful news, the officials of the National Museum rushed to the airport and Dr Swapan Kumar Biswas, acting keeper of the Department of History and Artefacts of the National Museum filed a general diary with the Biman Bandar police station in this regard.

CID and RAB have launched a manhunt to recover the missing precious artefacts.

DMP Commissioner Naim Ahmed told reporters that investigation is on to recover the missing artefacts, but he declined to make any disclose anything details.

Earlier, 42 artefacts in 10 crates were sent to Paris for the exhibition. The second consignment of 147 artifacts is being sent after the Supreme Court cleared the legal roadblocks.

The rare statues represent a deity known as the preserver of the universe and were selected from five state-run museums after an agreement between the French Embassy and the government's cultural affairs ministry.

Meanwhile, the French Embassy in Dhaka yesterday said they feel

the disappearance of a crate containing two small statues as 'highly suspicious and could also be the result of a conspiracy' by a very small nexus of persons to embarrass France and Bangladesh.'

The Embassy in a release said a crate containing two small statues belonging to the National Museum was stolen from the service area of Zia International Airport on Friday between 3.30 am and 7:00 am, hours before being loaded on a flight.

It said loose procedures geared towards garment exports have led to such valuable crates being left unattended on the tarmac of the airport in an area where neither the lending nor the borrowing institutions have any control.

Staff Reporter

It would not be right to send the rest of the artefacts to France for exhibition in a museum unless and until the matter relating to the missing artefacts was resolved, said Education and Cultural Affairs Adviser Dr Ayub Quadri yesterday.

On the other hand, a five-member inquiry committee with Fakhrul Islam, joint secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has been formed by the government to investigate the matter. The committee has been asked to submit report within three days.

Dr Ayub Quadri said a crate of the artefacts went on missing from Zia International Airport while 13 crates of artefacts were being sent to France. Inside the missing crate there were two rare statues of Hindu god Vishnu, which belonged to the 6th and 7th centuries. They were found in Bogra.

He said the missing statues were insured. One statue was insured for 20,000 euro while the other for 25,000 euros.

The Adviser said the France Embassy in Dhaka has assured of all kinds of cooperation to find out the missing artefacts.

Dr Quadri said 42 artefacts were sent in 10 crates for exhibition in France under the first phase, while under the second phase 145 artefacts in 13 crates were handed over to the Air France authorities at Zia International Airport at night on December 22. Of the 143 artefacts, two went on missing, while the rest 143 artefacts have been kept in cargo godown at the airport.

When asked why the artefacts were being sent to France during Eid holidays, the Adviser said the day was chosen to send the artefacts directly to France, because the direct flight between Dhaka and Paris was on that day.

He said all the cargoes of Air France were being examined whether the missing artefacts were in any other boxes. It might require another 24hours.

The Adviser said the inquiry committee would make a list of the missing artefacts and recommend necessary steps to avert such incidents in future.

Meanwhile, Committee for Smuggling Out of Artefacts yesterday demanded proper investigation into the stealing of the artefacts.

Addressing a press conference at Gallery Chitrak in the city, Prof Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said their apprehension about the invaluable artefacts proved to be true as two statues of god Vishnu went on missing.

BSS, Dhaka

The holy Eid-ul-Azha, the second greatest religious festival of the Muslims, was observed on Friday across the country like rest of the world with due religious fervor and solemnity.

The Muslim community celebrated the Eid-Ul-Azha commemorating the readiness of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) to sacrifice his beloved son Hazrat Ismail (AS) to fulfill the wish of Almighty Allah. Marking the occasion, the Muslims all over the world sacrificed animals and distribute meats among the relatives and the poor.

The main Eid congregation was held at the National Eidgah Maidan on the premises of the Bangladesh Supreme Court under the auspices of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) in the morning.

President Prof Dr Iajuddin Ahmed offered his Eid prayer at the Eidgah. Besides, five other Eid congregations were also held consecutively at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque at 7 am, 8 am, 9 am, 10 am and 1o.45 am.

Eid jamaats were also held at 361 other venues in 90 wards of the capital and another Eid-jamaat was organized on Dhaka University playground.

Speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin, advisers of the Caretaker Government, Mayor of Dhaka Sadek Hossain Khoka, Judges of the Supreme Court and people of all walks of life offered their Eid prayers at the Eidgah Maidan.

Acting Khatib of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque Mufti Moulana Nuruddin was the imam of the main Eid prayer at National Eidgah.

A special munajat was offered seeking divine blessings for peace and development of the country, welfare of the people and greater unity among the Muslim Ummah. After Eid prayers, President Prof Iajuddin exchanged Eid pleasantries with the devotees.

The government announced a three-day public holiday from yesterday (Thursday)on the occasion of holy Eid-ul-Azha festival.

National dailies published special supplements highlighting the significance of the festival while Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and private TV channels put on air various entertainment and discussion-based programmes on the occasion.

President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed and his wife Professor Dr Anwara Begum today hosted a reception and exchanged Eid greetings with distinguished personalities and diplomats of different countries at Bangabhaban this morning.

Speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin, Advisors of the Caretaker Government Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, M Anwarul Iqbal and Dr C S Karim, Chief of Bangladesh Navy Vice Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam, Chief of Bangladesh Air Force Air Marshal Shah Mohammad Ziaur Rahman and Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury joined the reception among others.

Ambassadors and High Commissioners of different countries, Judges of the Supreme Court, Secretaries, leaders of different political parties, high civil and military officials, Vice Chancellors of the Universities, editors and senior journalists and distinguished persons of different professions joined the reception.

Eid congregations were held at 361 venues in 90 wards of the capital and all mosques and eidgahs in the city.

A total of 249 Eid congregations at mosques and selected open spaces including three big ones at M A Aziz Stadium and Jamiatul Falah Mosque (two successively) were held in the port city under the auspices of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC)and Chittagong Central Eid Jamaat Committee (CCEJC).

Two Jamaats were held at Dhaka University central mosque at 8 am and 9 am while three other Jamaats were held on Shahidullah Hall lawn, Salimullah Muslim Hall premises and Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall ground.

Besides a Eid Jamaat was held at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) ground at 8 am. Four-eid jamaats were also held at Mohakhali Masjid Gaushul Azam at 7 am, 8 am, 9.30 am and 10.15 am.

Bangladesh Masjid Missan organised two jamaats at its central mosque Kataban at 7 am and 8.15 am. Separate Eid jamaats were held at 7 am at Brothers Union play ground, Lalmatia Mosque and Malibagh Jam-e Masjid.

Eid Jamaats were also held at Dhanmondhi eidgah maidan, Mohammadpur Jame Mosque complex eidgah maidan, Azimpur govt. colony eidgah maidan, Lalbagh Killah Mosque and SOS Children's Village Jame Mosque at Shyamali at 8-15 am.

The last jamaat was held in the city at 11.25 am at Azimpur Diera Sharif Diemiah Shahi jame Mosque.

UNB/Staff Reporter, Dhaka

Law and Information Adviser Barrister Mainul Hosein Sunday said the caretaker government would discuss lifting of the state of emergency if the Election Commission asks for it for holding the city corporations' elections.

"The Election Commission will hold elections and fix time and dates; let them say, we will discuss it with the Chief Adviser," he told reporters who wanted to know about the withdrawal of the state of emergency.

Barrister Mainul said the state of emergency is not required for the caretaker government. "You better say whether the situation has been created to lift the state of emergency."

He said many countries were under the state of emergency for more than a year. "When it will be necessary, the state of emergency will be lifted."

The Law and Information Adviser said let the politicians make commitment that they won't go back to pre-1/11 situation. "Let them say what they have done so far to create (favourable) atmosphere. Because the emergency had to be imposed for the atmosphere they created."

He added that politicians are still speaking in their old language. A change in politics must be brought about.

He said one must think of the country's future, only election will not fulfil the purpose. "We want to listen less about election from those who could not even prepare (acceptable) voters' list." We want to see end of politics of hatred, violence and conflict, Barrister Hosein added.

Asked about the British High Commissioner's remarks that they sought clarification from the government as to when the emergency will be lifted, he said it is not that important what the foreigners want to know. "If there is no peace and discipline, our future dream will go in vain.

Mainul admitted that the caretaker government could not solve all the problems, but it is also right that general people do not want to go back to pre-1/11 situation.

