Rights groups decry Sahara comments

Rights defenders on Friday came down heavily on home minister Sahara Khatun for her remarks that she had nothing to do with the Limon Hossain case as it was now for the court to decide the matter.

The rights activists termed the comments 'highly irresponsible' and 'sheer disrespect for rule of law.

Sahara Khatun on Thursday told newsmen, 'The government has nothing to do with the Limon case at this stage, as it is now for the court to decide the matter.'

'The police have pressed

a charge sheet against him after an investigation. Now the court will decide the case,' she said although the director general of Rapid Action Battalion on April 11 had said Limon was innocent and he might have been a victim of a shootout between gangsters and the battalion.

Limon was shot in the leg by RAB in Jhalakati in April and had to be amputated.

The National Human Rights Commission chairman, Mizanur Rahman, who had called for proper investigation of the Limon incident, said that the home minister could in no way avoid its responsibility in ensuring a fair investigation into the shooting of the college student.

He said that the commission would go for a legal battle to defend Limon by appointing a lawyer to uphold justice.

'It would be a test for the court to ensure a fair trial. The commission on Thursday applied for enlisting its name in favour of the case filed by Limon's mother,' he said.  

Ain O Salish Kendra executive director Sultana Kamal, also newly elected chairman of Transparency International Bangladesh chapter, said the police had hurriedly submitted a charge sheet to conceal its mistakes.

She urged the government to compensate Limon's family by admitting the mistakes as  the RAB director general had said Limon was accidentally hit by a bullet during a 'shootout' between the battalion and gangsters in Jhalakati.

She said the home minister's statement was unacceptable and wondered how she (Sahara Khatun) could make such irresponsible remarks.

Jurist Sara Hossain said the minister's comments reflected her 'sheer disrespect' for rule of law. 'Such comments are a threat to rule of law,' she said.

'Although other ministers are speaking for rule of law, the law enforcement agencies continue to ignore it,' she said.

Rights watchdog Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan said the home minister had tried to avoid her responsibility by making such remarks.

He said that the police had submitted a charge sheet in connection with the case filed by the RAB in a bid to block a fair investigation of the case recorded by police 16 days after the court order.

'The role of home minister proves that the government is failing to protect the rights of citizens,' he said.

An adviser to a past caretaker government, ASM Shajahan, told New Age that he thought that the home minister had made the statement considering all aspects of the incident.

He suggested that the case filed by Limon's mother should be transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department for a fair investigation.

'The home ministry should hand over the case to CID for a credible investigation,' he said.

Information commissioner Sadeka Halim told New Age that the government should investigate all allegations of human rights violations against RAB personnel.

She also said that the charge sheet submitted by the police implicating Limon in the case filed by RAB before the investigation of another case filed by Limon's mother would raise questions.

'The battalion so far found no evidence of his [Limon] involvement in crimes. He just fell "victim" during a "shootout" between the cohorts of local gangster Morshed Jomadder and a team of the battalion,' The RAB chief told a briefing at its headquarters on April 11.

He said that a team of RAB-8 had gone to village Saturia in Jhalakati to arrest Morshed, who was sentenced to 90 years of imprisonment in different criminal cases.

'RAB-8 had conducted an investigation which described Limon as a criminal. As questions were raised by different quarters about the investigation, RAB headquarters launched a fresh inquiry into the incident. Besides, another committee led by a magistrate is also investigating the incident,' said the RAB DG.

On April 26, the Rajapur police in Jhalakati registered the case against six RAB personnel on charges of shooting the college student.

The police registered the case after the district and sessions judge, Faruk Ahmed, on April 26 rejected a petition filed by the police seeking a review of the order passed by the judicial magistrate asking the police to record in 48 hours the case, filed by Liomn's mother Henoara Begum on April 10.

Henoara filed the case with the Jhalakati court accusing six battalion personnel of shooting her son without caring about verifying his identity on March 23 when he was taking cows for grazing at Saturia of Rajapur in the district.

The police on Wednesday submitted the charge sheet against eight people, including Limon Hossain.

Charges were pressed against them in the case filed by the battalion under the Arms Act 1878 for the incident in which Limon was shot and maimed by the RAB.

Limon received treatment at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barisal about eight hours after the shooting and was referred to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation in the capital, where his left leg was amputated on March 27.

Source: New Age

Over 13,000 cases pending in labour courts

More than 13,000 cases are pending in the seven labour courts of Bangladesh, with over a half of the courts now operating without a registrar, and one of the courts in Dhaka, which alone has 4,194 cases pending, non-functional as it has no chairman.

Most of the pending cases involve the apparel sector and relate to claims of unfair dismissal, non-payment of wages and trade union rights.

The huge backlog is, however, not just due to the low number of courts and inadequate staffing but also because, as a general practice, the labour courts tend only to sit for half a day.

Three of the seven courts are based in Dhaka, two in Chittagong, one in Rajshai and one in Khulna.

The Labour Appellate Tribunal registrar, M Kamal Hussain, told New Age that as of March 31, 13,257 cases were pending with labour courts —246 cases in the appellate tribunal, 1869 cases in the Dhaka First Labour Court, 4215 in the Dhaka Second Court, 4194 cases in the Dhaka Third Court, 291 cases in the Rajshahi Court, 940 in the Khulna Court, 933 cases in the Chittagong First Court and 569 cases in the Chittagong Second Court.

The labour ministry will need to request the law ministry to assign a district judge or additional district judge on deputation to activate the court in Dhaka, which is without a chairman.

According to an official, this could, however, take a long time.

The Labour Appellate Tribunal is not in a much better condition. The tribunal has 246 cases pending but the court has been functioning without a member judge for four years although Section 218(5) of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 stipulates that one or more benches can be formed with two or more members.

Before the current appellate tribunal's chairman was appointed in May 2010, the post had been vacant for a year and a half.

Israfil Alam, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the labour ministry, blames both the labour and law ministries for the situation.

'We have discussed the lack of four registrars and the absence of an appellate member judge with the labour ministry several times but nothing has so far been done,' he told New Age.

The registrar's post is a non-cadre post and is appointed by the Public Service Commission, so the labour ministry blames the PSC which has failed to provide the courts with staff.

The labour ministry also says that it has tried to deal with the backlog of cases by asking the law ministry to allow district judge's courts to hear labour law cases along with its usual cases.

After waiting for a year, the labour ministry finally

heard in early April that the law ministry had turned down its request as the district courts were already 'overloaded with pending cases.'

'If the government wants to increase the number of labour courts, it can do so by following the existing labour law,' the law ministry said in its letter.

Israfil criticised the law ministry's decision. 'When hearings relating to children and explosive substances can proceed in the district judges' courts, why not the labour cases?'

'If we cannot take the courts close to the workers, they will never enjoy the benefits of the existing labour laws as it becomes difficult for them to continue legal battles when the courts are far away from them,' Israfil told New Age.

Razekuzzaman Ratan, general secretary of the Samajtantrik Sramik Front, stressed the importance of setting up more labour courts to ensure the legal rights of the workers as in the current situation the hapless workers are unwilling to file cases.

'If workers file cases they need to travel long distances, which is time-consuming and too costly for them,' he said, pointing out that a worker from Sylhet has to travel to Chittagong to file a case.

The number of labour courts has not expanded since 1970 despite the huge increase in the level of employment in the country and changes introduced by the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 which resulted in the labour courts having to deal not only with civil law labour disputes but also criminal prosecution involving labour law.

The parliamentary standing committee has recommended that there should be a labour court in every district but no action in this regard has been taken by the labour ministry.

The huge backlog of cases exists even though the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 requires that all cases should be completed within 60 days.

'The problem is that the law does not specifically say what should happen if the case is not resolved in the two-month period,' said labour lawyer AKM Nasim. As a result the cases just get extended.

The lengthy court process and the scarcity of labour courts is a big problem for workers. 'I have to get a whole day's leave from my current employer in Narsingdi to attend a hearing in the labour court in Dhaka of an old case filed against my former employer who terminated me illegally,' Habibur Rahman told New Age.

He said that it was extremely difficult to continue to pursue the case.

'Most of the cases in the Khulna court are filed against influential shrimp industry owners and they manage to influence the court to delay the proceedings, which breaks the patience of the poor workers,' a member of the Khulna labour court told New Age.

Source: New Age

Out with Sheraton, in with a new name

Dhaka, April 29: Iconic hotel brand Sheraton is finally ending its operation in Bangladesh after a long stay of 27 years, and state-owned Bangladesh Services Ltd (BSL) that owns the hotel is going to take over its operation and management.

From May 1, the state-owned hotel is going to be named Ruposhi Bangla, and it will be the title name of the hotel from now. The BSL has called a press conference on Saturday in this regard.

Ruposhi Bangla, a new company formed by the BSL and to be run by the Sheraton's present staffs, will be the management operator of the hotel for an interim period until the government finds a world class company to run the hotel.

Lutfur Rahman, managing director of the BSL, is likely to be the chief executive officer, while Mahfuzur Rahman, director of sales and marketing of Dhaka Sheraton, will be the general manager of the new hotel, said a top official of the hotel, asking not to be named.

The BSL also takes over the 400 regular employees of Dhaka Sheraton, and would pay salaries and other facilities to all the staff members until a new company takes over.

Meanwhile, the government has started looking for an international hotel chain to operate and manage the hotel, and shortlisted a number of companies, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Marriott, Swiss Hotel and Kempinski Hotel, he said.

