Israel’s long history of assassination attempts in Lebanon
A drone strike on the southern Beirut neighbourhood of Dahiyeh this week killed several Hamas leaders including Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of the group’s political wing and founder of the military wing, Qassam Brigades. The move represents a major regional escalation in Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 22,000 people there so far. But this was not the first time that Israel has carried out an assassination within Lebanon. Al-Arouri had been living in exile in Lebanon since 2015. Israel has not taken responsibility for the killings, but it is considered highly likely that Tel Aviv ordered the assassination. For decades, Israel has targeted Palestinian leaders in Lebanon, a stronghold of the Hamas ally, Hezbollah. However, al-Arouri’s death comes after an 18-year pause in a long list of attempted and successful political assassinations. Here are some of the key cases. 1972 – Aftermath of Lod Airport killings One of Israel’s first targets in Lebanon was Ghassan Kanafani, a prominent Palestinian author and poet who was assassinated on July 8, 1972 in Beirut along with his 17-year-old niece. A grenade had been connected to the ignition switch of his car. When he started the car, this ignited a plastic bomb that had been planted behind the car’s bumper. Kanafani was a spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). His assassination came in the aftermath of the May 30, 1972 Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion International Airport) mass shooting in which 26 people were killed and scores of others were injured. Three members of the Japanese Red Army had been recruited to carry out the shootings as the airport was already on high alert for possible attacks by Palestinians. Israel said Kanafani’s killing was in response to this attack, but it is thought the assassination was already being planned well before that. Bassam Abu Sharif, who became spokesperson for PFLP after Kanafani’s murder, was also targeted with a parcel bomb in Beirut on July 25, 1972. Abu Sharif survived the attempt but suffered severe injuries – he partially lost his sight and hearing, as well as four fingers. Bassam Abu Sharif looks at a photo of Ghassan Kanafani, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, on June 25, 2020. In 1972, Abu Sharif was injured by a parcel bomb two weeks after he replaced the assassinated Kanafani [Sharon Pulwer for The Washington Post via Getty Images] 1973 – Response to Munich kidnappings On September 5, 1972, members of Black September, a faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes at the Summer Olympics in Munich. The hostages were eventually killed in a botched rescue attempt by West German authorities. In response, Israel launched an assassination campaign called Operation Spring of Youth, to target the masterminds of the kidnapping. Travelling by boat from Haifa for an operation that would last from April 10 to 11, 1973, Israeli special forces landed on the beach in Beirut with their commander, the future prime minister, Ehud Barak, disguised as a woman. They raided a high-rise building and private homes of PLO officials in Beirut and Sidon which they had previously had under surveillance, blowing open the doors with explosives and spraying gunfire until their targets were dead. Three top PLO officials were killed: Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar, a deputy to PLO leader Yasser Arafat; spokesperson Kamal Nasser; and Kamal Adwan, military leader for the West Bank. 1973-2001 – A long plot to kill Yasser Arafat On October 1, 1973, Israel tried to assassinate Arafat, as well as PLO members Khalil al-Wazir, Faruq al-Qaddumi, Hani al-Hassan and Wadi Haddad during a meeting in Beirut. Bombs dropped on the building where the men were meeting failed to detonate, however. Plans to assassinate Arafat continued for years. Israeli intelligence mapped out several plans to shoot down commercial planes that might carry Arafat, but concerns about the possible political fallout from killing civilians in the attempt hindered those efforts. Several attempts to eliminate Arafat were launched between June and August 1982. Salt Fish, an Israeli task force created for that sole purpose, launched several bombing attacks on possible locations of Arafat, but none were successful in killing him. In 2001, Israel’s prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who regarded Arafat as a “murderer of Jews”, is understood to have finally decided to stop trying to assassinate him. Yasser Arafat is pictured in Beirut, Lebanon on August 30, 1982 [Pierre Perrin/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images] 1979 – Another response to Munich kidnappings On January 22, 1979, Mossad agents executed an elaborate plot to assassinate Ali Hassan Salameh, 37, a top PLO member believed to be the architect of the Munich kidnappings. Spies had enrolled at his gym to befriend him weeks before and a British-Israeli agent rented an apartment close to Salameh’s home to monitor his movements. Salameh was killed when his car passed by a mined Volkswagen that was remotely detonated. 1988 – Attempt to kill Ahmad Jibril On December 9, 1988, Israel raided Palestinian bases in southern Lebanon, targeting Ahmad Jibril, then secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC). Commandos raided locations just outside Beirut, but were met with heavy resistance from Palestinian fighters. Several Palestinian operatives were killed. It was later revealed that Jibril was never in that location. 2006 – Sidon assassination On May 25, 2006, Mahmoud al-Majzoub, a senior leader of the armed Palestinian group Islamic Jihad and a close Hezbollah ally, was assassinated in the city of Sidon. A car bomb attached to the door of al-Majzoub’s car door exploded when he opened it. Israel denied responsibility for the attack, but both Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah held Tel Aviv responsible. Nidal al-Majzoub, his brother, was also killed. 2024 – The war on Gaza On January 2, a drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh left Saleh al-Arouri dead. Six others, including high-ranking Hamas military commanders Samir Findi and Azzam al-Aqraa, were also assassinated. The men
Jeffrey Epstein list: Whose names are on the newly unsealed documents?
