Washington, January 7
Pressure mounted on Bangladesh with the international community led by the US expressing "disappointment" over the credibility of the elections marred by the Opposition boycott and deadly violence that gave a walkover to the ruling Awami League.

Premier Sheikh Hasina's Awami League emerged as the strongest party with 232 seats in the 300-seat Parliament it won in the January 5 controversial polls, which was boycotted by the BNP-led 18-party Opposition alliance.

"We have been very clear about our strong concerns about the selection and what we think the way forward should be. We believe Bangladesh still has an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to democracy by organising free and fair elections that are credible in the eyes of the Bangladeshi people," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said.

"We did note that we were disappointed by the recent parliamentary elections, especially because so many of the seats were uncontested or only had token opposition. Obviously, we believe going forward things should be done very differently," she told reporters yesterday.

The Opposition alliance led by former premier Khaleda Zia boycotted the polls marred by low turn out and violence which claimed nearly 30 lives since Saturday. Zia claimed that the people had rejected the "one-sided and stage-managed polls".

The UN also joined the international condemnation with its chief Ban Ki-moon calling for the two major parties - the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) - "to resume meaningful dialogue" urgently "for an inclusive political process".

He expressed sadness at the loss of life and said: "The UN will continue to support the country's democratic processes in accordance with the principles of inclusiveness, non-violence, reconciliation and dialogue." The UK also urged the two warring parties to work in the interest of the country.

"Like others in the International community, the UK believes that the true mark of a mature, functioning democracy is peaceful, credible elections that express the genuine will of the voters," senior foreign office minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi said in a statement yesterday.

"It is, therefore, disappointing that voters in more than half the constituencies did not have the opportunity to express their will at the ballot box and that turnout in most other constituencies was low." The Commonwealth said the polls were "disappointing" due to limited participation and added that the acts of violence are "deeply troubling" and "unacceptable".

"It is critical that Bangladesh moves quickly to find a path forward through dialogue to a more inclusive and peaceful political process in which the will of the people can be fully expressed," Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said in a statement.

However, Hasina appeared unfazed by the international criticism and asserted that the opposition election boycott should "not mean there will be a question of legitimacy". — PTI 

Madrid, January 7
A Spanish court summoned King Juan Carlos’ youngest daughter Cristina as a suspect over tax and money-laundering crimes today, a first for a direct relative of the monarch.

Cristina, 48, has been linked to the business affairs of her husband, former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, who is under investigation for alleged embezzlement of public funds.

The decision by a court in Majorca is a major blow against the prestige of the 76-year-old Spanish king, who became head of state after the death in 1975 of General Francisco Franco and helped guide the country’s transition to democracy.

The judge in Majorca, Jose Castro, has been investigating the corruption allegations against Cristina’s husband since 2010. In summoning Cristina, he overruled opposition by the public prosecutor. — AFP 

Islamabad, January 7
Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf is suffering from nine medical conditions, a media report said today.

Citing a medical report submitted to the special court that is conducting Musharraf's trial for high treason, Geo News reported that the 70-year-old former military strongman was suffering from calcium deposits in his coronary artery, mental stress, frozen shoulder, excess cholesterol in the bloodstream, prostrate enlargement, and spinal and bone pain.

Earlier today, the special court exempted Musharraf from appearing in person for two days after his medical report was submitted in a sealed envelope.

The judges had yesterday sought the report from the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, where Musharraf was admitted on January 2 after he suffered heart problems while being taken to court. — PTI 

Ankara, January 7
The Turkish government fired 350 police officers in Ankara overnight, including heads of major departments, amid a vast corruption scandal that has ensnared key allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported today.

The officers were sacked by a government decree published at midnight and included chiefs of the financial crimes, anti-smuggling, cyber crime and organised crime units, the private Dogan News Agency reported.

The move comes as the government is trying to contain the high-level corruption probe that poses the biggest threat to Erdogan’s 11-year rule.

It has also exposed the influence of an exiled Muslim scholar on Turkey’s halls of power and his Byzantine relationship with the government.

The investigation is believed to be linked to simmering tensions between Erdogan’s government and followers of influential Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in the United States.

Gulen followers hold key positions in various government branches, including the police and judiciary.

Erdogan has denounced the investigation as a foreign-hatched plot to bring down his government and has responded by sacking hundreds of police officials across the country, including the Istanbul police chief, since the probe first burst into the open in mid-December.

The crisis erupted on December 17 when police arrested dozens of people including sons of former ministers and the chief executive of Turkey’s state-run Halkbank. They are suspected of numerous offences including accepting and facilitating bribes for development projects and securing construction permits for protected areas. — AFP

Washington, January 7
US President Barack Obama has re-nominated three Indian-Americans for federal judgeship. Obama sent the re-nomination proposals to the Senate yesterday along with the names of 64 others for federal judgeship.

The three Indian-Americans include Vince Girdhari Chhabria, for the northern district of California; Manish S Shah, for the US District Judge for the northern district of Illinois; Indira Talwani for US District Judge for the district of Massachusetts.

Chhabria is currently working as the Deputy City Attorney for Government Litigation and as the co-chief of Appellate Litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, where he has worked since 2005.

Once confirmed, Chhabria would be the first South Asian Article III judge in California and the fourth South Asian Article III judge in the nation following Amul Thapar at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Cathy Bissoon at the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and Sri Srinivasan at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

An Assistant US Attorney in the northern district of Illinois since 2001, New York-born Manish Shah currently serves as chief of the Criminal Division, having previously served as chief of Criminal Appeals from 2011 to 2012.

Talwani is a partner at law firm Segal Roitman LLP in Boston, where she focuses her practice on civil litigation at the state and federal trial court and appellate levels. Once confirmed, she would be the first South Asian justice in the First Circuit. — PTI 

Beirut, January 7
The head of an Al-Qaida-linked rebel group in Syria called on Tuesday for a ceasefire between opposition factions who have clashed for five days in the bloodiest episode of infighting since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began.

The audio recording from the leader of the powerful Nusra Front, who goes by the name Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also laid much of the blame for the fighting on an al Qaeda splinter group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

While both groups have roots in the global Islamist network and welcome foreign militants, the Nusra Front has cooperated more with other rebel groups and has largely avoided the power struggles that ISIL has dealt with since wresting control of many opposition-held areas from other groups.

"Many rebel units have committed transgressions, just as the mistaken policies followed by played a prominent role in fuelling the conflict," he said. Golani proposed forming an Islamic legal council to solve feuds among the rebels and called for the militants to return to their shared goal of fighting Assad's forces.

"This unfortunate situation has pushed us to launch an initiative to save the battlefields from being lost. This will be done by forming an independent legal council by all the (rebel) factions in addition to a ceasefire," Golani said. — Reuters