The New Nation - Internet Edition

India battles to free hostages: Taj, Oberoi stormed, 155 bodies found so far, nuclear armed Pakistan should not be intimidated: Gilani

Indian National Security Guard (NSG) commandos
rappel down from a helicopter onto the roof of Nariman
House, which houses a Jewish centre, in Mumbai.
Agency

Agency, Mumbai

Fresh explosions and gunfire have been heard at Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel, one of several sites targeted in attacks that have killed at least 130.

Loud blasts have also rocked a Jewish outreach centre where commandos were attempting to free several hostages.

The bodies of five hostages were found inside Nariman House, Israeli diplomats said, after a long battle.

India's foreign minister said "elements with links to Pakistan" were involved in the attacks on Mumbai.

However, his Pakistani counterpart has urged India not to bring politics into the issue, saying "we should join hands to defeat the enemy". The stand-offs began late on Wednesday when gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades opened fire indiscriminately on crowds at a major railway station, the two hotels, the Jewish centre, a hospital and a cafe frequented by foreigners.

Earlier, nearly 100 guests and staff - many of them westerners - were rescued from the Oberoi-Trident hotel, and the battle with gunmen there appeared to be at an end.

Around 370 people have been injured since Wednesday, while the death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are discovered. One security official said eight foreigners were known to have died, among them three Germans, a Japanese, Canadian and Australian.

Amid conflicting reports about the end of the siege at Nariman House, home to the Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch, it emerged that several of the small group of hostages held inside had been killed.

"Five bodies of hostages have been found inside the Chabad House. We still don't know whose bodies," Israeli diplomat Haim Choshen said. Orthodox Jewish rescuers sent to Mumbai to assist also confirmed that five bodies had been found. Two kidnappers were also reported killed.

Earlier, an ambulance had been seen pulling up at the building and taking one person away. It was not clear if it was a hostage.

A woman and child has been seen leaving the building, but it was unclear whether they had managed to escape or were released.

The child was identified as the two-year-old son of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holzberg, the main representative at the ultra-orthodox outreach centre.

Having swooped at first light, commandos blew up a part of the wall of the fourth floor of the building, lowered down onto the roof by ropes from helicopters and dropping smoke bombs to create confusion.

Soldiers were said to have been tentatively moving down through the building, trying not to cause casualties among the hostages.

Indian security forces have said they believe at least one gunman with "two or more hostages" remains in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

Large explosions and gunfire have been ringing out from the building for most of the day after truckloads of commandos entered the hotel. A journalist and bystander outside the hotel were taken to hospital after being hit by shrapnel.

Indian commandos who managed to enter other parts of the Taj Mahal say they found at least 30 bodies in one hall.

The commandos also said the militants were well aware of the layout of the hotel, and that they had recovered a Mauritius identity card as well as guns and money.

Earlier, the head of India's National Security Guard, JK Dutt, said the Oberoi-Trident was "under our control".

"We have killed two terrorists today," he said. "There was lots of firing, they also lobbed hand grenades. Some of them are unexploded, we are going to defuse them - you may hear some sound of explosions."

The relief of the guests was evident as 93 of them were escorted from the hotel on Friday morning following the lengthy siege. They included 20 Air France crew members.

One of those freed, Briton Mark Abell, spoke of his delight at seeing several heavily armed soldiers at his hotel door after spending more than 36 hours in his room.

But he was shocked by the state of the hotel. "The lobby was carnage, blood and guts everywhere. It was very upsetting," he told the BBC.

State home minister RR Patil, speaking out the Oberoi-Trident hotel, said a total of nine militants had been killed, along with 15 police officers and two commandos.

He said one of those arrested was a Pakistani citizen.

Earlier, the Indian navy took control of two Pakistani merchant navy ships and began questioning their crews after witnesses said some of the militants came ashore on small speedboats.

India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said preliminary evidence "leads us to believe that some elements in Pakistan may be connected to these events".

But he added that it was too soon to give details.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi responded by saying: "This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy."

The head of Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, Ahmed Shuja Pasha, is due to travel to India to discuss the situation with his Indian counterparts.

India has complained in the past that attacks on its soil have been carried out by groups based in Pakistan, although relations between the two countries have improved in recent years and Pakistani leaders were swift to condemn the latest attacks.