About 950 pages of court documents identifying associates of financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were made public on Wednesday. What is the Jeffrey Epstein list? Included in the unsealed papers are the names of about 150 Epstein associates. The documents were filed as part of Virginia Giuffre’s 2015 defamation lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s co-conspirator in his sexual abuse scheme. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges. Giuffre is one of the women who sued Epstein for abusing them at his homes in Florida, New York, the United States Virgin Islands and New Mexico. She said she was pressured into having sex with men in Epstein’s social orbit. Other documents were unsealed by the court from 2019 to 2022. Last month, a judge listed in a 50-page document about 180 people — under pseudonyms — ordering that their identities be made public within 14 days of the order. Some individuals have objected to the disclosure of their identities in the case. The inclusion of a name on the list does not indicate there are any allegations against the individual. Here is a closer look at some of the names in the recent documents: Prince Andrew The documents unsealed on Wednesday have revealed sexual assault allegations against the British royal. Johanna Sjoberg, who is one of the many women who have accused Epstein of sexual abuse, said Andrew put his hand on her breast in Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2001. This was while he was taking a photo with Sjoberg and Giuffre. Maxwell and Epstein were present while this photo was taken. Sjoberg said the photo also included a puppet that said “Prince Andrew” on it. The incident, which has been previously reported by other media outlets and which Andrew has denied, was in an initial trove of previously redacted documents that otherwise revealed few new details about the extent of Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking activities. Sjoberg was recruited to work for Epstein by Maxwell, who had been his girlfriend in the early 1990s before they became professional collaborators and accomplices in sex crimes for almost three decades. While Sjoberg was hired as an assistant when she was a 20-year-old college student, she was quickly turned into a massage therapist and was sexually coerced while she worked for Maxwell and Epstein from 2001 to 2006. Giuffre, now 38, accused Andrew of sexually abusing her two decades ago when she was 17, an allegation the prince called baseless. The case was settled in 2022. According to the documents, Sjoberg said she witnessed Giuffre, then 17, in Epstein’s New York mansion with Andrew, Epstein and Maxwell. She also said she believes what Giuffre has said about Andrew and Epstein sexually abusing her. Alan Dershowitz Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz is well-known for his work in US criminal law. The documents pertaining to him include allegations made by an unnamed woman, Jane Doe #3. Jane Doe #3 said Epstein “required” her to have sexual relations with Dershowitz on multiple occasions when she was a minor. Dershowitz also played a significant role in negotiating an agreement that provided immunity from federal prosecution in the Southern District of Florida not only for Epstein but also for “any potential co-conspirators of Epstein”, the documents say. Epstein’s housekeeper Juan Alessi testified that Dershowitz would often visit Epstein’s Florida mansion to get massages. Another one of Epstein’s household employees, Alfredo Rodriquez, said the lawyer would be present at Epstein’s residence without his family and in the presence of girls. Dershowitz said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that Jane Doe #3 misidentified him, and he denied ever meeting her. He suggested he was the victim of the MeToo movement’s “hypocrisy”, accusing “radical feminists” of focusing on Epstein and his associates while not “condemning Hamas”, the Palestinian armed group. Jean-Luc Brunel Jean-Luc Brunel was a French model scout who was awaiting trial on charges that he raped underage girls when he committed suicide in a Paris jail in 2022. Giuffre was among the women who had accused Brunel of sexual abuse. She said Maxwell sent her to many places to have sex with Brunel. The documents also say Brunel would exploit underage girls from disadvantaged backgrounds by offering them modelling jobs but would then bring them to the US and “farm them out to