Colombo, January 30
Rubbishing the Sri Lankan government’s claim that it is holding civilians in Wanni as “human shields”, the LTTE today said it had not imposed restrictions on anyone to leave the war zone in northern areas as Colombo set a 48-hour deadline for the rebels to surrender.

“We have been very clear that any individual who wishes to leave the combat zone has an individual right to move anywhere,” Tamil Tigers’ political head B Nadesan said.

“We have not imposed any restriction on individuals. But, we will not be organising any ‘organised exodus’ against the collective will of the people who have sought refuge away from a genocidal military,” he was quoted as saying by the pro-LTTE website TamilNet.com.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had yesterday issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the LTTE to surrender and allow free movement of civilians trapped in conflict areas and assured a “safe passage” to the civilians to a secure environment.

Nadesan claimed that several civilians had died without medical transport and the LTTE had been urging the ICRC, the UN and all the actors of the international community to act urgently to provide transport to the wounded.

Nadesan said there were “elements” seeking to feed false reports to tarnish the image of the Tigers. The rebel leader also said the LTTE had been asking the top officials of the UN and other international agencies to immediately visit the ‘safety zone’ and obtain the views of the civilians and make independent assessment of the needs and concerns of the civilians. — PTI

Bangladesh has barred the country’s top Islamist leaders from leaving the country for allegedly committing crimes during the country’s liberation war in 1971, as the government moves to put them on trial.

Parliament, heavily dominated by the newly elected Awami League, overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Thursday to start trying individuals for crimes against humanity during the liberation war against Pakistan in 1971.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already asked the UN to help set up a War Crimes Tribunal.

The opposition right-wing alliance, led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its major ally, the Islamist Jamaat-e Islami, were absent from Parliament as part of boycott over seating arrangements.

Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and his deputy Ali Ahsan Mujahid are among a host of party leaders who are alleged to have committed war crimes as collaborators of the Pakistani army in 1971.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun told reporters on Friday the government had barred these war criminals from leaving the country to ensure they face trial.

“After Parliament’s decision over the trial of the war criminals, the Home Ministry has already sent the list of the war criminals to all possible places so that they cannot leave the country,” said Sahara.

Meanwhile, in an effort to quell the rising calls to try Jamaat’s top leaders, the Islamist party is planning to make an apology for the party’s support for Pakistan in 1971 but will not accept responsibility for any war crimes.

The party is also considering the expulsion of leaders who will be charged with war crimes. The Jamaat was humiliated in December’s parliamentary elections, winning only 2 out of the 300 seats on offer.

Chicago, January 30
Relations between India and the US will be positive and friendly under the Presidency of Barack Obama, who has high regard for Indians, an Indian-American former policy director and close friend of the US President said.

“President Obama would develop a positive and friendly relation with India. He holds Indians and Indian-Americans in high regard,” Raja Krishnamoorthi, Obama’s policy director during his US senate campaign, said.

Krishnamoorthi, who currently is the deputy treasurer for policy and programs in the Illinois State Treasurer’s office, has known Obama since the last 10 years and has worked with him as policy director and senior adviser for his US Senate campaign during 2002-04.

Referring to Indian influence on Obama’s life, he recalled Obama had portraits of just three leaders in his Senate Office, that of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi.

“Each of the individuals means a great deal to him. They represent how he views not just America but the rest of the world,” he said.

Krishnamoorthi was among the select few “family and friends” from the President’s hometown to be invited for the inauguration in Washington on January 20. — PTI

Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has announced the launch of a “decisive and final” operation in the troubled Swat region while vowing to establish the writ of the government.

Kayani made an unannounced trip to the area and addressed officers and troops who have been stuck in the violence-stricken valley for the past nearly one year where pro-Taliban religious extremists under Maulvi Fazlullah now appear to control most of the region. Sixteen more persons, including seven militants, were killed and 23 others injured in Swat violence on Wednesday.

The army has imposed curfew in Mangora, capital of Swat, after a raft of incidents of killings by the extremists. On the eve of army chief’s visit, the army took tough measures to impose the curfew. Military spokesman Maj Nasir Ali came out with a hard-hitting statement saying the operation would be “decisive and final”.

“The militants who are sponsored by foreign spy agencies would be completely crushed and their strongholds would be destroyed or captured,” he said.

Though the spokesman said the troops had been given “fresh directions”, he did not elaborate upon it. He said the army chief vowed that “no amount of sacrifice will deter us from our duty.”

London, January 30
Muslim women are proud to live in and belong to Europe, despite facing a daily struggle against prejudice from both within and outside their own communities, a new research suggests.

The study, carried out at the University of Cambridge, indicates that Muslim women believe life in Europe has given them freedom, opportunities and security.

It also reveals that an emerging generation of these women is becoming increasingly independent and is determined to assert its right to complete education, career and to follow its dreams.

The study, however, adds that many do so in the face of archaic patriarchal cultural traditions on the one hand, and discrimination and suspicion from the non-Muslim majority population on the other.

These challenges, combined with the relatively poor family background of many of these women, threaten to limit their social mobility, whatever their aspirations be.

The study, titled 'Europe's Muslim women: Potential aspirations and challenges', was commissioned by the King Baudouin Foundation and carried out by Dr Sara Silvestri, a Research Associate at Cambridge University's Von Huegel Institute.

Apart from interviews, a wide range of academic reports, national statistics, government and EU reports, policy papers, speeches, media reports and blogs were also analysed.

The study found that the women are keen to assert their right to take charge of their own lives and that many see that as entirely compatible with retaining an Islamic identity. — PTI 

Islamabad, January 30
Pakistani police captured nine people they accused of being involved in a string of bombings, including last year’s suicide attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, for which Al Qaeda claimed responsibility, media reports said Friday.

Rawalpindi police chief Rao Muhammad Iqbal announced the arrests and said the men had confessed to their involvement in at least five suicide attacks carried out in the capital city and its neighbouring garrison town of Rawalpindi.

The suspects were detained in a police raid on their hideout in Rawalpindi's Dhoke Lakhan neighbourhood, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Iqbal as saying Thursday night. However, the news agency did not mention when the operation was carried out. Around 100 kg of explosives and devices used to make bombs were seized during the raid, he said.

On June 2, 2008 six people were killed in a suicide car bombing outside the Danish embassy. The attack took place less than three months after a bombing at an upscale restaurant, Luna Caprese, which left a Turkish aid worker dead and around a dozen more foreigners, including four FBI officials, injured. — IANS

London, January 30
A 70-year-old shop employee of Indian origin has been awarded 300 pounds as a bravery award, for fearlessly fending off a robber who brandished a knife and took a customer hostage in his shop.

Harbhajan Singh, who works at the Costcutter store in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, showed no fear when the robber threatened him with a knife. Singh hit him over his head with an iron bar.

“I didn’t have any fear, my daughter and family were in trouble and I had to protect them. My aim was to disarm him so I hit him on the hand to make him drop the gun, but he came back with a knife, so I hit him on the head,” Singh said.

For his actions, grandfather Singh has been hailed locally as a hero and dubbed the “Turbanator”.

He was working behind the till of the shop when one Deryk Traylen ran into the shop claiming to have a gun and took a customer hostage.

Traylen, 35, locked the shop door then went up to the counter and demanded money from Singh’s son-in-law.

But, Singh grabbed an iron bar from behind the shop counter, then crept up behind the robber and hit him on the hand to disarm him.

Traylen then pretended to leave but came back with a 12 inch knife, so the elderly shop worker hit him over the head.

Singh’s daughter and son-in-law then stopped the man escaping while they waited for the police. — PTI