Sheraton was supposed to fold its business by March 31 as the international hotel-chain brand and the government differed on operating conditions. Later, it extended its stay by a month upon government request so that the BSL gets a month more time for preparation.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts that operates under the brand name of Sheraton had a 25-year deal with the BSL, which expired on December 31, 2008. The company had since extended its contract 10 times.

Since 2009, Starwood had been pressing for a complete renovation of the hotel's rooms, kitchens, conference rooms, bathrooms, lobbies and bars.

However, Starwood and the government failed to reach an understanding over issues, such as the renovation cost, the right to choose and hire construction team, and the deadline to complete the construction work.

Starwood was too strict to be flexible to the government request to ease the conditions, which eventually stopped both parties to reach an agreement.

Last year, Sheraton earned revenue of around Tk 102 crore, up from Tk 80.5 crore in 2009. The hotel made an operating profit of nearly Tk 50 crore, a sharp rise of 47 percent from that of 2009, amid intense competition from its new rivals in the hospitality sector.

Source: The Daily Star

Royal wedding guests face strict security sweeps

AP, LONDON, April 28: It's not the type of welcome most wedding guests expect before they get into church — background checks, ID verification and a security sweep.

But then again, Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding on Friday is no ordinary affair.

Britain hasn't seen a royal wedding of this size since Prince Charles married Diana in 1981 — there were actually 200 more police on duty for that wedding, which had a longer procession route and a guest list of some 3,500 people, including foreign royals and heads of state.

Friday's wedding will offer much of the same pomp and circumstance with its 1,900 invited guests, but it also presents a modern security nightmare for the 5,000 U.K. police officers on duty. Police will be on the look-out for Irish dissident terrorists, Muslim extremists, anti-monarchists and protesters.

Scotland Yard Police Commander Christine Jones said Wednesday there has been no new terror threat but considerable Internet chatter.

"Our operation has been meticulously planned, and we have thought through and planned for a huge range of contingencies," she said.

Anxious crowds wrapped in Union Jack flags watched late Wednesday afternoon as a convoy of cars arrived at Westminster Abbey. Seconds after, the soon-to-be royal couple arrived at the cathedral for a final wedding rehearsal. Middleton's parents and Prince Harry, the best man, also attended, St. James Palace said.

A wide range of police will be on patrol for as the couple ties the knot Friday: officers on motorcycles, escort specialists, dog handlers, search officers, mounted police, protection officers and firearms units, although only a fraction of Britain's police officers are armed.

Thousands of people are expected along the parade route Friday, a snaking path of less than a mile from Westminster Abbey — an iconic cathedral near London's Big Ben and Parliament buildings — to Buckingham Palace, where the new royal couple will appear on the balcony for the anticipated kiss.

Britain has seen several major terror attacks and plots since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001. The deadliest came in 2005, when homegrown terrorists killed 52 commuters during London's rush hour — Europe's first suicide bombing. In 2006, terrorists in Britain tried to down several trans-Atlantic airliners using liquid explosives. The following year, two major terror plots were thwarted outside a London nightclub and at an airport in Scotland.

London has also seen large protests recently against the Conservative-led government's austerity plans, which aim to cut 310,000 government jobs and raise university tuition fees. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were shaken up when their car was attacked in December when a student protest turned violent.

A group called Muslims Against Crusades said they wouldn't protest the wedding but urged Muslims to stay away from central London and public transport because of the possibility of an attack. Leader Asad Ullah said the warning was general and not based on any intelligence.

Many Muslims have voiced anger over Britain's involvement in the Iraq war. Prince William's younger brother Harry also served in Afghanistan.

British police have special stop-and-search powers now if they think people in the crowds are carrying something suspicious. Some 60 people have already been banned from the parade route Friday and both uniformed and undercover officers will be in the crowds or on rooftops.

The wedding guests — kings and queens, sports and entertainment celebrities, charity workers and friends and family of the royals — will have their identification checked and go through a security screening before entering the abbey. Some of the guests have also gone through cursory background checks.

"They will go through a significant search regime," Commander Jones said.

Although Britain's security threat level remains the same, there has been an increased threat from Irish Republican Army splinter groups opposed to the peace process. A masked man from the Real IRA said Monday the queen was wanted for war crimes and his group would oppose her visit next month.

He made no specific threat to disrupt the royal wedding.

Police said security around London's subway network will be boosted, while policing at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, will be as normal.

In October, the U.S. State Department advised Americans to be wary amid reports that terrorists were planning a Mumbai-style attack on a European city. More than 160 people were killed in that 2008 attack, when gunmen fired on crowds in a shooting spree that paralyzed India's business capital for days.

But a U.S. State Department official said the threat expires on Saturday — the day after the wedding. U.S. travel advisories have set expiration dates unless a threat is still considered active.

"We do not plan to renew it," the U.S. official said suggesting that the Mumbai-style threat was no longer considered active or credible. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Another western intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work, said threads of the threat were still being investigated but he added there was "no intelligence to suggest a highly organized threat to the royal wedding."

Forecasters predict a 70 percent chance of rain Friday for London. The Meteorological Office says there will be a mix of showers and dry spells, a cool breeze and temperatures in the high teens Celsius (mid-60s Fahrenheit). 

'Rio' stays perched atop foreign box office chart

AP, LOS ANGELES, April 28: "Rio" topped the international box office chart for the third consecutive weekend with $32.1 million in 41 territories and a worldwide total of $239.3 million, but "Fast Five" is coming on quickly with a tally of $12.6 million in just three territories in advance of its turbocharged U.S. debut this weekend.

As the most action-packed and visually stunning film of the "Fast" franchise, look for Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to dominate the worldwide market in the weeks to come.

Moving up to third place overseas is "Red Riding Hood," which increased to 29 territories and a weekend international gross of $8 million, giving this re-boot of the classic fairy tale worldwide appeal to the tune of $70.3 million.

Here are the top 20 movies at international theaters last weekend, followed by international gross for the weekend (excluding North America), number of theater locations, number of territories, worldwide gross to date (including North America), and number of weeks in release as compiled Wednesday by Rentrak Theatrical and provided by Hollywood.com:

1. "Rio," $32,150,926, 9,202 locations, 41 territories, $239,303,489, three weeks.

2. "Fast Five," $12,580,556, 437 locations, three territories, $15,433,907, one week.

3. "Red Riding Hood," $7,997,087, 2,472 locations, 29 territories, $70,348,573, seven weeks.

4. "Hop," $7,048,707, 7,016 locations, 34 territories, $145,789,417, four weeks.

5. "Gantz Perfect Answer," $6,740,684, locations NA, one territory, $6,740,684, one week.

6. "Scream 4," $6,581,238, 5,689 locations, 25 territories, $68,010,127, two weeks.

7. "Limitless," $5,374,170, 2,976 locations, 19 territories, $123,416,869, six weeks.

8. "Detective Conan Quarter of Silence," $4,390,868, locations NA, one territory, $13,824,346, two weeks.

9. "Source Code," $3,590,751, 3,512 locations, 18 territories, $70,382,808, four weeks.

10. "Battle: Los Angeles," $3,142,793, 1,639 locations, 38 territories, $99,156,577, seven weeks.

11. "Just Go With It," $3,099,466, 1,486 locations, 43 territories, $137,756,283, 11 weeks.

12. "Hall Pass," $2,453,622, 1,410 locations, 23 territories, $73,512,290, nine weeks.

13. "New Kids Turbo!," $2,275,605, 175 locations, one territory, $15,009,607, one week.

14. "Paul," $1,978,413, 886 locations, 11 territories, $80,660,844, 10 weeks.

15. "Gulliver's Travels," $1,967,788, 49 locations, five territories, $224,137,072, 17 weeks.

16. "Crayon Shin Chan 2011," $1,954,767, locations NA, one territory, $4,781,849, two weeks.

17. "Arthur," $1,876,519, 3,292 locations, five territories, $32,178,439, three weeks.

18. "Aguila Roja, La Pelicula," $1,766,310, 393 locations, one territory, $2,527,611, one week.

19. "Suspiscious Customers," $1,705,550, locations NA, one territory, $4,923,185, two weeks.

20. "The King's Speech," $1,538,799, 1,290 locations, 23 territories, $401,666,237, 22 weeks.

___

Paul Dergarabedian is president of the Box Office Division of Hollywood.com and a longtime box office analyst for The Associated Press. 

Baldwin, Patti Smith featured at NY poetry reading

AP, NEW YORK, April 28: The night of poetry began with the verse of Emily Dickinson set to television music, peaked with a shaman-esque chant by Patti Smith and ended with Alec Baldwin making good on his college English studies with a flawless recital of Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee."

"I was in tears from Alec Baldwin reading `Annabel Lee.' It's such a beautiful poem," Smith said Wednesday night after a gala event at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, where nine artists and celebrities were featured readers for Poetry & the Creative Mind, a benefit sponsored by the Academy of American Poets and staged in honor of April, National Poetry Month.

Only Smith qualified as an actual poet, but Adrien Brody looked like one in his porkpie hat and dark beard, and all performers honored material that demonstrated the unruly range of American verse. There were standards memorized in classrooms ("Annabel Lee," Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing"), the anguish of Delmore Schwartz, the ecstasy of Allen Ginsberg, the street talk of Charles Bukowski and the rap of Christopher Wallace, aka the late Notorious B.I.G.

The classic and the colloquial were paired from the beginning. Master of ceremonies Chip Kidd read a gloomy excerpt by Marilyn Monroe and continued a tradition of fitting Dickinson's compressed verse to contemporary song. Two years ago, he picked the melody of "Yellow Rose of Texas." On Wednesday, he sang some of Dickinson's most morbid lines to the bouncy theme of "Gilligan's Island":

___

Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality.