his friends, especially Epstein”. According to the documents, Jane Doe #3 accused Epstein of trafficking her to Brunel, who was Epstein’s close travel companion. She said she was also forced to watch Brunel, Maxwell and Epstein sexually assaulting underage girls. Rolling Stone magazine published a report on Tuesday about a recent Los Angeles lawsuit in which a new woman accused Brunel of holding her hostage at a Canadian estate so she could be sexually abused by multiple men when she was 18. David Copperfield Sjoberg testified to meeting American magician David Copperfield at one of Epstein’s houses. She added that she observed him to be a friend of Epstein’s. She also recalled a girl at that dinner who she thought looked like she was of high-school age. Sjoberg said Copperfield asked her if she knew that “girls were getting paid to find other girls”, referring to the recruitment of women by Epstein and Maxwell as “massage therapists”. Bill Clinton Former US President Bill Clinton is also mentioned in the court documents. While Sjoberg said she did not meet Clinton, she testified that Epstein said to her: “Clinton likes them young,” apparently referring to girls. While Giuffre had mentioned earlier that Clinton and Epstein had a close relationship, she did not accuse him of any illegal action. Clinton has repeatedly rejected all allegations that he was involved in anything unlawful and has said he had no interactions with Epstein for several years prior to the financier’s arrest. Donald Trump Former President Donald Trump is also mentioned in the documents but not accused. Sjoberg mentioned an incident when she left
British PM Sunak says he expects general election in second half of 2024
Rishi Sunak says it is a ‘working assumption’ that the vote will be held in the second half of the year. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said it is his “working assumption” that a general election will be called for during the second half of 2024. “My working assumption is we’ll have a general election in the second half of this year, and in the meantime, I’ve got lots that I want to get on with,” he told reporters during a visit to Nottinghamshire on Thursday. Sunak refused to rule out holding an election in May, coinciding with local elections, but said he had to get the economy back on track. “I want to keep going, managing the economy well and cutting people’s taxes, but I also want to keep tackling illegal migration,” Sunak said. “I’ve got lots to get on with, and I’m determined to keep delivering for the British people.” British opposition Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer delivers a speech in Bristol, southwest Britain [Toby Melville/Reuters] The Tories, who have had five leaders and prime ministers since they were elected in 2010, are widely expected to struggle in the election and they are trailing behind the Labour Party in the polls. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer also made his first appearance of the New Year in Bristol on Thursday. Starmer is aiming to return his left-of-centre party, out of office since 2010, back to power in an election that must be held by January 2025. “We are ready for an election. I think the country is ready for elections. People are crying out for change. And I say to the prime minister, what is he hiding?” Starmer told Sky News. “This has serious implications for the country because he’s basically saying he’s going to be squatting for months and months in Downing Street, dithering and delaying”. Sunak’s pledges Sunak has struggled to make progress on his main pledges, including stopping migrants from arriving in small boats, growing the economy and cutting hospital waiting lists. He has hit one target of halving inflation by the end of 2023, but economists say that has little to do with government policy. He faces threats from all sides. Labour’s Starmer has vowed to fight the Conservatives on the economy, traditionally seen as one of their strengths, while the right-wing Reform UK party has refused to renew its pact with the governing party to help protect its parliamentary seats. Sunak also must try to quell a growing rebellion inside his own party, with some lawmakers threatening to try to oust him if he refuses to cut taxes, something they believe could help win back traditional Conservative supporters. He will be hoping a so-called spring budget on March 6 can deliver such party-pleasing announcements. Adblock test (Why?)
