#Talks with Pakistan today:The fifth round of Bangladesh-Pakistan Foreign Secretary-level annual bilateral consultations will begin in Islamabad today Nov 1. Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes left Dhaka on Saturday to attend the two-day meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Salman Bashir.
The consultation are expected to melt the ice in the bilateral ties, as the foreign secretaries are meeting for the first time since the Awami League-led grand alliance government came to power in Dhaka in January 2009, they added.
Bangladesh will reiterate its stand on Pakistan’s apology for the 1971 genocide, repatriation of stranded Pakistanis and sharing of assets.
Foreign Ministry sources said Bangladesh expects an apology from Pakistan for the atrocities during the War of Liberation in 1971.Dhaka believes a formal apology from Pakistan will be helpful in strengthening the bilateral ties and in carrying out the current trial of ‘crimes against humanity’ of the collaborators of Pakistani troops.
Bilateral trade would also figure in the talks and Bangladesh is optimistic of getting duty free access to more products. Bangladesh will also ask Pakistan to reduce the negative list of goods under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), to establish the Karachi-Chittagong direct sea link and to increase the frequency of flights between the two countries. (Report in The Daily Star, Nov 1)
#Maritime boundary dispute with Myanmar:President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) Judge José Luis Jesus has termed the dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay a milestone for the tribunal.
At a meeting of legal advisors in New York on October 25, the Judge said for the first time the Tribunal would be tendering an advisory opinion on such a dispute. The request came from the International Seabed Authority.
The foreign Ministry has hired experts from abroad, who have surveyed the Bay of Bengal and helped in preparing a legally sound case.
Bangladesh moved the Hamburg based ITLOS in June. Myanmar’s counter has to be filed latest by December 1.
Bangladesh will give its reply to the counter-memorial by March 15 next year and then Myanmar will get time till July 1 to give its rejoinder. There afterwards, the tribunal will adjudicate the maritime boundary issue.
With India, Bangladesh’s deadline to submit its claim is by May 31 next year and India will have to file its rejoinder by May 31, 2012. The foreign Ministry, which is dealing with the case, has already hired experts from abroad, who surveyed the Bay and assisting Bangladesh to put its demand. The foreign experts are also assisting Bangladesh in preparing report to place its demand of continental shelf at the UN by early next year. (The Daily Star, Nov 1)
#MoU with India on use of Ctg, Mongla ports:Bangladesh government has taken the initiative to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with New Delhi for use of Chittagong and Mongla ports to ferry cargoes to and from India. Bangladesh has also expressed its intention to allow Bhutan and Nepal to use the ports, so that they emerge as trade hubs of the region
The MoU spells out how much Bangladesh would get and what services it would offer to India.
A rail-line in Khulna is likely to be built to facilitate the movement of foreign cargoes, and India is expected to provide $120 million credit line for the purpose, the official said.
The land-locked north-eastern part of India will be immensely benefited, if they are allowed to use the Bangladeshi ports, as the ‘Seven Sisters’ states have to cross long distance to reach Haldia Port in Kolkata. (By Sheikh Shahariar Zaman in the Financial Express, Nov 1)
#Aug 21 attack: LeT militant confesses involvement: Abdul Malek alias Golam Mohammad, an operative of the Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Sunday Oct 31 confessed his involvement with the grenade attacks on an Awami League (AL) rally on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004. Dhaka’s Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Emdadul Haque recorded his statement and sent him to jail. However, details of the confessional statement could not be known immediately.
Rapid Action Battalion arrested Golam on October 5 from the airport railway station area in the capital for his alleged role in supplying grenades, which were used for attacks on the AL rally.
Earlier another LeT member Abu Yusuf Butt alias Abdul Majid Butt also made a similar confessional statement before the magistrate. (Report in The Daily Star)
#Court orders Koko’s arrest in a money laundering case: A Dhaka court Sunday Oct 31 issued a warrant for the arrest of Arafat Rahman Koko, younger son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, in a money-laundering case. Judge Mozammel Hossain of Special Judge’s Court-3 also directed the police to report by November 30 on execution of the warrant. Pro-BNP lawyers staged a noisy protest demonstration demanding cancellation of the arrest warrant.
“The court order means there’s no legal bar to arresting Koko on his return to the country,” Mosharraf Hossain Kajol, special public prosecutor dealing with graft cases, told The Daily Star.
Koko, who was arrested in September 2007, and paroled for treatment abroad in July the following year, is now in Bangkok.
The Special Judge Court fixed November 30 for hearing on charge-framing. Another accused in the case, Ismail Hossain Saimon, son of former shipping Minister Akbar Hossain, has been on the run since the Anti-corruption Commission filed the money-laundering case against him and Koko on March 17 last year. Both are charged with laundering money they had received from China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd and Siemens for helping them win government contracts. China Harbour got a Tk 351 crore contract to set up New Mooring Container Terminal and Siemens a Tk 239 crore contract to supply and install equipment for Teletalk, the state-owned mobile phone operator.
#Babar placed on 5-day fresh remand in arms haul case: A Chittagong court on Monday, Nov 1, placed former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar on a five-day remand in cases linked to the sensational 10-truck arms haul in Chittagong in 2004. Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mahabubur Rahman passed the order after he was produced before him with a 10-day remand prayer by investigation officer. The former minister was arrested on October 3. And his case was to come up for hearing on Oct 13. It was delayed as Babar moved the High Court and secured a two-week stay order.
Jatiyatabadi Ayeenjibi Forum, led by Chittagong Metropolitan area BNP general secretary Dr Sahadat Hossain, staged a demonstration on the court premises demanding that Babar be produced before the court. (Star Online Report)
#Mutiny Trial Resumes: A special court of Bangladesh Rifles resumed the hearing against 675 alleged mutineers of 44 Rifle Battalion at its Pilkhana Headquarters on Nov 1. The Special Court-11 headed by Col Iftekharuddin Ahmed completed reading out individual charges against 100 of the accused jawans till 2:00pm. As many as 74 people, including 57 army officials, were killed during the February 25-26 mutiny in 2009 at Pilkhana BDR Headquarters (Star Online Report)