____

The readers were aligned in chairs behind the podium, their dress business-casual, from Caroline Kennedy's silk jacket and blouse to the tie-less attire of most of the men. The moods were serious, silly, confessional, righteous.

Kennedy, who has edited several collections of poetry, earnestly explained the importance of hearing verse aloud. Jesse Eisenberg, a picture of self-absorption in "The Social Network," nervously smacked his lips as he acknowledged that his choice of Schwartz's haunted "The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me" was a "veiled way to further my narcissism." Brody slouched at the podium and rasped through Notorious B.I.G.'s "Ten Crack Commandments."

Chef-food writer Dan Barber claimed he didn't bother with poetry, "like never," but so enjoyed Robert Hass' "Meditation at Lagunitas" that he read it twice. Singer Cassandra Wilson introduced herself as a novice but sounded like a natural through an accomplished and emotional tribute reading of Nikky Finney's "Left," an elegy for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Until her turn came, Smith hardly seemed on the same stage, or in the same cosmos. She sat stiffly, arms folded across her chest, her eyes closed as if in solitude. But at the podium, her graying hair in pigtails, her round glasses blinded in the spotlight, she shook and shouted through Ginsberg's "Footnote to Howl," with its rush of "Holies" and its Utopian climax: "Holy the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent kindness of the soul!"

Smith left to applause long and impolite, old news for a rock star. An awed Baldwin began his reading with a chant of his own.

Paris Hilton, boyfriend accosted at LA courthouse

AP, LOS ANGELES, April 28: Police arrested a man who tried to grab the boyfriend of Paris Hilton as the couple arrived Wednesday at a courthouse to testify against a suspect in an attempted break-in at her home last year.

An Associated Press photographer and reporters interviewing the couple saw the man appear to get a hand on the neck of Cy Waits before being seized by a bodyguard and taken away.

James Rainford, 36, was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery on a person and was being held on $20,000 bail.

The incident occurred as Hilton and Waits walked into a Superior Court building in Van Nuys to testify against Nathan Parada, 31, who is charged with attempted first-degree felony burglary.

Hilton posted on her Twitter account that a "psycho intruder just punched Cy in the back of the head as we were walking into the court house."

She and Waits testified about being awakened by a man banging on a window at her home last August. They left the courthouse without further incident.

Police Detective Kevin Romine testified that Parada told him and his partner that he had left a halfway house in Redlands, Calif., several days before going to Hilton's home with the intention of robbing it.

Parada told police he found the Hollywood Hills house after purchasing a map of stars' homes, then stayed outside for several hours before going to a back window and pounding on it with the butt of a knife, Romine said.

During his interview, Parada told detectives that he planned to steal whatever he could carry, sell it and move to a deserted island, Romine testified.

Parada also told police that he had not taken his antidepressant medication for several days before going to Hilton's home, the detective said.

He said Parada knew there was at least one person inside but didn't plan to hurt anyone.

Police were told Hilton's home was targeted because she is famous and she was from a rich family, Romine said.

Deputy District Attorney Kaveh Faturechi said he expects to conclude his case Thursday. Parada could face a maximum of three years in prison if convicted.

Western artist Harry Jackson dies at age 87

AP, CODY, Wyo., April 28: Wyoming artist Harry Jackson, known for both his works of abstract expressionism and images of the American West, has died at the age of 87.

Funeral home officials told the Casper-Star Tribune that Jackson died Monday at the veterans' hospital in Sheridan.

He was born in Chicago in 1924 but made his way to Wyoming in his early teens to work on a ranch. He was a combat artist for the Marines during World War II.

His paintings and sculptures can be found at museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum and in collections owned by the Saudi Arabian royal family and Queen Elizabeth.

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Wyoming contains the largest museum collection of his work in the United States.

ASCAP honors pop songwriters at 28th annual awards

AP, LOS ANGELES, April 28: Two of the year's most prolific hitmakers, Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald and Max Martin, are the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' songwriters of the year.

The two men, who are responsible for such hits as Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." and Katy Perry's "California Gurlz," took top honors Wednesday at ASCAP's 28th annual Pop Music Awards. Train frontman Pat Monahan won song of the year for "Hey, Soul Sister." EMI Music Publishing was named publisher of the year.

Rod Stewart, Band of Horses and Randy Bachman were also honored at the private ceremony at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel.

Ke$ha, Adam Lambert, Taio Cruz and Darren Criss of "Glee" were among the night's presenters and performers.

Tyler joined "Idol" to prove point to bandmates

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 28: Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler says he signed on as a judge of "American Idol," a show he had never watched, to defy his estranged bandmates.

The colorful 63-year-old singer, on the promotional trail for his new autobiography, "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?," had to fight off a legal threat to toss him out of the band he co-founded 40 years ago so that he could join America's top-rated TV show this season.

"Did I take this job to show the band? F---, yeah," he said in a cover story for Rolling Stone magazine. "Not to show them, but that I can't be held hostage anymore. I will be my own hostage. The band can't throw me out."

Relations between Tyler and his four bandmates hit a new low in 2009 after he fell off the stage in a middle of a song and broke his shoulder, forcing their tour to be canceled.

His frustrated bandmates, far from showing any compassion, went public with their threats to find another singer. Tyler, in turn, said he told his manager, "F--- them, get me a job." And he ended up on "Idol" after beating about 40 other contenders, including Who rocker Roger Daltrey, for the job.

His bandmates got even more furious, and even claimed in legal papers that his "Idol" gig was tantamount to a refusal to tour -- a fireable offense by the rules of their partnership, Rolling Stone said. But it noted that Tyler's "Idol" contract specifically gives him the freedom to tour with the band.

In a separate interview with NBC, Tyler said he was still feuding with his bandmates, but has written them a letter seeking a detente and a desire to return to the studio to record the band's first album of new material since 2001.

"Remember, being in a band this big, it's a very heavy marriage," he told NBC anchor Matt Lauer, in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday.

It's not known if his entreaty was heard, though his allegations in Rolling Stone that two unidentified bandmates were using drugs as recently as last year could pose an obstacle on the road to peace.

Additionally, Tyler told Rolling Stone that he and guitarist Joe Perry -- both staunch advocates of sobriety -- snorted pills for the first time in decades during an aborted recording session a few years ago. (Perry did not comment for the story, and a spokesman did not respond to an email sent by Reuters.)

"The Voice" opens big for NBC

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 28: After months of sagging ratings, NBC has something to sing about with "The Voice."

The network's new "American Idol" rival -- featuring Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine as musician coaches -- clobbered Fox's supersized "Glee" for a rare evening of dominance.

"The Voice" drew a 5.1 rating in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic, while a 90-minute, Lady Gaga-inspired "Glee" had to make do with a 3.4. Overall, "Voice" averaged 11.8 million viewers during its heavily promoted two-hour premiere, which is about half of what "Idol" pulls in for Fox.

Not surprisingly, "The Voice" skewed heavily female, especially among those aged 25 to 54. The only program to draw an even bigger swath of that middle-aged demo was ABC's older-skewing "Dancing With the Stars."

Among adults 18-49, "The Voice" improved NBC's season average in the time period by 89 percent and it also ranks as the top-rated series premiere on a major network since CBS' "Undercover Boss" debut following the 2010 Super Bowl. It also boosted the fourth-placed network to a rare ratings win for the night, although ABC pulled in more viewers because of "Dancing with the Stars."

William and Kate in final royal wedding rehearsal

Reuters, LONDON, April 28: Prince William and Kate Middleton attended their final wedding rehearsal at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday as the armed forces, media organizations and spectators prepared for the couple's big day.

Roads in central London around Buckingham Palace and along the route of Friday's marriage procession from the abbey were closed from early morning as about 1,000 members of the military held a full-scale practice.

Carriages that will carry members of the wedding party also took part alongside mounted cavalry.

William and Middleton arrived in a fleet of vehicles that swept into the abbey grounds for their rehearsal on Wednesday evening.

They were accompanied at the run-through by William's brother and best man Prince Harry, the Middleton family and senior clergy, a spokesman for the couple said.

Across the capital, bunting has gone up and flags are beginning to be hoisted, with similar preparations around the country where about 5,500 street parties will be held.

A small army of media from around the world has descended on makeshift studios set up outside Buckingham Palace and along the route to cover the ceremony that one British minister predicted would attract a global TV audience of some 2 billion people.

"America and the world is really excited about a piece of great news," said Linda Bell Blue, executive producer of U.S. entertainment news programme Entertainment Tonight, who is heading up a team of 70 staff for the wedding.

"It's been a pretty rough time around the world -- in the Middle East and in Japan and the world economy -- and this is something to be happy about," she told Reuters.

"Americans love a big production. This is the Oscars on steroids. Its the pageantry, the enthusiasm, it's about what people are wearing."

Some royal fans have already begun camping outside the abbey to secure the best spots to watch Friday's events, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to start arriving in London.

MORE THAN A MILLION VISITORS

VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, is predicting an extra 600,000 tourists in the capital on the day, meaning there would be a total of some 1.1 million visitors with 40 percent of those coming from abroad.

"That could bring anything up to 50 million pounds ($83 million)," a spokesman said, adding the number of in-bound flights to Britain for the weekend had risen by 244 percent.

London and Partners, the agency which promotes the city, said it expected there would be 600,000 people actually lining the streets, the same number as came to watch the 1981 wedding of William's parents Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said the occasion would be a boon to a nation coping with government austerity measures which have resulted in drastic spending cuts and job losses.