US to send top diplomats to Middle East as regional tensions spread
US Secretary of State Blinken due to visit as Israel’s war on Gaza widens to Lebanon and threatens to engulf region. The United States is to engage in a renewed diplomatic push to calm tensions in the Middle East as the region teeters on the brink of a regional conflagration following a suspected Israeli strike on a Hamas leader in Lebanon, twin bombings in Iran and no end in sight to Israel’s war on Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to engage in some shuttle diplomacy while on a whistlestop tour of several countries, with a visit to Israel planned for next week. Ahead of his visit, special envoy Amos Hochstein, an experienced hand who has helped broker maritime talks between Israel and Lebanon in the past, is expected to lay the groundwork. Blinken’s trip, the fourth since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, comes as interlinked conflicts in the region reach boiling point. In recent days, Israel has ramped up its attacks on Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Syria, and on Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon, and is suspected of killing top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut on Tuesday. Palestinians attend a protest against the killing of senior Hamas official, Saleh al-Arouri, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on January 3, 2024 [Mohammed Torokman/Reuters] Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have been disrupting global commerce, targeting vessels linked to Israel in the Red Sea in support of Hamas. Leading a multination maritime coalition, Washington has issued what appeared to be a final warning to the Houthis. Over the weekend, US-led multinational forces sank three rebel ships and killed a number of rebels, leading Iran to deploy a warship to the region. On Wednesday, Iran was hit by twin explosions that killed more than 80 people commemorating the death of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike four years ago. Esmail Qaani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, blamed the US and Israel for the attack. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller rebutted the claims, calling suggestions of US involvement “ridiculous” and adding that he had “no reason to believe that Israel was involved”. Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan said that the US “absolutely” wanted to “restore some calm”. “This comes at a very important time,” she said, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has already said he’s fighting a war on seven fronts”, in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. Hochstein will be looking specifically at the northern border dispute between Hezbollah and Israel, where there has been crossfire and heightened tensions since the killing of al-Arouri, our correspondent said. Palestinian women mourn after an Israeli military raid on Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank [Majdi Mohammed/AP] Blinken’s planned visit also comes as Israel faces a high-stakes legal showdown at the UN’s International Court of Justice next week after South Africa filed a case accusing Israel of genocide. The hearing, set for January 11-12, will bring some measure of discomfort to the US, which has lent staunch support for Israel since the war began, fast-tracking $14.3bn in aid in November. On Tuesday, however, the US State Department distanced itself from recent pronouncements by hardline Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir advocating the displacement of Palestinians as a solution to the crisis. “We have been clear, consistent and unequivocal that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terror groups able to threaten Israel,” Miller said. In Washington, US national security spokesperson John Kirby denied that apparent US support for Israel’s extraterritorial killing of Hamas leadership and its deployment of strike groups to the Eastern Mediterranean to challenge Yemen’s Houthi rebels were contributing to the escalation. “I stand by my answer. No,” he said on Wednesday, in response to a question by Al Jazeera correspondent Kimberly Halkett. Responding to the killing of al-Arouri, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the strike was “a major, dangerous crime about which we cannot be silent”. However, in a delicate balancing act, he underlined that he did not fear war with Israel, but stopped short of announcing a large-scale escalation. Adblock test (Why?)
Dozens of Palestinians blindfolded and detained in occupied West Bank raid
NewsFeed Dozens of Palestinian men have been filmed blindfolded and lined up single file as Israeli forces detained them during a raid on a refugee camp in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank. Published On 4 Jan 20244 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Iraq blames US-led coalition for deadly drone strike in Baghdad
Senior commander of Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces group is among those killed. Iraq’s government has accused the United States-led international coalition forces of carrying out a drone strike targeting an Iran-aligned paramilitary group in the capital, Baghdad, that killed and wounded several people. The strike on Thursday targeted the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi. Hajj Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi (Abu Taqwa), a senior PMF commander, was among those killed. The total number of casualties was not immediately clear, but the Reuters news agency reported that four PMF members were killed and six wounded. “The Iraqi armed forces hold the forces of the international coalition responsible for this attack,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office said in a statement, calling it a “dangerous escalation and aggression”. Iraq’s Al-Nujaba TV, considered close to the PMF, published footage showing the impact of the strike on the group’s headquarters. The attack came amid heightened regional tensions since war broke out between US ally Israel and Hamas, triggered by the Palestinian armed group’s October 7 attack in southern Israel. There was no immediate comment from US officials, whose forces in Iraq and neighbouring Syria have faced a surge in attacks since the start of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. There was an intense security presence around the site of the strike, Baghdad’s Palestine Street, according to The Associated Press news agency, which said its journalists were blocked from accessing the area. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, a group of Iranian-backed armed organisations – calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq – has carried out more than 100 attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria. The group has said the attacks are in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the war against Hamas that has killed more than 22,000 people in Gaza, and that they aim to push US forces out of Iraq. Last month, the US carried out retaliatory air raids in Iraq after a drone attack by Iran-aligned fighters left three wounded, including one US service member in critical condition. The strike also comes two days after the killing of Saleh al-Arouri – a deputy leader of Hamas, an ally of Iran – in a drone strike in Beirut, raising fears of further escalation and destabilisation in the region. Adblock test (Why?)
