theworldnewsheadlines.com info@theworldnewsheadlines.com
www.banglapost.co.uk englishnews@banglapost.co.uk
35
7 March 2013
The World News Headlines Rushanara Ali MP slams decision to divert money to army
This Week US, Saudis warn Iran, Syria
The United States and Saudi Arabia have presented a united front to Iran and Syria, alerting Iran’s leadership that patience over its alleged nuclear ambitions is wearing thin and warning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that they will boost support to rebels unless he steps down. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, was in Saudi Arabia on Monday on the latest leg of a nine-nation tour through Europe and the Middle East on his first overseas trip as Washington’s top diplomat.
F
ollowing the news that Prime Minister David Cameron is considering diverting money from the UK’s aid budget to defencerelated projects, Rushanara Ali MP, Shadow Minister for International Development, said: “I am deeply concerned that David Cameron has said that hundreds of millions of pounds of aid money could be diverted to defence operations. David Cameron is the co-chair of the UN’s High Level Panel on the Post2015 Development Agenda. “He should be making a strong case against the militarisation of aid. Instead, he is showing weak leadership on this issue in a clear attempt to placate his Tory backbenchers who are fiercely opposed to ring-fencing the aid budget, which helps some of the poorest people in the world. “He should not claim to honour Labour’s 0.7% aid spending commitment while at the same time tying development aid to defence. Cameron’s empty rhetoric on international development has failed to detoxify the Tory brand.” Ivan Lewis MP and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development said: “David Cameron’s comments on aid and defence spending are a cynical attempt to appease his right wing backbenchers and another example of his weak leadership. One day, he claims credit for honouring Labour’s 0.7% aid spending commitment. The next, he seeks to pander to Tory MPs who are implacably opposed to this policy.”
Syrian rebels capture city
The celebrated religious leader Dilwar Hussain Sayedee has been sentenced to death, leading to several days of riots across Bangladesh
Dilwar Hussein Sayedee sentenced to death
A
Bangladesh war crimes tribunal has sentenced a leader of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party to death, the third verdict by the court set up to investigate abuses during the country’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Delwar Hossain Sayedee, 73, vice-president of the party, was found guilty of charges of mass killing, rape, arson, looting and religious persecution during the liberation war, lawyers and tribunal officials said on Thursday. “The verdict has appropriately demonstrated justice. We are happy,” state prosecutor Haider Ali told reporters. Lawyers for the defendant boycotted the tribunal during the verdict. “I didn’t commit any crime and the judges are not giving the verdict from the core of their heart,” Sayedee told the court. Comments from Saye-
dee’s lawyers were not immediately available, but he had previously denied the allegations and said the charges were politically motivated. The vedict triggered a fresh round of violence across the country, and Reuters news agency reported that at least 15 people were killed in protests by Sayedee’s supporters. Another 200 people were wounded as his supporters clashed with police in more than a dozen districts across the country. But thousands of people in the capital, Dhaka’s Shahbag square, who support the tribunal and have been protesting for weeks to demand the “highest penalty” for war criminals, burst into cheers as the verdict was announced. Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamic party, has denounced the trial and called for a day-long countrywide strike in anticipation of
the verdict against Sayedee. Earlier this month, the war tribunal sentenced Abdul Quader Molla, Jamaat’s assistant secretary general, to life imprisonment, leading to deadly protests by Islamists that left 16 people dead. The verdict also enraged secular protesters, tens of thousands of whom have since poured onto a central Dhaka intersection to reject the “lighter sentence” and demand the execution of Jamaat leaders. Last month, another Jamaat leader Maolana Abul Kalam Azad was sentenced to death in absentia. Seven other top leaders of Jamaat are on trial for their alleged role in the atrocities during the war. Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, was tense ahead of the verdict. About 10,000 policemen were on patrol and the government also deployed
border guards as reinforcement to prevent violence. Schools and shops were shut and roads in Dhaka and intercity motorways were empty. The tribunal, a domestic body with no international oversight, has been tainted by controversies and allegations it is targeting only the opposition. But the scale of recent secular protests show a large section of Bangladeshis support moves to punish those linked to atrocities during 1971. Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, set up the tribunal in 2010 to investigate abuses during the independence war that claimed about 3 million lives and, according to the government, during which thousands of women were raped. The tribunal has been criticised by rights groups for failing to adhere to international standards of due process.
Former RBS director appointed as chief executive of Grameen in the UK
A
former regional director of Royal Bank of Scotland has been appointed to oversee the introduction of the Grameen micro-lending system to the UK. Kevin Cadman was chosen as chief executive by the Gra-
meen Scotland Foundation. The original Grameen bank was founded in Bangladesh in the 1970s by Nobel Prize winner Prof Muhammad Yunus. Grameen aims to alleviate economic, health and social inequalities in some of Scot-
land’s poorest communities. An initial pilot scheme will serve Glasgow, North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde. Mr Cadman has more than 30 years of experience in the banking sector in Scotland.
He was RBS regional director for central Scotland before leaving the bank in July 2012. Mr Cadman said: “I am delighted to join the Grameen Scotland Foundation at this very exciting moment in its history.”
Kevin Cadman
Syrian rebels battling troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad overran al-Raqqa after days of fierce fighting, and were now in “neartotal control” of the northern city, activists said. The fall of Raqqa, located on the Euphrates River, on Monday is a significant development in the two-year-old revolt against Assad. The rebels do not claim to hold any other provincial capitals.
Egyptian protests intensify
Egyptian protesters set fire to two government buildings in the northern city of Port Said, state television reported. Protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police officers who responded by firing teargas on Monday, a day after five people, including two policemen, were killed during demonstrations in the Suez Canal city.
Deadly plane crash in Congo
A plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma has killed dozens of passengers, according to Congolese officials. At least three survivors were taken to hospital, police sources said on Monday, although the exact number of passengers on board was still unclear.
Chad kills ‘al-Qaeda’ leader
Chadian soldiers in Mali have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the al-Qaeda commander behind a bloody mass hostage-taking at an Algerian gas plant earlier this year, Chad’s military has said. The Chadian army said Belmokhtar was killed during an operation in the Ifogha mountains on Saturday.