The New Nation - Internet Edition

Musharraf agrees to quit

Pervez Musharraf

Reuters, Islamabad

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, threatened by possible impeachment, is reconciled to stepping down before he is hounded out of office, according to a senior adviser to the new government.

U.S. ally Musharraf, who came to power as a general after a coup in 1999, has probably got a matter of weeks, at most a few months, before the curtain falls, political insiders say.

"He is prepared to go and go with dignity," said the source close to the leadership of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which heads the 2-month-old coalition government.

"We will try to make it very dignified," the PPP source said, adding it was politically difficult to be seen helping the disliked president as such a stance risked losing popular support.

Although Musharraf has been a staunch ally in the U.S.-led "war on terror" and launched a peace initiative with India, his exit is unlikely to disturb either so long as Pakistan stabilizes.

The United States has good communications with Musharraf's successor as army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and the PPP-led government is following through on the peace process. Foreign allies, including both the United States and Saudi Arabia, are pressing for a transition to civilian-led democracy which avoids further upheaval in nuclear-armed Pakistan. The army has ruled Pakistan for more than half the country's history since it was carved out of British-ruled India in 1947.

In the post-Musharraf era Pakistan faces challenges beyond the constant threat from Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The new government is grappling with a deteriorating macro-economic situation, and the stock market and rupee have fallen sharply in recent weeks. PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, the widower and political successor of the late Benazir Bhutto, has proposed a constitutional package that would strip Musharraf of power, but possibly afford him legal protection from foes who want to see him humiliated.

The PPP hopes to buy time to settle terms for the president's departure and steal the thunder from coalition partner Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf overthrew. Sharif wants his usurper impeached or tried for treason.

Officials say Musharraf wants indemnity for his actions on November 3, when he suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule to purge the judiciary before it could rule illegal his re-election the previous month while still army chief.

Some segments of the media have intensified calls for Musharraf to resign, and a lawyers movement that sprang up last year in defense of the judiciary plans a mass protest on June 10, the same day the government is due to present its budget.

Independent analyst Nasim Zehra saw few options left for Musharraf.

"I think he has no cards left," she said. "General Musharraf may be compelled to think of resigning sooner rather than later."

From the Foreign Press: Behind the excitement about Obama candidacy lurks a terrible fear

Washington diary

Suzanne Goldenberg

It is a fear that is both widespread and too painful to readily acknowledge the idea that Barack Obama, now within reach of the Democratic nomination, is at greater risk of assassination than John McCain or Hillary Clinton or any other high-profiler politician. The spectre of political violence fed the strong reactions among Democrats and in the media last weekend to Clinton's "graceless" reference to Bobby Kennedy's assassination.

Clinton mentioned RFK in the hopes of bolstering her case for continuing her fight against Obama despite his nearly insurmountable advantage.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California, I don't understand it." Clinton told a newspaper in South Dakota.

That's not all she failed to understand. The strangely clinical reference to the killing of such a tragically glamorous and iconic figure as Bobby Kennedy produced near universal outrage. A number of commentators on cable television and on the internet accused Clinton of secretly hoping for Obama to die-so she could take his place on the Democratic ticket next November. "We have seen an X-ray of a very dark soul," intoned the New York Daily News. "One consumed by raw ambition to where the possible assassination of an opponent is something to ponder in a strategic way. Otherwise, why is murder on her mind ?"

But it's hard not to be thinking of Bobby Kennedy during this election season. This has been a spring of anniversaries. Martin Luther King was shot dead in Memphis in April 1968. Bobby Kennedy was killed two months later in California, as he was closing in on the Democratic nomination. His brother John F Kennedy was killed in November 1963. Malcolm X, also a champion of African Americans, was killed in 1965.

Give that tragic recent history, it is difficult to ignore the concerns for Obama's security. Over the past few months I've met a number of Obama supporters, white and black, who quietly confide that they fear for his life. The say his candidacy has left them torn between excitement and dread at his success. Yes, they are cheering him on to the White House, but they are afraid that with each step Obama takes he is putting his life in danger.

They are not alone. Opinion polls suggest that over 60% of Americans are afraid that an assassin may target Obama if he becomes the nominee. Among African Americans, some 83% said they were concerned, in a Washington Post polls last March. Those fears are not without foundation. Obama was given secret service protection more than a year ago after receiving death threats. It was the earliest juncture that any candidate has been given protection (except for Clinton, who was given extra security as a former First Lady).

After all, Obama is the first African-American candidate to come this far in a presidential contest-which could be considered a provocation to a deranged racist. It is also safe to assume that the consequences of an attack on Obama by White supremacists would be severe, exposing the old divisions again.

And the potential danger to Obama is deepened by the nature of his candidacy. Unlike Clinton or McCain, who belatedly adopted the change message, Obama predicated his entire candidacy around the promise that he would bring transformational change. That could make him more of a threat to a deranged opponent.