Courtroom drama as convicted felon attacks judge during sentencing
NewsFeed Dramatic video shows the moment a defendant jumps over a courtroom bench to attack a judge during his sentencing hearing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Moments earlier, he had asked the court for leniency. In November, he pled guilty to attempted battery causing substantial bodily harm. During the attack, court personnel grab him and a brawl ensues. Punches are thrown continuously for 20 seconds as guards restrain him. Court attendees then check on the judge who had suffered minor injuries. Published On 4 Jan 20244 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
As opposition boycott tarnishes vote, young Bangladeshis seek new narrative
At a technology centre in Bangladesh’s capital, young women huddle around a computer, discussing a coding issue. Many of them make the daily trip to Dhaka on the shiny new metro rail while scouring their smartphones for the latest on social media. For decades, political battles in Bangladesh have been fought on the streets, often with violence, by parties led by two powerful women. But there are signs of a generational change as the country of 169 million heads into another general election on Sunday. Acrimony has flared once again ahead of the voting, and the opposition, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has boycotted the elections. But millions of young voters are seeking a different narrative. A burgeoning technology industry, lively e-commerce and a growing public digital infrastructure are helping one of South Asia’s fastest growing economies capitalise on a tech-savvy workforce that is demanding change from politicians. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is trying to woo first-time voters with her government’s Digital Bangladesh project, promising a “smart Bangladesh” by 2041 and 15 million new jobs for young people by 2030. In an address at a large election rally outside Dhaka on Saturday, Hasina asked young voters for their support, “so that the advancement of Bangladesh continues”. Some are listening. Shahrima Tanjin Arni, 26, who teaches law at Dhaka University, called Hasina a bold leader with a vision for a digital future. “She holds the values of the past, but at the same time, she has a progressive thinking in her progressive heart, which is not very common in Bangladeshi societies,” Arni said. Arni credits Hasina with being a ‘bold leader’ with a vision for a digital future [Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP] ‘Don’t want any chaos’ The previous two general elections were marred by allegations of vote rigging and intimidation, which authorities denied. Hasina is seeking a fourth consecutive term and has pledged free and fair elections. But her critics have accused her of undermining the process for inclusive elections and suppressing the opposition, which Hasina blamed for violence. Younger voters have said they want a break from the highly polarised political culture and concerns over democratic rights. “My desire is that … people of Bangladesh will freely exercise their voting right, their freedom of speech will be ensured and the justice system will work independently,” said Abdur Rahim Rony, a student at Dhaka University. “I also wish that no political party or the government will interfere with the constitutional institutions.” One-fourth of the country’s population is in the 15-29 age group, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Almost one-third of the country’s 119.1 million registered voters are between 18 and 30. An October survey conducted online by the Bangladesh Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, or sustainable development goals, found that 69 percent of people aged 18 to 35 in Bangladesh consider corruption and nepotism as the main obstacles to development as the country sheds its least-developed economic status and grows into a middle-income developing country. “We don’t want any chaos on streets or violence. When I will finish my study, I wish to do a job or start my own business peacefully,” said 20-year-old Raul Tamjid Rahman, a first-time voter and computer science student at Brac University in Dhaka. “It’s a call from our generation to our politicians and policymakers.” Digital boom The telecommunications boom in Bangladesh began in 1997 when Hasina issued free licenses to three operators to run the mobile phone sector. It was a key chance for global companies to invest in one of the world’s most densely populated countries. “The expansion of digital economy is a miracle that is bringing changes to the economic landscape with young people at the helm,” said