Asked about lifting of emergency in Thailand, he said former Thai Prime Minister was prevented from contesting the election while 121 ex-MPs were dropped, but there was no conflict and hatred in their politics.

He said although highly educated people in Thailand are not higher than Bangladesh, but they are more developed than Bangladesh.

"Jealousy and hatred will have to be shunned to implement the objectives of our liberation war and build up the nation," he said.

The Law and Information Adviser expressed satisfaction at the peaceful observance of the Eid-ul-Azha without terrorism and extortion and people's sympathy for cyclone 'Sidr' victims.

Reuters, Wellington

Bangladesh completed preparations for their international series against New Zealand with a four- wicket victory over a New Zealand XI in a Twenty20 match in Hamilton on Sunday.

Bangladesh, who have lost both their one-day games against first-class sides in New Zealand, will take confidence from the result against a team that included several members of the full New Zealand side.

Former New Zealand batsman James Marshall top-scored for the New Zealand XI with 33 off 26 balls, while Scott Styris scored 29 as the hosts made 133 for seven off their 20 overs. Bangladesh began their chase for the modest total poorly, losing Tamim Iqbal in the first over for a duck and Junaid Siddiqui shortly after for four to leave them struggling at 19 for two in the fourth over.

However, useful contributions from Aftab Ahmed (20), captain Mohammad Ashraful (20) and Saqibul Hasan (22), all of whom were run out, moved the visitors to 86 for five in the 12th over.

All-rounder Farhad Reza then smashed 31 off 17 balls in a 50-run partnership with Mehrab Hossain jnr (22 not out) to take Bangladesh to 133 for five before he was caught by Gareth Hopkins off Scott Styris. Mushfiqur Rahim then scored the winning run off the last ball of the 17th over.

The match was played to help raise money for World Vision's relief fund to alleviate the damage suffered in Bangladesh from Cyclone Sidr in November.

International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed presented team management with a cheque for $250,000 before the match.

The first game of the three-match one-day series is on Wednesday at Eden Park in Auckland before the series moves to Napier on Dec. 28 and Queenstown on Dec. 31.

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh is going to receive the long-awaited diesel supply from India as the Numaligarh Refinery in Assam has started shipment of the fuel, Indian media reported.

The first consignment of 1,200 tonne, loaded in two barges of 600-tonne capacity each, left Silghat, the refinery's nearest loading point on the Brahmaputra river, last week and arrived at Guwahati for Customs and other clearances.

Two other barges, one of 1,200-tonne capacity and the other 600-tonne, are currently being loaded at Silghat in Assam and will leave for Bangladesh shortly. With this, a total of 3,000 tonne are to be imported by Bangladesh in the current year.

Four vessels have been placed in Silghat to carry forward the deal. Bangladesh has provided two vessels-Hang Gang and Darasaku while NRL has procured two local vessels, The Assam Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, the Brahmaputra waterways has once again received a shot in the arm as the Numaligarh Refinery is exporting diesel to Bangladesh by using the waterway, the newspaper said quoting Indian experts.

"It would give a fresh impetus to the export to the region. This will be a win-win situation for both India and Bangladesh that will further economic ties between the countries," it added.

Though the deal was inked between Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in May last, it took some time for port clearance. But that did not happen. The first shipment is now taking place. Declaring Silghat as the loading port under the India-Bangladesh protocol took time.

However, the agreement expires on December 31, 2007. Which means, the agreement has to be renewed before further shipments can take place.

As per the deal, Bangladesh will import 1.20 lakh MT of high speed diesel per annum. Bangladesh total demand for petroleum products is 2.2 million tonne per annum and it is met by importing from Gulf countries. But, the Bangladesh Government has come forward to buy diesel from Assam to avoid high transportation cost.

According to agreement with Bangladesh, Numaligarh refinery is to supply 10,000 tonne of diesel every month.

Quoting a spokesman for Numaligarh Refinery, the Hindu Business Line, a business daily from The Hindu group of publications of India, reported that discussion with the Bangladesh authorities concerned was in progress at the appropriate level for the renewal of the agreement. "Bangladesh is keen to continue importing diesel from Numaligarh," Numaligarh Refinery spokesman told the daily.