"People across the country, and indeed across the world, are getting excited about the events on Friday," Cameron told parliament.

Archbishop of York John Sentamu, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, echoed those sentiments.

"This event I hope will give a lot of hope to a lot of people, particularly young people," he said in a TV interview published on his website.

Those who do go to London to watch the procession or camp out could be in for a cold and wet experience, with weather forecasters predicting showers and a brisk wind.

On Tuesday, police appealed to the public to help them spot any potential troublemakers, while promising that they would not tolerate any attempt to disrupt the event.

Some 5,000 police officers will be on duty to deal with potential threats ranging from international Islamist militants to anarchists and stalkers.

Meanwhile the one-and-a-half mile processional route has undergone a deep clean to get it looking spic and span.

A team of 130 street cleaners including 80 sweepers along with 30 vehicles are being lined up to deal with the 140 tonnes of waste expected to be left by those watching on Friday. 

Schwarzenegger to star in proposed new "Terminator"

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 28: He said he would be back, and now Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing just that.

The action movie hero turned politician is attached to star in a new "Terminator" movie being shopped to Hollywood studios, an industry source said on Wednesday.

Schwarzenegger, 63, who played the killing machine cyborg in three of the blockbuster movies with the catch phrase "I'll be back", is on board to reprise a role that helped make him one of Hollywood's most successful and recognizable stars, the source said.

The news follows the end in January of Schwarzenegger's two terms as governor of California, and his announcement in February that he was ready to take movie offers again. He has already announced he is developing a TV show and comic book based on his political nickname "The Governator."

Industry website Deadline Hollywood reported that Schwarzenegger's talent agency Creative Arts Agency (CAA) was presenting a proposal regarding the "Terminator" this week to major Hollywood studios that would revive one of the industry's most successful franchises.

CAA declined to comment on the report.

Deadline Hollywood said there was no screenwriter attached so far. It was unclear whether director James Cameron, who wrote and directed the first "Terminator" movie in 1984, would be involved in the proposed new film.

Schwarzenegger starred in three "Terminator" movies but actor Sam Worthington took the main cyborg role in the fourth installment, "Terminator Salvation" in 2009.

The four movies have grossed more than $1.4 billion at worldwide box offices.

Schwarzenegger put most of his movie star life on hold while serving as California's Republican governor from 2003-2010. But he made a well-received cameo appearance in the 2010 movie "The Expendables" along with other aging action heroes Sylvester Stallone and Jet Li.

Katie Holmes settles libel suit on drugs claim

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 28: Actress Katie Holmes has reached a settlement in her $50 million defamation lawsuit against celebrity magazine Star over an article that falsely suggested she was a drug addict, her representative said on Wednesday.

Star magazine also published an apology in its May 9 edition, on news stands on Wednesday, and said it was making a "substantial donation" to a nonprofit dance foundation supported by the actress.

Holmes, the wife of Tom Cruise, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles in March over a January edition of the magazine with the coverline "Addiction Nightmare. Katie Drug Shocker!"

The inside story made no allegations of drug use but referred to counseling sessions in the Church of Scientology. Cruise is one of Hollywood's leading Scientology followers, and his five-year marriage to Holmes is a frequent source of speculation in celebrity media.

Star magazine said in its printed apology that the magazine "did not intend to suggest Katie Holmes was a drug addict or was undergoing treatment for a drug addiction."

Holmes was seeking $50 million in damages but the financial terms of the settlement were confidential, her representative said in a statement. Star magazine is published by Florida-based American Media Inc, whose group includes tabloid weekly The National Enquirer.

"I'm pleased that this lawsuit could be resolved amicably and accept American Media's apology. With this dispute out of the way, I look forward to once again focusing my attention on my family and career," Holmes said in a statement.

Holmes' attorney, Aaron Moss, said the lawsuit should serve "as a lesson to other tabloids that if they print false and defamatory stories about Katie, she will stand up for her legal rights."

Star magazine's donation will go to the Dizzy Feet Foundation, a charity that helps underprivileged American youngsters pay for dance classes.

11 killed in mass beating, gunfight in Bangladesh

Cox's Bazar, April 26: Ten suspected robbers were killed in a fierce gunfight with police and mass beating while a villager was shot dead by the bandits after a series of heists in two villages in the hilly Ramu upazila of Cox's Bazar district early Monday.

Police superintendent Nibas Chandra Mazi said the robbers had also stabbed five people, including a woman, after barging into a house.

Ramu and Ukhia police arrested five alleged robbers and seized five guns and six rounds of bullet after the shootout.

Police and villagers said a horde of armed bandits swooped on four houses at Sadreekata village in Ukhia at dead of night and looted valuables, including about 50 tolas of gold ornaments and Tk five lakh in cash, from the houses of Nurul Alam, Syed Alam and Ola Mia.

After committing the robberies, the bandits left the village and hid in the hills in the dark of night. While fleeing through Nayapara village of Ramu, they were spotted by the locals who started shouting and chasing the robbers.

In a bid to scare away the villagers, the bandits opened fire which left Jasim Uddin, 30, dead on the spot. Jasim Uddin, who worked in Saudi Arabia had come home recently on holiday, said relatives.

Hundreds of villagers along with the Ukhia police ringed the hill in which the robbers hid.

In a desperate attempt to escape, the robbers once again opened fire prompting the police to retaliate and in the resultant shootout, two of the robbers were killed.

More than 40 villagers and six police personnel also sustained bullet wounds during the gunfight.

Some of the robbers managed to vanish in the forest, but while they came out of their hideout after daybreak in the hilly Gorayardip village in Himchari, they were surrounded and captured by the villagers. Eight of the alleged bandits to were beaten to death on the spot by

the angry mob. Villagers stabbed by the robbers included Hasna Hena, 28, Fazlul Karim, 35, Sahidul Islam, 20, Jashim Uddin, 25, and Rafique Uddin, 18.

The police personnel who sustained bullet wounds included sub-inspector Gobinda Solka Das, constables Mosaraf, 35, Russell, 45, and Tutul, 30. The villagers injured in the firing were Abdus Salam, 30, Shafiullha, 25, Kalim Ullah, 15, Sayedullah, 28, Faridul Alam, 40, and Ershad Ullah, 25. All were admitted to Cox's Bazar sadar hospital.

Police sent the bodies to the sadar hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations.

Ramu and Ukhia police backed by the Rapid Action Battalion were trying to hunt down the rest of the robbers, officials said.

Source: New Age

BNP skips JS panel meet, terms move ‘motivated’

Dhaka, April 26: The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party did not attend the meeting of the parliamentary special committee on constitutional amendment on Tuesday terming 'ill-motivated' the committee's initiative.

The party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, also the leader of the opposition, sent a letter to the committee chief, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, on Monday giving four specific reasons for skipping the meeting, committee sources said.

The special committee criticised the BNP for not attending the meeting and accused the opposition leader of trying to push the country into chaos.

'The language of Khaleda Zia's letter was beyond parliamentary norms,' the committee co-chair Suranjit Sengupta told a briefing at the parliament media centre.

The special committee on April 20 invited the BNP chairperson to Monday's meeting to have her party's opinions on constitution amendment.

Instead of joining the meeting, Khaleda sent a reply to the committee's invitation on Sunday night.

In her reply, Khaleda said it was 'meaningless' for her to attend the meeting, as it was an 'ill-motivated' move to realise the government's political objectives.

'No working paper or

specific proposals for constitution amendment or a copy of the printed constitution, gazetted on February 10, was attached to the invitation letter,' Khaleda stated in the reply.

It said, 'After publishing the full constitution in gazette notification on February 10, the law minister said that the printed constitution was in force, although it was printed bypassing the parliament in violation of Article 142.'

'When the people of the country rejected the reprinted constitution, the parliamentary special committee co-chairman said that the constitution printed on February 10 was a draft constitution on the basis of which the committee made various decisions at times till date,' Khaleda said in the reply.

The reply also said, 'The contradictory statements made and steps taken by the government have confused the nation resolution of which is essential. The people do not know the exact stand of the government on constitution amendment.'

In his reaction to Khaleda's reply, Suranjit said that the BNP was not discharging its constitutional and democratic duties as the opposition in parliament.

'Instead of attending the meetings, they [BNP] are trying to push the country towards undemocratic system,' said the committee spokesman.

He said that although there was an opportunity for a national consensus on

constitution amendment, the opposition was not cooperating with the committee.

Committee member Rashed Khan Menon said told the briefing that the BNP always relied on unconstitutional means for power and its refusal to attend the special committee meeting was a part of its attempt to lead the country towards unconstitutionality.

Committee member Tofail Ahmed thanked the BNP for recognising the committee through its letter, although it earlier branded the parliamentary panel unconstitutional.

'In her letter, Khaleda Zia has not branded the committee illegal, which is a shift from her previous position. I thank the BNP for this,' Tofail said.

Suranjit, however, said that the opposition still had the chance to give their opinions on constitution amendment when they would go to the house and the parliamentary standing committee on law.

He also said that the committee would not write further to the BNP over the matter and hoped that the opposition would return to the parliamentary bodies.

Rejecting the committee's allegation that the language of Khaleda's letter was 'discourteous' and 'ill-mannered', BNP at a press conference said the language of the letter was 'decent enough'.

Terming 'unacceptable' and 'ill-motivated' the process of holding the dialogues on constitution review, BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed said, 'The government has shown utter irresponsibility in the way it has moved to change the constitution.'