Abu Saeed Khan, a senior policy fellow at the Sri Lanka-based think tank LIRNEasia. Achia Nila is the founder of a Women in Digital technology centre [Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP] According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the country now has close to 127 million internet users with about 114 million mobile internet subscribers. The government has spent millions of dollars to turn a network of 8,500 rural post offices into e-centres for local communities. New startups include some funded by Silicon Valley investors, and mobile money transfers have become common. Most of Bangladesh’s 4 million garment workers, a majority of them women, use SMS-based money transfer apps to help their families in rural areas. But inflation and dwindling foreign currency reserves still challenge Bangladesh’s economy. The country sought a $4.5bn loan from the International Monetary Fund in 2022 to safeguard its finances. The government is optimistic, however, that the economy, which grew from $8.75bn in 1971 to $460bn in 2022, will soon be worth half a trillion dollars. “Mobile voice and mobile video both have become the oxygen of [the] economy, as simple as that,” Khan said. The expansion of digital infrastructure has come with concerns over a contentious 2018 Digital Security Act and its recent replacement, the Cyber Security Act. The government said they are needed to fight misinformation, hacking and attempts to undermine people’s rights. Critics and rights activists said the previous law was misused by the government to suppress dissent and freedom of speech. Critics said the new cybersecurity law will change little from the earlier legislation. In March, a journalist for a leading newspaper was arrested under the law on charges of spreading false news. TIM Nurul Kabir, executive director of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that despite challenges, Bangladesh’s digital development is attracting young people. “This is the new generation who are coming ahead with innovations,” he said. “For a developed Bangladesh, these young people, these digital dreamers, are the backbone. Women are also increasingly joining that future journey.” Tech entrepreneur Achia Nila is one of them. “Technology is super important in my daily life. It fits into everything I do,” Nila said, adding that it helps to connect with clients and the international market. Ahead of Sunday’s elections, Nila called on political
Myanmar military government pardons more than 9,000 prisoners
Annual amnesty marking Independence Day takes place during crisis in the north that poses threat to military rulers. Myanmar’s military government has pardoned more than 9,000 prisoners, including 114 foreign nationals, to mark the country’s Independence Day. Friends and families of prisoners gathered outside the high-security Insein Prison in the commercial capital Yangon as the releases were set to start on Thursday and expected to take place over several days. The identities of those slated for release were not yet known, and there was no indication that any political prisoners would be freed. Thursday’s announced amnesty, part of an annual release, comes as the government faces a crisis in the country’s north, where ethnic armed groups have captured military and border posts, threatening to block trade with China. Against this roiling backdrop, the Independence Day celebrations were devoid of the usual pomp and circumstance, and military chief Min Aung Hlaing was notably absent from the proceedings. In a statement, his administration said 9,652 prisoners would be freed. The military came to power in a coup in February 2001 after ousting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, brutally suppressing protests and cracking down on all forms of dissent. Suu Kyi, 78, is currently in prison, sentenced to 33 years on an array of politically motivated charges from corruption to flouting COVID-19 restrictions. Her party was dissolved last year after failing to comply with tough new party registration laws. Since the power grab, military leaders have been accused of murdering dozens of prisoners and covering up their deaths as escape attempts. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group, more than 25,730 people were arrested for opposing the coup, and almost 20,000 are still in detention. The AAPP reports that at least 4,277 civilians, including pro-democracy activists, have been killed by security forces. In 2022, the generals drew international condemnation after executing four pro-democracy leaders and activists in the country’s first use of the death penalty in decades. Adblock test (Why?)