The spokesman estimated that a few more vessels would be needed if the targeted throughput of 10,000 tonne a month is to be achieved. The average turnaround time being 14 days, the existing vessels can handle at the most 3,000 tonne a month.

"From the refinery side we've no problem in supplying 10,000 tonne a month provided there are barges to transport it," he said.

Asked if more vessels were being chartered, the spokesman replied that the chartering of the vessels was being done from Mumbai by the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, the major shareholder of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd.

"But then having more vessels will serve no purpose till the agreement governing the shipment between the two countries is renewed," he added.

Meanwhile, the Energy Ministry officials in Dhaka said the import from India was delayed because of some complications with the Indian side as their customs authority took excessive time to clear the consignment.

"But despite that, Bangladesh will probably renew the agreement," a senior official of the Energy Ministry told The New Nation.

Staff Reporter

The government and private offices, banks and courts opened yesterday after a three-day Eid-ul-Azha vacation from December 20 to 22. But the festival fever still grips the capital with most shops remaining closed and less than normal traffic on the street.

Criminal courts opened yesterday while the civil courts were enjoying vacation. However, attendance appeared thin everywhere including offices.

In the city, most of the city dwellers were seen visiting houses of relatives and friends as well as amusement parks and the zoo. Besides, a section of them went to different cinemas for enjoying Bangla Eid releases.

During the Eid vacation the city looked abandoned. The homebound people started to leave the city two days before the Eid. As hundreds of thousands of vacationers had battled traffic chaos to leave Dhaka city in the days leading up to the Eid, it seemed they were in no hurry to return yesterday as Dhaka city enjoyed another day of relative tranquillity.

People who left Dhaka for their hometowns and villages to celebrate the Eid with kith and kin gradually started returning to the city yesterday. But in full swing work is expected to resume after the Christmas Day on December 25.

This year's celebrations were largely subdued in the cyclone-hit southern regions. In fact, few were able to sacrifice any animal on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha this year.

Reuters, Bangkok

The party backing ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra easily won the most seats in Sunday's election, creating a big problem for the generals who booted out the telecoms billionaire in a 2006 coup.

With about 75 percent of the vote counted, the People Power Party (PPP) was heading for 230 seats in the 480-member parliament, short of an outright majority but enough to form a government in a coalition with just one minor party.

The big question is whether the army and the royalist establishment, whom the Thaksin camp says were behind the bloodless putsch, will stand by and watch its arch-enemy make a comeback by proxy.

Although some analysts say a strong PPP showing could trigger another coup, others believe the army-appointed government is more likely to try at first to stymie the PPP by disqualifying candidates for vote fraud.

The bigger PPP's win, the harder that will be to pull off.

"It depends how many red cards they have to issue," said Kevin Hewison, a Thai expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "If it's 40 or 50, it may be difficult, but if it's only 10 or 20, they might be able to do it."

The Election Commission said it had received more than 750 complaints, but was taking only 157 of them seriously. It was not clear how many of these could lead to disqualifications.

Abrasive PPP leader Samak Sundaravej, whose party embraced the populist policies which won Thaksin landslide victories in 2001 and 2005, said Thailand's 45 million voters were just following their emotions.

"What Thaksin did for them five years ago is still in their hearts. They are thinking of him," said Samak, who freely admits to being a proxy for the exiled 58-year-old former tycoon, believed to be watching the results from Hong Kong.

Political convention dictates that the biggest party gets first crack at cobbling together a coalition.

But the army would prefer a government led by the Democrats, the main opposition during Thaksin's five years in power, although most analysts agree such a coalition would be weak and unlikely to last beyond a year.

The Democrats, led by Oxford-educated Abhisit Vejjajiva-the man foreign investors want to see as the next prime minister-looked set to take around 160 seats.

Financial markets hope the return of an elected government will signal the end of a period of disappointing economic growth, likely to fall towards four percent this year from 5.1 percent in 2006 and the lowest rate in six years.

At polling stations across Bangkok, voters said they were just tired of a political mess now in its third year.

"It doesn't really matter which party gets in just as long as we have a government as soon as possible," said Anunt, 60.

Both the pro- and anti-Thaksin camps have said they would take to the streets if they felt the other side had gained an upper hand in the polls unfairly. Major street protests could trigger another military foray into politics, analysts say.

