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Top Islamist gets 90 years jail for B’desh war crimes
Ghulam Azam being taken to a court in Dhaka on Monday. — AFP
Pak mulls peace talks with Taliban
Obama urges calm after racially-charged murder trial
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India’s new envoy to Pak for steps to tackle terror
No asylum bid from Snowden, says Russia
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Top Islamist gets 90 years jail for B’desh war crimes
Dhaka, July 15 "He (Azam) will serve 90 years in jail," chairman of the three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1 ATM Fazle Kabir announced at the crowded courtroom here, amid tight security as Jamaat-e-Islami enforced a violent nationwide general strike to protest the sentencing of their spiritual leader. Before the judgment was announced, the police fired rubber bullets to disperse Azam's supporters protesting in the capital Dhaka and other cities. The judgment, however, said Azam deserved the death penalty for the crimes he had committed in 1971 for siding with the Pakistani junta but his old age and physical condition forced the panel to deliver the 90-year jail term. Azam, who has left deep emotional scars in the collective national psyche by engineering war-time atrocities in 1971, was found guilty of all five categories of crime - conspiracy, planning, incitement, complicity and murder. He had been charged with 61 counts of crimes in the five categories. Azam, a provincial minister in 1971, was wheeled in to the court room for the verdict. "Ghulam Azam's case is a unique one. Ghulam Azam was not physically present during these crimes but he has been accused of being the main man and the overseer of the war crimes during 1971," Justice Kabir said, as the panel pronounced the operative part of an abridged 75-page judgment. — PTI 5th conviction
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Pak mulls peace talks with Taliban
Islamabad, July 15 The working group is expected to be announced after an all-party conference scheduled to be held later this month to build a consensus on the proposed national security policy, The Express Tribune reported today. The proposed working group would comprise politicians and other figures who could use 'their influence and good offices' to make peace talks successful, the report said. According to the draft security policy, the government would devise a mechanism to reintegrate those who either shun the 'so-called jihadi organisations' or who got disengaged from such acts on any account. Under the plan, the government is considering utilising former militants and those militants who are in custody to reach out to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group which has united various militant factions operating in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal areas along the Afghan border. The government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already announced that it was willing to negotiate with TTP and other 'reconcilable groups' for the sake of peace. However, the security establishment is wary of this approach as such tactics have failed to yield positive result in the past. During his last week visit to the headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Sharif was briefed on the ground situation and the 'hard choices' his government have to make for peace talks.
— PTI |
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Obama urges calm after racially-charged murder trial
Sanford (US), July 15 A Florida jury on Saturday found neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, after a long and racially-charged trial that transfixed much of the United States for weeks. Zimmerman, 29, was charged with second degree murder, having pursued Martin, 17, through a gated community in the town of Sanford, eventually shooting him during an altercation on the rainy night of February 26, 2012. The trial aroused strong passions and divided those who believed that Zimmerman — whose father is white and whose mother is Peruvian — had racially-profiled Martin, and those who believed he acted in self-defence. Spontaneous protests broke out in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington and Atlanta overnight, following the verdict, though they were mostly peaceful. Yesterday, a demonstration in New York attracted several thousand people, with placards that read, "Jail racist killers, not black youth," and "We are all Trayvon. The whole damn system is guilty." One of the marchers in lower Manhattan wore a T-shirt proclaiming: "I'm black. Please don't shoot?" However, Obama, the first black US President, urged people to accept the trial verdict. "We are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken," Obama said in a statement. "I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son." The Florida police initially declined to press charges against Zimmerman, sparking mass protests. He was eventually arrested in April 2012 and charged with second-degree murder. — AFP
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India’s new envoy to Pak for steps to tackle terror
Islamabad, July 15 Terrorism has been a key irritant in India-Pakistan relations since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were carried out by the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba. Indian officials have called for the speedy prosecution of Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the attacks, whose trial has progressed at a snail’s pace. Raghavan and his wife were greeted by Pakistani officials at Wagah. A diplomat with considerable experience of Pakistan affairs, Raghavan served as Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad about a decade ago. He will replace Sharat Sabharwal, who was given several extensions after he reached the age of retirement last year. Sabharwal returned to India earlier this month. During his last stint in Pakistan, Raghavan served under Shivshankar Menon, who went on to become the Foreign Secretary. An officer of the 1982 batch of the IFS, Raghavan has wide-ranging experience of Pakistan affairs.
— PTI
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No asylum bid from Snowden, says Russia
Moscow, July 15 However, he has made no further public statement and has not yet filed the asylum application with the Russian authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that Snowden could claim asylum in Russia only if he stopped harming US interests. The condition initially prompted the fugitive to withdraw his asylum application, but Snowden on Friday indicated he did still want refuge in the country due to his inability to travel on.
— AFP
Rio de Janeiro: Edward Snowden has very sensitive "blueprints" detailing how the National Security Agency operates that would allow someone who read those to evade or even duplicate NSA surveillance, Glenn Greenwald, a columnist with The Guardian newspaper, has said.
— AP |
Bring Musharraf before us, says Pak court hearing Bugti case
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Dhaka, July 15
India’s new High Commissioner to Pakistan, TCA Raghavan, today said measures should be taken to address the menace of terrorism.
Speaking to the media after he crossed over to Pakistan via the Wagah land border, Raghavan said India wants good and friendly ties with Pakistan that will benefit the people of both countries. He said measures should be taken to address the menace of terrorism. Both countries should also build trade and cultural relations, he added.