Bangladesh elections mark a pro-China tipping point in South Asia
The year 2024 will witness key elections to choose democratic governments across the world, and the season begins with the Bangladesh election on January 7. Altogether, 29 political parties, including the governing Awami League (AL) and a faction of the opposition Jatiya Party, will fight the elections. With almost all the opposition parties led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat) sitting out, the return of AL to power for a fourth term is a fait accompli. Bangladesh’s general elections have always drawn international attention. But this time round, certain geopolitical issues at play have pushed the level a few notches up. Till the opposition parties were in the race, countries like the United States and India, and blocs like the European Union, resorted to rhetoric, administrative action and backroom diplomacy to pressure the AL government into ensuring the elections appear to be free and fair. This was counterbalanced by China and Russia, who told others — read the US — not to meddle in Bangladesh’s internal matters. Such a polarisation of world powers reveals the geopolitics at play in South Asia. It matters to these countries as to who rules Bangladesh. It is about who gains out of a status quo versus who is looking at potential gains if AL is voted out of power. Taking positions By late 2021, the US had already made up its mind. In a press statement on December 10 that year, Secretary of State Antony Blinken imposed sanctions on two Bangladeshi security officials, Benazir Ahmed and Miftah Uddin Ahmed, for alleged extrajudicial killings, making them and their immediate family members ineligible for entry into the US. The Department of the Treasury also designated Bangladesh’s elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Benazir Ahmed and five other officials under the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Program in connection with serious human rights abuse. In May 2023, the US government enacted a visa policy which denied visas to those engaged in undermining the “democratic election process”. In September 2023, the US announced that it was taking steps to implement the new visa policy. On November 13, 2023, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu wrote to all three major parties – the AL, BNP and the Jatiya Party – calling for “dialogue without preconditions”. The beaming pictures of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and US President Joe Biden taken at the September G20 Summit in New Delhi do not appear to have translated into a more benign US policy over the AL-affiliated Bangladeshi government. In the run-up to prior elections, it was customary for the AL and the BNP to elicit support from India and other leading world powers, and this time was no exception. During its visit to New Delhi in August 2023, a five-member AL delegation, led by Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, met senior Indian ministers and leaders of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and advocated that re-election of the AL was essential to ensure stability in the South Asian region. The AL’s talking points were familiar: a combination of fear-mongering over the BNP-Jamaat combine’s political Islamist tilt and reassurance that Dhaka would not ignore New Delhi’s sensitivities about Beijing; that China was more of a development partner, not a strategic partner; that Bangladesh has not forgotten the antagonistic role China and the US played against the country’s liberation struggle in 1971, and how India was the friend that truly helped the country gain independence. Compared with the US and its Western allies, China and India have shown more restraint in their reaction to the Bangladesh elections. While China has stated that it will back the Bangladeshi government against external interference, India believes that putting “too much” pressure would strengthen hardline forces in Bangladesh’s opposition parties. The Chinese strategic calculus The Chinese have identified opportunities in retaining the AL government. Since 2010, China’s influence has been growing in the decision-making architecture of both Bangladesh and the AL at various levels. Beijing has strong strategic compulsions to turn Bangladesh into a state heavily dependent on it, like Myanmar and Cambodia. Doing so will ensure easier Chinese access to Indian Ocean sea lanes, bypassing the Malacca Strait via the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) connecting Yunnan province to the seaport city of Kyaukpyu in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Geographically, the Ganga-Padma-Brahmaputra delta hosts the shortest land route to access the sea lanes from mainland China. That was the British calculation when they set up Calcutta (now known as Kolkata), which was then part of undivided Bengal, as their transshipment point to support the East India Company’s opium and tea trade with China. As things stand, AL in power will ensure a predictable, stable and favourable political climate to protect and promote China’s large infrastructure investments in Bangladesh. AL’s metamorphosis from a mass-based party of middle-class, secular, pro-Indian leaders, wedded to the spirit of the 1971 liberation struggle, to a party run by China-backed oligarchs – some with dubious credentials – is cause for concern both in New Delhi and Washington. Take Hasina’s top adviser, Salman Rahman, who critics claim effectively runs the government. Rahman’s family owns Beximco, one of Asia’s largest textile firms, which has significant business deals with China; or Zunaid Ahmed Palak, lawyer and minister of state for information and communication technology, who has faced accusations of being soft on Chinese companies in his role. It is not that the AL is the only governing party being driven by oligarchic interests. In neighbouring India, for instance, oligarchs close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi also push their interests, cloaked in the garb of national interests, shaping and driving domestic and foreign policies. Geopolitical issues like transborder infrastructure, disaster and pandemic response and wars provide platforms that put invisible men in grey suits on the same page as they parse out territories for commercial exploitation transcending borders. With AL set to retain its control over Bangladesh, the US effort to disrupt this metamorphosis by using human rights as a diplomatic weapon appears