Last year's coup was the 18th in 75 years of on-off democracy in Thailand. Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party has since been dissolved and he and 110 party members barred from politics for five years.

The uncertainty has worried revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who urged soldiers and police to use their spiritual "strength" to pull the nation out of the long-running crisis.

UNB, Dhaka

There is nothing to be disappointed for those who could not become voters now, since anyone can become a voter even on the day before the parliamentary election is held.

"The Election Commission wants everyone to be enlisted in the voter list," Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Sakhawat Hussain told reporters at his office this (Sunday) afternoon.

About the left out voters, he said there would be a server (stored with voter's particulars) in each thana or upazila.

So, even on the day before election, people could be enlisted in the voter list by contacting the election officials of concerned area, Sakhawat said.

He informed that 1,66,00,617 voters were enlisted in the list till December 17 across the country and 25 percent task of the photo voter list project would be completed by the first week of January 2008.

"We started the task of preparing voter list aiming to enlist nine crore voters. But after starting the task, we are observing that this time, the number of total voters across the country will be less that eight crore," said the election commissioner.

Voter listing has been completed at 47 places and is now on at 82 places in the country, he said, adding that from January 1, 2008, the task would start in 183 upazilas in phases.

"The current progress of voter-listing task is highly satisfactory… it will gather more speed and the task may be completed much earlier than the timeline mentioned in election roadmap," Sakhawat said.

He declined to mention any specific timeline when asked how earlier the task would be completed.

"Everyone will see when it will be complete… how much earlier the entire task will be finished depends on the completion of voter list in Dhaka City Corporation. So, the Election Commission is stressing more on the task of Dhaka," the Election Commissioner said.

About the progress of voter listing in Dhaka, he said photograph and fingerprint of 12,38,627 voters have been taken and particulars of around 20 lakh others have been collected so far.

"Meanwhile, voter-listing has been fully completed in 14 out of 90 wards of Dhaka city. Moreover, the task is going on in 27 out of 28 metropolitan thanas," Sakhawat said, adding that the task would start in the remaining Gulshan thana in January next year.

The voter-listing task of DCC would resume on December 26 since the seasonal holidays for the officials involved in the task have been extended till December 25, he said and expected the voter listing task to be completed by January 31 in Dhaka as announced earlier.

BSS, Dhaka

Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday received a delegation of the Ismaili community led by Habib Hirji, president of the Ismaili Council in Bangladesh yesterday.

The Foreign Adviser was informed by the delegation that Prince Karim Aga Khan, leader of the Ismaili Community, had accepted the invitation to visit Bangladesh and his visit would take place in the first quarter of 2008 which would mark the Golden Jubilee of his Imamate.

Habib Hirji also discussed with the Adviser the Ismaili Community's role in the post-cyclone relief operations and announced a donation of 50,000 blankets, said a press release.

It was also stated that during the visit of Prince Karim would lay foundation of the Aga Khan Academy in Bangladesh.

"His Highness Aga Khan is very highly regarded in this country and we still fondly recall his visit to Dhaka in 1993. The people of Bangladesh wish him well and would be delighted to greet him again on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of his Imamate," Dr Iftekhar Chowdhury said speaking to the media afterwards.

BSS, Rajshahi

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-5, in anti-crime drives, rounded up five alleged criminals including a JMB cadre and three drug-peddlers and seized phensidyl from different areas in Rajshahi, Joypurhat and Rangpur districts during the last 24 hours till yesterday noon, RAB sources here said.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of the elite forces picked up the JMB cadre identified as Alamgir Hossain alias Raihan alias Rana, 36, son of Abdul Awal from his Naldanga village under Akkelpur upazila of Joypurhat district.

They also rounded up the drug-peddlers identified as Manik, 25, Ainal, 27, and Azahar Ali, 25, with 92 bottles of phensidyl and some lethal weapons during separate raids at different places in Rajshahi and Rangpur districts.

In another operation conducted at Ziapur village under Khetlal upazila of Joypurhat district, another RAB squad arrested a wanted criminal identified as Profulla Chandra Das, 48, son of late Kanungo Chandra Das, a resident of the same village.