Many of Obama's older supporters say that his campaign is almost like a flashback to the 1960s, with its idealism and optimism. That nostalgia is a large part of Obama's appeal to an older generation of liberals. They say he reminds them of the optimism of their youth-an era of idealism and public service extinguished with assassinations of King and RFK.

The Kennedy parallels were strengthened when Obama was embraced by the clan. Caroline Kennedy said Obama reminded her of her father, John F Kennedy. The last surviving male of that generation of Kennedys, Ted Kennedy, campaigned for Obama.

So, it's baffling that Clinton ventured into that terrain. She has written in her memoirs that as a young college student she was devastated at the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. Public figures generally know better than to tread on such sensitive terrain-well, some of them.

In a speech this month to a gun convention, Mike Huckabee, a former rival of McCain, joked that a backstage noise was the sound of Obama driving for the floor when a weapon was levelled at him. And a commentator at Fox television the other day said she wished Clinton and Obama would be assassinated reaching for extra laughs by calling him Osama.

But for many Democrats the spectre of assassination is too disturbing to even talk about.

-The Guardian Weekly

Khaleda ignors Mannan Bhuiyan’s salam

UNB, Dhaka

Apparently in a snub to her estranged party secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, ex-premier and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia kept mum although he repeatedly tendered her salam as they met in the courtroom yesterday in the changed times.

Witnesses said Bhuiyan gave salam four or five times but Khaleda deliberately avoided him and kept exchanging pleasantries with other co-accused, including Jamaat Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami, who were produced in the dock in connection with the GATCO graft case.

The once-trusted lieutenant of Khaleda fell from her grace as he had emerged as reformist BNP leader and mooted proposals for reform of the party discarding Khaleda's leadership, in tune with the political reform recipe pronounced by the interim regime.

A day before being arrested, Khaleda sacked Bhuiyan as party secretary general and replaced him with Khandaker Delwar Hossain. In the process, BNP split into pro-Khaleda and pro-reform groups.

However, Bhuiyan abruptly changed his posture and recognized Khaleda as 'Desh Netri' the day he surrendered to the court in connection with the GATCO graft case.

Khaleda did not forget the pains caused by truant role of Bhuiyan, a long-term close aide while in power or out on the street, at the critical time for the immediate-past ruling party, BNP.

"Bhuiyan turned pale and perturbed as Khaleda did not recognize him, which was witnessed by all present in the court, including former BNP ministers in the dock," says an eyewitness account of the scene.

US to tighten visa restrictions

BBC Online

The US is to tighten visa restrictions to allow it to screen all short-term visitors from Japan and Western Europe.

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said visitors to the US who do not need visas will be required to register with the government online.

The security regulation, set to begin next year, will require visitors to register three days before they visit.

The online registration will remain valid for a two-year period, Mr Chertoff said.

He said the changes - which will affect citizens of the 27 countries currently listed under the US visa waiver programme - will allow the US to screen visitors before they travel.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said it had been reassured that the new measures contained provisions for last-minute travel.

The waiver programme was initiated in 1986 "with the objective of eliminating unnecessary barriers to travel, stimulating the tourism industry," according to the State Department website.

The new programme will be rolled out from August, and will be mandatory for all visa-free travel from 12 January, 2009.

A Homeland Security spokesman said the new registrations would require the same information as the I-94 card, which is currently filled out by visitors to the US and turned in to customs on arrival in the country.

That information includes passport number, country of residence, and any involvement in terror activities.

The new US Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) aims to make it more difficult for potential terrorists to enter the US.

The visa waiver programme has been under fire by some US lawmakers, who are concerned that militants who are citizens of the participating countries can too easily obtain entry.

Booming Gulf economies attract Bangladeshi workers: $7.1b remittance received this fiscal

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh received record US$7.1 billion remittances from expatriate workers in the first 11 months (July-May) of this fiscal year, marking a 31 per cent growth over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

The figure was US$5.4 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to central bank statistics.

The remittance flow, however, marked a declining trend in recent months. In May, Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent back an estimated US $732 million, a drop of US$49 million from April's US $781 million. The remittances in April showed 47.2 per cent growth from a year ago but down from a record high of US$808.72 million in March. The remittance in April fell by US$8.52 million from the previous month, accounts released by the central bank says.

Officials of the central bank expect the inflow of remittance to touch an annual $10 billion over the next one year, boosting a key source of foreign exchange for the country. Remittances from expatriate Bangladeshis are the country's second biggest source of foreign income after ready-made garments, which earned more than US$9 billion in 2006-07 fiscal year.

An official of Bangladesh Bank said the inflow of remittance shot up during the period due to huge growth in manpower export and proper implementation of the Anti-money Laundering Act, which has prompted Bangladeshis to use banking and other legal channels to send money back home.