When asked what steps the government should take in this regard to enable the opposition to take part in the process, Moudud said, 'We will be able to understand the government's position and come to know what changes the government wants to make in the constitution only when the constitution amendment bill will be placed in parliament after its approval by the cabinet.'

'And then we will take our decision,' he added.

Source: New Age

Stranded Bangladeshi families in Libya anxious for safe exit

Dhaka, April 26: Stranded Bangladeshi families are anxious to return home from war-torn Libya, foreign ministry officials said Monday.

A consular team from the foreign ministry stationed at Ras-Jdir, on the Tunisian side of its border with Libya, has been receiving frequent calls from several Bangladeshi families living in different cities and townships of Libya, seeking advice on how to return to Bangladesh, the ministry said in a release. 

Bangladesh ambassador to Libya ABM Nuruzzaman told New Age over phone on Monday that he was aware that the Bangladeshi families were seeking the advice on phone.

He said though he had no clear picture about the exact number of Bangladeshi families who were stranded in Libya now, it was estimated that 20,000 families awaited repatriation from the civil war torn country.

According to available statistics, 35,433 Bangladeshis were brought back home from Libya until Tuesday afternoon.

Officials said that the consular team from the ministry at Ras-Jdir was, however, advising Bangladeshis intending to return home to take a safe route to Ras-jdir.

Officials of the foreign ministry in Dhaka, however, said that the consular teams at both Ras-jdir in Tunisia and Al-Salum in Egypt would coordinate their return home depending on the availability of flights.

They said that 23 Bangladeshis at Ras Jdir border point of Tunisia await repatriation home.

On Monday, they said, only one Bangladeshi crossed over to Tunisia from Libya.

They said that 698 Bangladeshis, who had crossed over into Egypt from

Libya until Monday, were now at Al Salloum border point awaiting repatriation.

The International Organization for Migration informed the Bangladesh consular team that it was evacuating from Misrata many people, about 1,000 among them could be Bangladeshis.

IOM said that these people would ultimately arrive at Al Salum through the Libyan city of Benghazi.

According to the foreign ministry consular team there was enough food and drinking water, inadequacy of tents and poor sanitation.

 As a result, most of the Bangladeshis there are passing their days under open sky, said the report.

The otherwise mild weather is punctuated by frequent desert storms. Thousands of African nationals out of Libya have taken refuge in what could be called proper camps, the report said.

IOM representatives at the border point informed the consular team that IOM was not in a position to arrange the repatriation flights immediately due to shortage of funds.

Officials in the foreign ministry said that they were persistently pressing Biman as well as IOM to arrange the flights to repatriate the stranded Bangladeshis as quickly as possible.

They said that the consular team would issue 'One Way Travel Permits' to all the stranded Bangladeshis   needing the document for the journey back home.

They have squatting out in the open or in containers at the port area, without proper access to food, clean water or medical care, said the report.

Traumatised by weeks of civil war in Misrata, many of them have been left weakened, it said.

According to it, some 1,500 people of different nationalities around the Misrata harbour in Libya await repatriation.

Reports from there indicate that more and more people were moving from the suburbs of the city in western Libya towards the port out of the expectation of safe evacuation, said an IOM release.

'We expect that many migrants who were hiding in sections of the city formally under the control of Gaddafi's forces will make the most of a temporary lull in the fighting to reach the harbour area in the hope of being evacuated,' said IOM's Representative for the Middle East, Pasquale Lupoli.

Source: New Age

Probe finds no ‘irregularities’ by Grameen in Norad fund transactions

Dhaka, April 26: The committee formed by the government to review the activities of Grameen Bank did not find 'any irregularities' in the transactions between Grameen Bank and Grameen Kalyan involving Norwegian aid money 15 years ago, finance minister AMA Muhith told journalists at a short press briefing on Monday.

'The transaction was done through mutual understanding between the two states so the committee did not raise any objections to this issue,' he said.

'The interest rates of Grameen Bank are low compared to other micro-credit agencies operating in Bangladesh,' said Muhith

He was speaking to journalists after the committee's chairman, A K Monaw-war Uddin Ahmad, the former dean of social sciences of Dhaka University, gave him

the report in the morning.

Grameen Bank said in a statement, signed by its general manager Janaat-e-Quanine, that all the employees, members, borrowers and well-wishers were 'relieved that these truths are revealed in the report'.

The committee was formed on January 12 following the broadcast six weeks earlier of a documentary by Norwegian Television, 'Caught in Microdebt', that had raised questions about whether certain transactions made by Grameen Bank in 1996 breached agreements and involved the misuse of money.

The review committee's terms of reference not only included the examination of the Norad transactions and the level of the Grameen Bank's interest rates, but also the relationship between Grameen Bank and its sister organisations and finally the management and transparency of the Grameen Bank itself.

Both Muhith and Monaw-war, however, refused to be drawn into revealing further information about the contents of the report at the press briefing.

'We will say nothing about it,' Monaw-war said. 'The government will speak if it thinks it is necessary.'

'The government is not bound to agree with the report. It will review the report and decide how much of the report it will take into account,' he added.

When asked whether any legal reform was required in the running of Grameen Bank, Monaw-war said, 'This matter requires further in-depth consideration.'

Monaw-war told New Age, 'The committee's broad conclusion is that a national policy is needed to improve the coordination of micro-credit and social business within Grameen. It is terribly important that these two wings of Grameen Bank, micro-credit and social business, should be better coordinated and put under one umbrella.'

'When the ordinance was put into effect, Grameen had only one function, but there has been an enormous expansion of other business and economic activities under the title of Grameen, so it is important that the government takes into account that reality,' he added.

When asked by New Age whether the report had found any wrongdoing by Grameen Bank, he replied, 'We have come across some evidence of irregularities.'

He however immediately added, 'Irregularities are quite common in any administration, since when one runs a business one cannot always operate by keeping the law book on the table.'

He refused to specify what those irregularities were. 'It is up to the government to release the information,' he said.

'The fundamental legal question is what activities are allowed by the 1983 ordinance. It is questionable whether the expansion of business is lawful. Then there is the question of whether or not the law can be reformed to take this into account. In my view law is only a tool or aid to help solve problems,' Monaw-war told New Age.

The other members of the Grameen Bank review committee were Bangladesh Bank's deputy governor Nazrul Huda, former deputy comptroller and auditor-general Syeda Rokeya Din, former chief of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management Professor RM Debnath and Supreme Court lawyer Mohsin Rashid.

Mohammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and a winner of the Nobel peace prize, is currently under threat of being sacked from his post as managing director of Grameen.

On 2 March the Bangladesh Bank wrote a letter to the chairman of the Grameen Bank, informing him that Yunus should have retired at the age of 60 years.

Following legal action by lawyers acting for Yunus and nine directors of Grameen Bank, the High Court on 9 March upheld the Bangladesh Bank's interpretation of the law.

Their lawyer appealed and the matter is now before a seven-judge bench of the Appellate Division which will sit on 2 May to continue its deliberations.

Earlier the Appellate Division had dismissed the appeal, but it has now received an application to recall the order.

Source: New Age

Jatiya Party defends Bismillah, WP, JSD, GP for secularism

Dhaka, April 26: The Jatiya Party, major ally of the Awami League, on Monday advised the special committee to retain 'Bismillah' and 'Islam as state religion' while the left-leaning allies of the government suggested insertion of 'secularism' in the constitution.

The political parties at a consultation with the special committee on constitution amendment at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban expressed their respective opinions.

The JP leaders also opposed any law contradictory to the Quran and Sunnah and any move to ban religion-based political parties and demanded decentralisation of administration through introduction of provincial governments and setting up High Court benches in the divisional headquarters, meeting sources said.

'Bismillah' and 'state religion Islam' should exist in the constitution, JP chairman HM Ershad told the committee in his written statement, adding that the religion-based political parties should not be banned.

The former military dictator also said that a provision for setting up High Court benches in all divisional headquarters should be introduced and during the interim period circuit benches should be established at least for one month in every division.

'We proposed amendments to the caretaker government system cancelling the provision for appointing former chief justices as its chief and fixing up its tenure for maximum 90 days,' Ershad told reporters after the meeting.

Leaders of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal at the meeting proposed that 'Bismillah' and 'state religion Islam' should be dropped from the constitution.

'We proposed restoration of the constitution [as it was adopted in] 1972 and for that "Bismillah" and "state religion Islam" should be dropped from the constitution,' JSD general secretary Sharif Nurul Ambia said in the party's written statement placed in the committee.

The JSD leaders also proposed bringing about changes to the process of election of the president of the republic by expanding the electorates. They said inclusion of the elected local government representatives could be considered to this effect.

They also said that caretaker government system should be retained specifying its tenure for maximum 90 days. They proposed bringing partial changes to the Article 70 by giving more freedom to the lawmakers and formation of an upper house in parliament to make parliamentary system more participatory with the representatives of professional groups.

The Workers Party leaders also opposed retention of the name of any religion in the constitution and proposed a provision for increasing the number of reserved seats for women lawmakers.

'State religion Islam and secularism could never exist together as it is contradictory to Article 2 and Article 12,' the Workers Party general secretary Anisur Rahman Mallik said in his statement, 'Why should there be a state religion,' he asked.

The party leaders also proposed changes in the Article 70 to ensure freedom of the lawmakers, inserting a provision for formation of a 'constitutional commission' or approval by the parliament of the appointment to the constitutional posts.

They also proposed that any extra-constitutional takeover of the state power should be considered as treason and persons involved in such usurpation of power should be put on trial.