A claim of responsibility for this week's attacks - the worst in India's commercial capital since nearly 200 people were killed in a series of bombings in 2006 - has been made by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen.

However, most intelligence officials are keeping an open mind as the attacks have thrown up conflicting clues, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says.

6-stories building tilts

Staff Reporter

A six-storied building leaned at Chawk Mogholtuli in Lalbagh area in the city yesterday, the eastern base of the house had sunk 6 to 7 inches into the ground.

The inmates of the house No 66 on Biren Ghosh Street were roused by a strange rumbling noise in the early hours said sub-inspector Mohammad Faruque, in charge of Chawkbazar police outpost.

The same rumble was again heard in the morning. The tenants investigated the matter and found the house slightly leaned to a side, burying that base 6 to 7 inches underground.

The inmates informed the police who, in turn, notified all other offices and authorities concerned.

Faruque said, "The tenants of the house and the locals said the owner built the house on a skimpy one on a half kathha plot without any architectural plan or design."

The owner as well as the tenants has all abandoned the tilted house, as panic gripped the people living in the neighbouring houses too.

On information fire fighters rushed to the spot and helped the dwellers to remove their valuables.

However, no injuries or casualties were reported.

A general diary has been recorded with Lalbagh Police Station.

1,489 vie for BNP tickets

BNP nomination seekers for the upcoming parliament
polls rushed to the party chairperson Khaleda Zia's Gulshan
office in the city yesterday. Focus Bangla

Staff Reporter

The Parliamentary Board of BNP headed by party Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia yesterday wrapped up interviews of 1,489 aspirants for party tickets to contest the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for December 29.

An 11-member Parliamentary Board started the interview of party nomination seekers at her Gulshan office in the city on Thursday.

The highest number of 604 nomination seekers were interviewed from Dhaka Division while 316 from Chittagong Division, 287 from Rajshahi Division, 133 from Khulna Division, 114 from Barisal Division and only 40 from Sylhet Division.

Insiders said the Parliamentary Board has taken interview to provide party nominations from about 263, out of all 300 constituencies. The rest 37 seats are learnt to be reserved for four-party alliance partners, Jamaat, Islami Oikya Jote and Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP).

Briefing journalists after completion of interviews, BNP Office Secretary Rizvi Ahmed said the party nominations would be announced after scrutiny by the review committee, the meeting of which was in progress till filing of this report at 10:00pm yesterday.

He said the nominations will be announced after the meeting of the review committee with BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in the chair.

Meanwhile, thousand of party activists and supporters milled around the office building spilling over to the adjacent areas. They were found dancing and chanting party slogans.

The Parliamentary Board members included party Secretary General Khandker Delwar Hossain, standing committee members Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain, Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddiqui, RA Ghani, M Shamsul Islam and Mahbubur Rahman.

Traffic movement on the road in front of the office remained disrupted which created a serious traffic jam in the nearby roads and lanes. Security has been beefed up in the area on the occasion.

BDR on high alert in the border

India-bound travellers from Bangladesh have to
ungergo intense checking at Petrapol, Indian side of the
border, yesterday following gunmen's action in Mumbai. Focus
Bangla

Security around the Indian High Commission in Dhaka
has been tightened in the wake of Mumbai attacks Focus
Bangla

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh has declared a border alert, instructing its units to keep an intensified vigil against unauthorized cross border movements in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai.

"We declared the border alert yesterday asking all our units to keep intensified vigil against unauthorized cross border movements," BDR's operations director Colonel Anisuz Zaman told reporters.

The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) took the step after India's Border Security Force (BSF) issued a red-alert with shoot-at-sight orders.

Reports from frontier districts said BDR soldiers intensified their patrols alongside the BSF men as security was beefed up in the capital in line with a home ministry directive ordering "maximum security alert" for the diplomatic zone and key-point installations and other sensitive areas alongside the borders.

Late last night, adviser for Home affairs of the interim government Ret Major General MA Matin held an emergency meeting with security and intelligence agencies including police, BDR and the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

"They were kept on maximum alert," Home Secretary Abdul Karim told a press briefing after the meeting.