The central bank has already enacted a series of anti-money laundering laws and simplified money exchange rules to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis to avoid the illegal hundi channels.

Bangladeshi expatriates are now increasingly using banking channels to remit money as they know more about the danger of money laundering while banks have become efficient in delivering such money, he added.

The BB has allowed the commercial banks to partner with the non-governmental organizations (NGO) having branches all over the country for disbursement of remittances, particularly in the rural areas.

The majority of the expatriates work in the Middle East, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

At least 2,95,155 Bangladeshis found jobs in over 100 countries during the January-April period, up from 1,92,725 in the same period last year, according to the state-run Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) statistics.

Booming economies in the Middle East and the Gulf region, as well as an ageing population in European countries and rising skills of Bangladeshi workers were driving demand for Bangladeshi labour, officials said.

Accreditation council to ensure quality education in private varsities stressed

BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at a seminar yesterday stressed the need for forming an accreditation council for ensuring quality education in private universities.

Describing the importance of private universities for providing time-befitting education in the country, they said an accreditation council could work to propel the private universities in a right direction, removing irregularities and stopping fake accreditation.

The BIDS and Northern University Bangladesh organized the seminar on 'Experience of accreditation council in North American countries and its applicability in context of Bangladesh' in the conference room of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) in the city.

BIDS Director General Dr Kazi Sahabuddin presided over the seminar, while J. Ronne Davis, Professor of Finance and Economics of the University of New Orleans, USA, was the main speaker.

Former vice chancellor of Dhaka University Professor M Maniruzzaman Miah, Vice Chancellor of Northern University Bangladesh Prof Dr M Shamsul Haque and Vice Chancellor of Eastern University Prof Dr Rahim B Talukder, among others, took part in the open discussion.

Prof Maniruzzaman said an accreditation council should be formed with efficient and honest persons with a view to bringing necessary changes in private universities, which is needed for ensuring quality education in the country.

"Most private varsities now face challenges in providing quality education. Authorities of private varsities should change their commercial attitude to get over the challenges," he added.

Prof Maniruzzaman said both public and private universities would have to give priority to introduce time-befitting education to meet the needs of society.

J Ronne Davis underscored the need for developing human ability through quality education for socio-economic development of Bangladesh.

Describing the experiences of accreditation councils in North American countries, he suggested that an accreditation council should be formed considering the needs of Bangladesh instead of copying models of other countries.

Appreciating the expansion of private university education in the country, J Ronne said both public and private universities would have to contribute to time-befitting education to accelerate the pace of development activities.

Prof Dr M Shamsul Haque laid emphasis on constituting an effective accreditation council immediately to bring transparency in the private universities.

Global, regional ties to protect environ stressed

BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at a discussion on Wednesday stressed the need for effective global and regional cooperation to prevent environmental disaster, as it is an international problem.

The natural disasters can't be prevented fully, but its effects could be minimised through concerted regional or global efforts, they said at the discussion organised by Bangladesh Human Rights and Environment Journalists Society at Jatiya Press Club marking the World Environment Day.

Justice Habibur Rahman Khan, former chairman of Press Council, addressed the function as the chief guest, while Chief Editor of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury spoke as the main discussant.

Former information secretary Syed Marghub Morshed and general secretary of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) Omar Faruque were special guests at the discussion, chaired by journalist NA Karim Bidyut Chwodhury. Secretary of the society Golam Rabbani presented the keynote paper at the discussion.

While focussing on the reasons of environmental degradation, Justice Habibur Rahman said some powerful nations are frequently polluting the seawaters by conducting nuclear tests making the small nations vulnerable to be submerged. All kinds of nuclear tests in the seas must be stopped, he said.

Justice Rahman put emphasis on the need for appropriate diplomatic efforts to keep the flow of the country's rivers normal. This is urgently needed for Bangladesh's ecological balance, he said.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury said national and international initiatives could reduce man-made environmental disasters. Immediate steps should be taken for making the invaluable water resources in the Himalayas useable for all, he observed.

He hoped that all the heads of states and government would take a unanimous initiative during the next summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to be held in Colombo for resisting the environmental disaster in this region.

Syed Marghub Morshed underlined the need for using environmental friendly fuel to protect the Ozone layer and said the most powerful nation of the world, the United States of America, could do a lot in this regard.

Omar Faruque urged the environmentalists of the country to work sincerely for keeping the rivers and water bodies pollution free by creating awareness among the common people. He also called for taking stern actions against the river encroachers.

Money exchange business at stake: Foreign missions including Indian HC introduce new rule

UNB, Dhaka

The growing money exchange business is at stake as the Indian High Commission and some other foreign missions have introduced new rule.

According to sources, the Indian High Commission has introduced rule that Bangladeshi applicants for visa is to get at least US$ 150 equivalent to foreign currency endorsed by a commercial bank. Failing, application will not be accepted.