The Ganatontri Party leaders at the meeting proposed that the political parties which had opposed the liberation war in the 1971 should be banned. They also called for repeal of the Eighth Amendment to the constitution and constitutional recognition of the ethnic minority communities, the party president Afzal Hossain said.

The committee's scheduled talks with the Awami League today has been shifted to Wednesday as the prime minister and AL president Sheikh Hasina would not be available in Dhaka today.

Source: New Age

Husband Reza remanded in custody

Dhaka, April 26: Police on Monday took Shafiqur Rahman alias Reza Sikder, who allegedly killed his wife Quamrunnahar Nadia on Sunday night and was arrested at Shahbagh while trying to dump the body, for two days remand for interrogation.

Sub-inspector Adam Ali

of Hazaribagh police station told New Age that a Dhaka court upon prayer for seven days remand allowed two days remand for interrogating Reza for killing Nadia.

He said that they were interrogating Reza to unearth the mystery behind the killing.

Hazaribagh police officer-in-charge Rafiqul Islam said that the victim's brother, Shafi Ahamed Shariar Sujon, had filed a case against Reza, his mother Jannatul Khatun, and his younger brother Jewel, for killing Nadia on Monday morning.

Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue sources said that the body of Nadia bore marks of injuries in her neck and chest.

Sujon alleged that Reza had killed his sister with the help of his brother and mother at their Hazaribagh residence after she had gone there on Sunday.

Reza, who admitted that he had tortured Nadia to death, had allegedly killed his own father, Habul Sikder by stabbing at their village home in 2004, Sujon said.

He further said that Reza had contested for the post of vice-chairman of Gournadi Upzaila of Barisal in last Upzaila elections on a Awami League ticket.

Driver Rabiul, who was made the approver in the murder case, said that Reza tried to dump the body after he had refused to carry the body to his village home in Barisal.

Police arrested Shafiqur Rahman, also known as Reza Sikder, at about 8:00pm on Sunday when he was looking for a place driving a car to dump the body of his wife Kamarunnahar Sadia.

Shafiqur's driver Md Rabiul, who was also arrested by police, said that Shafiqur had asked him to carry the body to Barisal and bury it there.

He also said that he had dragged the body down from Shafiqur's house at Hazaribagh residence in the capital.

Shafiqur had married Sadia, a student of law at Dhaka International University, six months ago after two years of affairs.

In Barisal, local people in Gournadi Upazila said Shafikur Rahman Sikdar is locally known as Rezaul Sikdar and defamed for

 his notorious activities in the area like extortion, toll collection, torture on women and other types of criminal and terrorist activities.

Rezaul was a JCD leader and former vice president of Gournadi Government College Students Union and during the last BNP regime he was expelled from the organization. He later joined Awami League.

A lot of BNP activists and leaders were assaulted by him after that and a lot of cases and general dairies were registered with Gournadi police station against him by different sections of people including local businessmen and rival political leaders.

Nurul Islam, officer-in-charge of Gournadi police station said there were four cases against Rezaul with his police station.

On April 22, 2003, Rezaul was accused in a case for murdering his father Habul Sikdar, a former UP chairman of Barthi union of the Upazila.

Out of other 3  cases, one was lodged on August 15, 2008 for cheating and misappropriating money, one on August 18, 2008 for  extortion, death threats and toll collection, and another one on January 29, 2009 under explosives act and attempt to murder by torture.

About the present status of the cases against Rezaul Sikdar, Sub-Inspector Monir, duty officer of Gournadi police station, said Rezaul was acquitted from all cases through final report except the cases of cheating and the general diaries against him were still under investigation.

Sadia's brother Sujon said that Shafiqur alias Rezaul had earlier married two times and had a daughter from a wife. He divorced those wives and married Sadia six months ago.

Sujon said, 'Shafiqur had tortured my sister for six months.' He added that Sadia had no communications with them for a week.

Source: New Age

Bangladesh food inflation hits 13.87pc in March

Dhaka, April 26: Monthly food inflation in the country hit a record 13.87 percent on point-to-point basis in March as consumers grappled with high prices of rice, edible oil and other food items.

The situation in rural areas is particularly grave as food inflation there reached 14.84 percent in March from 13.40 percent in February while food inflation in urban areas rose to 11.66 percent in March from 11.12 percent in February, according to a

report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics released on Monday.

The country's general inflation that included food and non-food inflation, on the other hand, picked up to 10.49 percent on point to point in March from 9.79 percent in the previous month, said the report.

The rate of general inflation was 8.78 percent in March, 2010. 

According to the report, the rate of food inflation was so severe, the decrease in non-food inflation could not pull down the general inflation in March.

The non-food inflation came down to 4.32 percent in March from 4.36 percent in February. The rate was 5.60 percent in March 2010.

The report showed that although the rate of food inflation was 10.80 percent in March 2010, it soared to 13.87 percent in March this year as prices of major food items increased sharply.

An official of the BBS told New Age that price hike of rice, edible oil, sugar and other food items contributed to the rising inflation in last one year.

Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) executive director Mustafizur Rahman termed the situation a critical concern for the macro-economic stability.

He told New Age that rising inflation, especially food inflation, is a major problem for the economy.

He said, 'High inflation rate will be reflected in wages, bank deposit and lending rate and it will undermine the macro-economic stability.'

Global inflation has also contributed to the country's inflation, he added.

He is hopeful that the Boro rice production would help to reduce the inflationary pressure in the next two months.

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies research director Zaid Bakht told New Age that the country is now passing through a crucial time for the high inflationary pressure.

'Rising import cost and high prices of oil and other commodities in the international market are pushing the inflation rate up.'

He said, 'Boro production may ease the pressure for a short time but the rate of inflation may rise further.'

'Inflationary pressure may continue in the coming months due to balance of payments pressure and budget deficit and the government's borrowing from banks,' he warned. 

According to the BBS report, general inflation in the nine months of the current 2010-11 fiscal year, on the other hand, hit 8.27 percent on the back of soaring food costs, above the government's target of 7 percent for this fiscal year.

The average inflation in 2009-2010 was 7.31 percent, in 2008-09 it was 6.66 percent and in 2007-2008 it was 9.93 percent.

Bangladesh Bank statistics show that in the last 10 years average inflation was 6.31 percent. The average inflation from 2000-01 to 2009-10 fiscal year was 6.31 percent while food inflation was 7 percent and non-food inflation was 5.28 percent.

According to the latest Asian Development Bank outlook 2011, food share in consumer price index is the highest in Bangladesh—at 58.8 percent.

Source: New Age

Establishment ministry renamed as public admin ministry

Dhaka, April 26: The government has renamed the establishment ministry as the public administration ministry 'to make the ministry's activities evident in the title.'

The cabinet on Monday approved a proposal for renaming the establishment ministry at its weekly meeting presided over by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, at the secretariat.

The establishment ministry placed the proposal for changing its name on the ground that the existing name did not clearly reflect the jurisdiction and activities of the administrative ministry.

'The cabinet has approved the proposal for renaming the establishment ministry as the ministry of public administration so that people in general can easily understand the responsibility of the ministry,' the prime minister's press secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, told reporters after the meeting.

He said that common people do not understand what the term 'establishment' was meant for and even the foreigners sometimes do not understand about the jurisdiction of the ministry from its name.

As per the Rules of Business, the establishment ministry is responsible for formulation of policy on regulation of services and determination of terms and conditions of public servants.

Its jurisdiction, among others, included simplification of systems, career development of government servants including training and administrative research and reforms.

The ministry also deals with cases of dismissal, removal, compulsory retirement and fixing the rank of officers of whom President is the appointing authority.

The 110th meeting of the cabinet also reviewed the government's performance till March 2011 as a quarterly report on implementation of the cabinet's decisions was placed there.

'The cabinet took a total of 690 decisions, of which 618 were implemented till March. That is around 90 percent decisions were implanted,' Abul Kalam said.

The cabinet had approved 150 drafts of laws of which 136 were enacted by the parliament during the time. The government has so far taken 23 policy decisions, the press secretary added.

Monday's cabinet meeting also approved the draft of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) Bill-2011 for removing traffic congestions and ensuring smooth movement of vehicles in Dhaka and to and from its surrounding districts—Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Gazipur, Narshingdhi and Mymensingh.

'The proposed authority will coordinate the transport system in Dhaka and its surrounding districts to remove traffic congestions and ensure smooth vehicular movements surrounding the capital,' Abul Kalam said. 

The establishment ministry in 2009 initiated the move for changing its name under a project with the support of the United Nations Development Programme.

The ministry earlier sought opinions from the top officials in civil bureaucracy proposing new names for the administrative ministry on the ground that the existing name does not correspond to its activities and also held seminars on the issue.

Source: New Age

France wants govt and Yunus to work together

Dhaka, April 26: France has expressed the hope that the Bangladesh government and Noble Laureate Mohammad Yunus will come together to showcase their achievements in alleviating poverty to international observers before the G20 (Group of Twenty) meeting scheduled to be held in Paris in November.

'We hope that the Bangladesh government and Mohammad Yunus will

work together to show their achievements in alleviating poverty in various events leading to the G-20 summit,' said the French president's special envoy, Martin Hirsch, at a press conference in Dhaka on Monday.

The G20 was formed in 1999, in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, to bring together the advanced and emerging economies to enable them to cooperate in stabilizing the global financial market. This year the G20 summit will be held in France in November.

Hirsch said he had handed over a letter of French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday.

When he was asked about the contents of the letter, he said he had come to Dhaka to brief the Bangladesh authorities on the French government's plan to ask the Bangladesh government to play a role to highlight social issues including food security, which is on the G-20

summit's agenda, as well as to ascertain the nature of the relationship between the political authorities here and Mohammad Yunus.