Soon after the meeting, armed police had set up extra checkpoints and mobilized street patrol teams in Dhaka and Chittagong.

Bangladesh has condemned the Mumbai carnage in the "strongest terms" calling it a "mindless act" with President Iajuddin Ahmed, interim government chief Fakhruddin Ahmed and Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury sending letters to their Indian counterparts.

EU observer says: Emergency could prevail if poll campaign goes unhindered

Staff Reporter

The European Union's Election Observer Mission yesterday emphasized the need for creating an atmosphere ensuring freedom of campaign of the political parties and contestants maintaining safety and security of people.

"We hope that can be achieved without state of emergency," Chief observer of EU election observation mission Alexander Graf Lambsdoff said at a press conference at Hotel Sheraton yesterday. Lambsdroff, who also headed the previous EU election observation mission before January 11, 2007, observed the present situation was far better than what it was two years ago.

"There is a remarkable difference in this time from what the situation was two years ago," he said and hoped all the political parities would participate in the polls and accept the results.

The election should be acceptable and the parties should also accept the results, he said. "Both sides, I mean all sides, should recognize this," the EU parliament member said.

"Boycotting of elections by any party would be unfortunate, as Bangladesh should return to full-fledged democracy," he observed.

"We hope the emergency will be lifted at some point of the election process to ensure a clean environment for election," said Graf Lambsdoff.

He however, observed that the majority of Bangladeshis did not want emergency to be lifted before the polls, for they are concerned about security.

Asked about the role of army in the election he said, the role of army in the election process is non-existent other than providing security.

The authorities will take the decision whether they will exclusively use police for security and safety of participants in the elections process or deploy army for that purpose, he added.

Any law-enforcing agency must be respected to ensure free and fair election where electorates could cast their votes in a free environment without any intimidation, he added.

About post-election violations and persecution of religious minorities for voting in favour or against someone he said recurrence of events like attacks, murder, rape and arson should be avoided by all means.

Asked about the outcome of his meetings with political parties, Lambsdroff, a Member of European Parliament (MEP), said he found consensus among the stakeholders that elections should take place.

He said that in all, 150 EU election observers will be deployed on the election-day. Already a core team of nine experts and 46 long-term observers are working across the country.

The election observation mission will announce a preliminary report two days after the election and a detailed report after two months of the election with recommendation for changes, if needed, for future elections.

He said the EU election observation mission is independent and will observe the laws of land and its enforcement as well as the best practices of the international standard, as Bangladesh endorses the international convention on civil and political rights.

Asked about reservations from some parties against certain domestic observation teams, Lambsdroff said he was aware of that, but suggested that domestic observation was important and they should be allowed to observe the polls to a great extent to help ensure transparency of voting.

Asked whether they will pull out from observation if the emergency is not lifted, he said the EU observation mission would focus whether a genuine atmosphere was there where campaign went freely, and safety and security of all stakeholders engaged in the elections were guaranteed. "We hope the state of emergency can be lifted."

Deputy Chief Observer Graham Elsom moderated the press conference attended by Ambassadors from France, Germany and Italy and representatives of some watchdog bodies.

Young man dies in custody

Staff Reporter

A youth was allegedly tortured to death in custody in Motijheel police station yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Monir Hossain, 25, son of Mozammel Hoque of Shantibagh in Motijheel police station.

Police said Monir on Thursday night beat up one Rahima Begum and started to stab her indiscriminately in Gulbagh area of the city, being angry that she had informed police of his whereabouts.

On information, police rushed to the spot but failed to arrest Monir as he had fled the spot.

But at dawn, local people caught Monir and handed him over to police after giving him a good beating. Motijheel police took injured

Monir to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) at about 7:00 am.

After giving first aid, the DMCH authorities handed over Monir to the police.

Later, at about 12:15pm, police again took Monir to the DMCH where attending doctors declared him dead soon after his arrival.

Monir, a close aide of top listed terror `Galakata' Rubel, was wanted in some criminal cases, including extortion, said a police officer.

Monir's family members alleged that heavy police beating in custody caused his death as he looked well after receiving first aid.

Rejecting the allegation, police said Monir was taken to the DMCH for the second time as his condition deteriorated soon after he was brought to the police station. Immediately he was rushed to the hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead, they added.