The High Commission has also asked the visa applicants to get the foreign exchange endorsed by the State Bank of India in Dhaka. The money exchange firms alleged that the decision of the Indian High Commission has rendered them useless. For, most of their clients are India bound travelers.

Although it was mentioned that endorsement from any commercial bank would be accepted, the real situation is different. The Indian visa office refuses to accept visa application without endorsement by the State Bank of India," said Mohammad Mostafa Khan, president of Money Changers' Association of Bangladesh (MCAB).

He also said some other foreign missions have also adopted similar system.

1.5m people visually impaired: Orbis plans comprehensive eye care for Bangladesh

Staff Reporter

Some 750,000 adults and 40,000 children are blind in Bangladesh. 1.5 million adults and children are visually impaired.

Cataract, childhood blindness, corneal infection and trauma, uncorrected refracted error, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are the major causes of blindness in the country.

This was disclosed at a press meet organised by Orbis International, a non-profit global development organisation dedicated to saving sight worldwide, at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday.

Ann Marie Gothard, Director of Global Communications and Branding of Orbis International, was present as chief guest, while Taskina Huq, Communication Officer of Orbis Bangladesh, presented keynote paper.

Dr Abu Raihan, Country Director of Orbis International, among others, spoke at the press meet.

Ann Marie said, "Some 37 million men, women and children are currently blind in the world and 28 million of them are suffering needlessly."

"We have a vision that is named 'Vision 2020: Right to Sight.' Under the vision our core approaches to the prevention of blindness and visual impairment are disease control, monitoring and evaluation, human resources and organisational development, infrastructure and technology and community partnership," she said.

"Orbis International is giving more priority in comprehensive eye care and blindness prevention efforts in five countries - Bangladesh, India, China, Vietnam and Ethiopia. We will work with partner institutions to help them reach a state where they can provide, on their own, quality eye care services at affordable, accessible and sustainable costs," said Ann.

In Bangladesh, Orbis has established seven child friendly paediatric eye care units. These are in Chittagong, Dhaka, Dinajpur, Khulna, Maulvibazar, Mymensingh and Sylhet, she said.

After the support of Orbis to Sandhani, cornea collection of Sandhani has increased by 153 per cent in Bangladesh, said Taskina.

"4,000 cataract patients will receive surgery and treatment in the country in support with Orbis in four years, she added.

100 police checkposts set up at strategic points in Dhaka city

UNB, Dhaka

Dhaka Metropolitan Police has set up check posts at more than 100 strategic points in the city as part of on-going countrywide special drive against illegal arms and criminals.

Law enforcing agencies launched the drive on May 28 in view of increasing incidents of secret killing, snatching, robbery and criminal activities.

DMP sources said the check posts were set up on May 30 in a bid to round up fugitive criminals, illegal arms holders, drug traders, recover drugs and stolen vehicles.

The special drive will continue for one month, DMP sources said.

Addl AG Hasan Fayez Siddiqui resigns

Staff Reporter

Additional Attorney General Hasan Fayez Siddiqui resigned yesterday showing personal grounds.

He sent his resignation letter to President Prof Dr Iajuddin Ahmed through the Attorney General in the morning.

Siddiqui resigned after six months of his appointment as Additional Attorney General.

Earlier, Deputy Attorney General Anwarul Azim Khair Maya resigned from his post on June 1 last.

Abdul Quddus, administrative offuicer of the Office of Attorney General told reporters that Additional Attorney General Hasan Fayez Siddiqui submitted his resignation letter at about 11:00am yesterday after conducting a case at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. Later, the resignation letter was sent to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs at the Bangladesh Secretariat through a special messenger.

Failure not an option, UN Chief tells food summit: Extra$20b needed yearly for food

AFP, Rome

UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned Wednesday that failure is not an option in addressing the global food price crisis, and said an extra 15-20 billion dollars per year would be needed to help avoid disaster.

"We simply cannot afford to fail," the UN secretary general told a news conference at the UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) summit on food security. "Hundreds of millions of people expect no less."

The extra resources that might be as required will cost between 15 billion and 20 billion dollars (10-13 billion euros) a year, Ban said. Food prices have doubled in three years, according to the World Bank, sparking riots in Egypt and Haiti and in many African nations. Brazil, Vietnam, India and Egypt have all imposed food export restrictions.

Participants in the high-profile summit are finalising a Comprehensive Framework for Action to address the crisis, Ban said, noting that its implementation will require "substantial and sustained financial and political commitment."

World Bank President Robert Zoellick called for the lifting of trade barriers that contribute to food price inflation.

"We need an international call to remove export bans and restrictions," Zoellick told the news conference. "These controls encourage hoarding, drive up prices and hurt the poorest people around the world who are struggling to feed themselves," he said.