He said that Mohammad Yunus, despite difficulties here with Bangladesh authorities, is familiar to the people and companies of France for his initiatives to alleviate poverty as well as his new concept of social business that has attracted many leading French companies.

When he was asked why France wants to bring the Bangladesh government and Mohammad Yunus together, he said that the government and the Grameen Bank have a lot of things in common including fighting for poverty alleviation and women's empowerment.

'We want them to cooperate as they have so many things to offer to the outside world. Their initiatives could be used in the framework of the G-20,' said the envoy.

Hirsch, who visited Dhaka 18 months ago, said that France was surprised at the recent changes in the relationship between the Bangladesh government and Grameen Bank.

'When I came 18 months ago, I saw the government and organizations like Grameen Bank and BRAC working together to fight poverty,' he said. 'It is difficult to understand what has happened in the meantime.'

The envoy said clearly that his country does not want to 'interfere, even by one millimetre, into the internal affairs of Bangladesh and its legal and judicial process'.

When he was asked about the invitation to Sheikh Hasina to visit France, he said 'There are various possibilities.'

It can be a 'bilateral' visit too, said the envoy, adding, 'It will be linked to the evolution of the situation here.'

When reporters asked him if France has any intention to invest in Bangladesh, he said some major French companies want to make investments.

Hirsch left Dhaka on Monday evening after a 3-day visit. He said he would apprise the French president of the outcome of his visit.

Referring to finance minister AMA Muhith's visit to France last month, the French ambassador, Charley Causeret, said he was the first Bangladeshi finance minister to visit France in the last 40 years.

The visit by Sheikh Hasina could be the next step to improve relations between the two countries, he said.

'We do not like to jeopardize any opportunities,' he added.

Source: New Age

RAB seizes 1,264 sacks of OMS rice from Bogra mill

Bogra, April 26: Members of the Rapid Action Battalion seized 1,264 sacks of rice, meant for the government's open market sale, from a rice mill in Telkupi area under Gabtoli Upazila in Bogra district early on Thursday.

During a raid that started in late Sunday night and continued till Monday morning, RAB also arrested the mill owner's son, Abu Al-Imran Nahid, 28, for his alleged involvement in hording the OMS rice to sell them illegally in black market.

With the latest recovery in Bogra, lawenforcers have so far recovered a huge amount of OMS rice from Dhaka, Faridpur, Chittagong, Natore, Kishoreganj, Rangpur, Gopalganj, Barisal, Lakshmipur, Bagerhat, Gazipur, Joypurhat, Bogra and Sirajganj districts in the last 18 days.

Acting on a tip-off, a RAB contingent raided Soma Rice Mill in Telkupi area under Gabtoli Upazila while the mill was locked from outside and OMS rice was being transferred from sacks marked with the government seal into common sacks.

They said they arrested Nahid and seized 1,040 sacks, each weighing 50 kilograms, 224 sacks, each weighing 85 kilograms, of OMS rice and a good quantity of loose rice from inside the mill.

Bogra RAB camp commander Abdul Jalil told newsmen that they had seized a total of 71 tonnes of OMS rice worth around Tk 15.5 lakh.

The Gabtoli thana police officer in charge Abdur Rashid told New Age that the RAB members handed Nahid over to the thana and a mobile court led by the Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mirza Mohammad Ali Reza sentenced Nahid to suffer one year imprisonment for his involvement in illegally possessing the OMS rice.

The Mill was sealed in presence of the UNO on Monday morning and preparations were afoot to lodge a case with police in this connection, he added.

The government revived OMS of rice in the capital on December 26 last year in the wake of a continued rice price hike and later expanded the programme to all the cities, districts and Upazila towns down to the union level.

Source: New Age

Three amici curiae against banning fatwa

Dhaka, April 26: Senior Supreme Court lawyer Rafique-ul Huq told the Appellate Division on Monday that nobody could be punished as a result of fatwa (religious decree) as it is an opinion which has no legal basis.

However TH Khan, most senior of the Supreme Court lawyers, suggested that the Supreme Court should not impose a wholesale ban on fatwa as anyone who has been a victim of injustice through a wrong fatwa can go to the court and seek legal remedy.

They expressed the above opinions before the six-member bench of the Appellate Division, chaired by Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque, as amici curiae (friends of court) during the hearing of a petition filed in 2001 seeking permission to appeal against a High Court verdict that had declared fatwa illegal.

The court adjourned the hearing till today.

Rafique criticized the High Court's verdict, delivered, on 1 January, 2000, declaring all kinds of fatwa illegal.

'The verdict that nobody can pronounce fatwa is not legal as fatwa is a kind of opinion which everybody has the constitutional right to express,' he added.

Rafique said that whether or not the fatwa will be obeyed depends on the knowledge and integrity of the person who has delivered it.

If anybody instigates others to give the wrong fatwa, the aggrieved person can file a case, he added.

Senior lawyer M Zahir, who was also called as amicus curiae, expressed views similar to the ones given by Rafique.

TH Khan told the court that it should concern itself with this case in particular, and should not venture to pronounce any general opinion on fatwa which is delivered all through the Muslim world, not only in Bangladesh.

'This court should not go beyond the judgement of this particular case of fatwa,' he said emphatically. 'If fatwa is declared illegal there will be dire consequences and chaos in our society.'

The High Court bench of Justice Mohammad Golam Rabbani and Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana on 1 January, 2001 declared fatwa illegal.

The court came up with the verdict after hearing a rule issued suo moto on 2 December, 2000 by another bench following a newspaper report of hilla marriage in Natore district. (Hilla is a rule which forces the divorced wife to marry another man and get divorced before she can remarry her former husband).

Mufti Md Toyeeb and Maulana Abul Kalam later filed the petition with the Appellate Division, seeking permission to appeal against the verdict.

The Appellate Division, after hearing the petition, stayed the High Court's verdict against the backdrop of the death of seven persons in violent clashes between the police and demonstrators when they took to the streets after the verdict against fatwa.

On 14 February, 2011, the Appellate Division deferred the hearing for two weeks and appointed senior lawyers TH Khan, Rafique-ul Huq, M Zahir, ABM Nurul Islam, Mahmudul Islam, Rokanuddin Mahmud, Rabia Bhuiyan, MI Farooqui and AF Hassan Ariff as amici curiae to elicit their opinions.

On 1 March, 2011, the Appellate Division started hearing the petitions.

Kamal Hossain and Sara Hossain pleaded for rights body Ain o Salish Kendra while Nazrul Islam defended the appellants.

Source: New Age

Top Harkat leader, aide arrested

Dhaka, April 26: The Rapid Action Battalion arrested one of the top leaders of Harkatul Jihad al Islami along with his aide in Keraniganj on the outskirts of the capital early Monday.

The arrested were nayeb-e-amir of Huji Md Abdul Hannan, alias Sabbir, 51, and his close associate Ainul Haque, 28.

Briefing reporters at RAB headquarters Monday, director (legal and media wing) commander Sohail said Sabbir and Ainul were residing at a rented house near Pachgona Government Primary School in Ati Bazar area for the last one month. They were allegedly recruiting new members for the banned Islamist outfit in the guise as RMG workers.

Being tipped off, three teams of RAB-10 including a disposal unit jointly carried out a raid at the house at 2:00am and captured the two militants at about 2:40am.

The RAB also seized organisational books, compact disk, instruction books of the militant outfit and a bomb-making manual.

Sabbir and Ainul were accused in six cases filed in connection with sensational bomb and grenade attacks, including bomb attack on Udichi rally in Jessore on March 6, 1999, planting of a 76-kg bomb at the rally of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Kotalipara of Gopalganj on July 19, 2000, bomb attack on CPB rally at Paltan Maidan on January 20, 2001 and bomb attack on a Pahela Baishakh celebrations at Ramna Batamul on April 14, 2001.

Source: New Age

DMHC doctor held for harassing colleague

Dhaka, April 26: A middle-age physician of Dhaka Medical College Hospital was arrested on Monday for allegedly harassing his female colleague at the hospital, the hospital sources and the police said.

The arrested, Dr Jahangir Adel, was several times cautioned about his behaviour with his female colleagues but as he crossed his limit, the police arrested him, the DMCH director, Shahidul Haq Mallik, told New Age. 

Jahangir Adel, however, claimed that he had a love affair with his female colleague at the DMCH, said the Shahbagh police operation officer, Sheikh Md Mohsin Alam. 

The police said they had arrested Dr Jahangir Adel on charge of harassing female colleagues and he would be sent to court on Tuesday morning.

Source: New Age

Indian rights bodies call for booking BSF men for killing Alamgir

Dhaka, April 26: Two Indian human rights organisations have lodged complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of India, demanding that the criminal offence perpetrated by the BSF soldiers, who killed Alamgir Sheikh, should be booked.

Alamgir, son of Beraj Sheikh, an agriculture worker of village Char Basgara of Raninagar of Murshidabad, was allegedly killed by the BSF men on April 11 in between the BSF outpost no 5 and 6 under Harudanga BSF company headquarters near Kuthibari BSF mini camp in Raninagar of the Murshidabad district of West Bengal.

Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha of West Bengal and Programme against Custodial Torture and Impunity of India sent a letter to the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission of India on April 22.

The organisations also demanded that the whole matter must be enquired into by a neutral investigating agency and respective authorities must be directed to immediate steps in order to bring back the body of the victim from Bangladesh and hand over to his family members.

The victim's family must be provided with adequate compensation, they said in the letter.

Source: New Age

Special drives in May ahead of UP polls

Dhaka, April 26: Law enforcement agencies will launch a special drive next month to arrest crime suspects and recover illegal arms across the country in order to ensure a peaceful atmosphere during the forthcoming union parishad elections.

The decision was taken at a meeting at the police headquarters on law and order ahead of the second phase of the staggered UP polls scheduled for May, to make the elections credible and neutral.

Addressing a post-meeting briefing, home minister Sahara Kahtun told reporters that she had ordered the law enforcement agencies to launch the anti-crime drives for holding the UP polls peacefully.

'In line with the instructions of the Election Commission, law enforcers would take steps so that nobody can influence the elections,' she said.

She said that all the elections held so far under the Awami League-led alliance government were free and fair.

'We have successfully held the union parishad elections in some parts of the country last month. Police played a creditable role during the elections,' the home minister said adding that everyone should stay alert against any conspiracy by any quarters to disrupt law and order in the coming days.

Inspector general of police Hasan Mahmud Khandaker said lawmen would conduct special drives next month by updating the existing lists of crime suspects.

He said that he had instructed police officials across the country to ensure that law and order was maintained.

On April 19, the Election Commission announced a 36-day timeline for holding polls to 3,813 union parishads in 414 upazilas across the country starting from May 31.

The number of union parishads is 4,550. Polls to 553 were held in the first phase in between March 29 and April 3 this year amid stray incidents of violence.

High officials of police were present in the meeting.

Source: New Age

City lawmakers asked to hold meets with imams, madrassah teachers

Dhaka, April 26: The home minister, Sahara Khatun, on Monday asked lawmakers of the Dhaka city to hold open discussions with imams of mosques and madrasshah teachers for creating mass awareness about the National Women Development Policy 2011.

The minister made the directives at a meeting with the Members of Parliament from the constituencies of the Dhaka city at the secretariat against the backdrop of the ongoing movement, led by Islami Oikya Jote chairman Fazlul Haq Amini, demanding cancellation of the National Women Development Policy on the ground that it was anti-Islamic.

Amini is leading the movement under the banner of Islami Ain Bastabayan Committee. 

Talking to New Age, a number of lawmakers said the main agenda of the meeting was how to find out the ways for countering the ongoing 'propaganda' against the women development policy spread by a section of Islamic clerics.

The prime minister's adviser on establishment ministry and administrative affairs HT Imam also held a meeting with some Islamic intellectuals loyal to Awami League and discussed how to counter the movement against the policy.

Source: New Age

Hasina, Cherie Blair talk women dev

Dhaka, April 26: Chancellor of Asian University for Women and former First Lady of the United Kingdom Cherie Blair called on the prime minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban Monday night.

During the meeting, they discussed different aspects of

women development including establishing Asian University for Women.

Hasina said women of Bangladesh were marching forward in different fields. They will get opportunities of higher education in this university, she added.

The prime minister stressed the need for expanding the

academic perimeter of the university further.

Source: New Age

Some 500 arrested in Syria crackdown: rights group

Reuters, AMMAN, April 26: Security forces have arrested some 500 pro-democracy sympathizers across Syria after the government sent in tanks to try to crush protests in the city of Deraa, the Syrian rights organization Sawasiah said on Tuesday.

The independent organization said it had received reports that at least 20 people had been killed in Deraa since tanks moved in on Monday, but communications with the southern town where the protests against President Bashar al-Assad began on March 18 had been cut making it hard to confirm the information.

"Witnesses managed to tell us that at least 20 civilians have been killed in Deraa, but we do not have their names and we cannot verify," said a Sawasiah official, adding that two civilians were confirmed dead in the Damascus suburb of Douma, which forces entered earlier in the day.

At least 500 were arrested elsewhere in Syria, it said.

Amnesty international, citing sources in Deraa, said at least 23 people were killed when tanks shelled Deraa in what it called "a brutal reaction to people's demands."

"By resorting to the use of artillery against its own people today, the Syrian government has shown its determination to crush the peaceful protests at virtually any cost, whatever the price in Syrians' lives," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.

Government forces also stormed the Damascus suburbs of Douma and Mouadhamiya on Monday, shooting and making arrests, a day after they swept into the coastal town of Jabla, where at least 13 civilians were killed, rights campaigners said.

Diplomats said the figures for civilians killed could be as high as 50 in Deraa and 12 in Mouadhamiya, which lies on the road to the occupied Golan Heights southwest of Damascus.

"The regime has chosen to use excessive violence. It worked in 1982, but there is no guarantee it will work again in the age of the internet and phone cameras," said a senior diplomat referring to the 1982 crushing of a revolt in the city of Hama which killed up to 30,000 people.

Footage posted on the internet by demonstrators in recent days appears to show troops firing on unarmed crowds. In the Damascus suburb of Barzeh residents described security forces firing at unarmed protesters from a heavy machinegun mounted on a truck.

The White House, deploring "brutal violence used by the government of Syria against its people," said President Barack Obama's administration was considering targeted sanctions to make clear that "this behavior is unacceptable."

Syria has been under U.S. sanctions since 2004 for its support of militant groups. Several Syrian officials, among them Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf, a tycoon, are under specific U.S. sanctions for "public corruption."

Leading human rights campaigner Suhair al-Atassi said Assad has launched a savage war designed to annihilate Syria's democrats by attacking Deraa, Jabla and Damascus suburbs.

"President Assad's intentions have been clear since he came out publicly saying he is 'prepared for war'," Atassi said, referring to a March 30 speech to parliament.

Security forces and the gunmen loyal to Assad have killed more than 350 civilians across Syria since pro-democracy protests broke out in Deraa, rights groups say. A third of the victims were shot in the past four days as the scale and breadth of a popular revolt against Assad grew.

Heavy fighting in Misrata and Libyan mountains

Reuters, TRIPOLI, April 26: Libya's rebel-held city of Misrata won no respite from two months of bitter siege as Muammar Gaddafi's forces bombarded the city and battled rebel fighters, despite pulling out of the city center.

Gaddafi's forces were also pounding Berber towns in Libya's Western Mountains with artillery, rebels and refugees said, in a remote region far from the view of international media.

Italy said its warplanes would join the British and French bombing of Libyan targets for the first time and NATO flattened a building inside Gaddafi's Tripoli compound, in what his officials said was a failed attempt on the Libyan leader's life.

Late on Monday, the "crusader aggressors" bombed civilian and military sites in Bir al Ghanam, 100 km (60 miles) south of Tripoli, and the Ayn Zara area of the capital, causing casualties, Libyan television said, without giving details. A Reuters correspondent heard explosions in Tripoli.

The report said foreign ships had also attacked and severed the al-Alyaf cable off Libya's coast, cutting communications to the towns of Sirte, Ras Lanuf and Brega.

But more than a month of air strikes did not appear to be tipping the balance decisively in a conflict increasingly described as a stalemate.

People in Misrata emerged from homes after daybreak on Monday to scenes of devastation after Gaddafi's forces pulled back from the city under cover of blistering rocket and tank fire, said witnesses contacted by phone.

Nearly 60 people had been killed in clashes in the city in the last three days, residents told Reuters by phone.

"BODIES EVERYWHERE"

Although rebels' celebrations of "victory" on Saturday turned out to be very premature, it was clear they had inflicted significant losses on government forces in Misrata.

"Bodies of Gaddafi's troops are everywhere in the streets and in the buildings. We can't tell how many. Some have been there for days," said rebel Ibrahim.

Rebel spokesman Abdelsalam, speaking late on Monday, said Gaddafi's forces were trying to re-enter the Nakl Thaqeel Road, which leads to Misrata's port, its lifeline to the outside.

"Battles continue there. We can hear explosions," he said by phone. He said Gaddafi's forces positioned on the western outskirts of the city had also shelled the road from there.

Another rebel spokesman, Sami, said the humanitarian situation was worsening rapidly.

"It is indescribable. The hospital is very small. It is full of wounded people, most of them are in critical condition," he told Reuters by phone.

U.S. officials said relief groups were rotating doctors into Misrata and evacuating migrant workers.

Mark Bartolini, director of foreign disaster assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development, said aid organizations were aiming to create stocks of food in the region in case Libyan supply chains began breaking down.

Among the places in particular need of food aid were isolated towns in the Western Mountains, from where tens of thousands of people have fled to Tunisia from the fighting.

REFUGEES FLEE MOUNTAINS

"Our town is under constant bombardment by Gaddafi's troops. They are using all means. Everyone is fleeing," said one refugee, Imad, bringing his family out of the mountains.

NATO said its attack on the building in the Gaddafi compound was on a communications headquarters used to coordinate attacks on civilians. A Libyan spokesman said Gaddafi was unharmed and state television showed pictures of him meeting people in a tent, which it said had been taken on Monday.

Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said the Libyan government would not be cowed.

"The bombing which targeted Muammar Gaddafi's office today ... will only scare children. It's impossible that it will make us afraid or give up or raise the white flag," he was quoted as saying by the state news agency, Jana.

Italy said its warplanes would join British and French aircraft in carrying out bombing of Libya. Geographically the closest major NATO member state to Libya, Italy had until Monday provided bases and reconnaissance and monitoring aircraft only.

The surprise decision immediately opened a fissure in Italy's coalition government.

The African Union held separate talks on Monday with Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi and rebel representatives in Addis Ababa to discuss a ceasefire plan.

The rebels had earlier rebuffed an AU plan because it did not entail Gaddafi's departure, while the United States, Britain and France say there can be no political solution until the Libyan leader leaves power.