Dhaka Islamists demand retrial

B’desh war crimes hearing begins

DHAKA, Dec 24, (AFP): Bangladeshi Islamist leaders demanded a retrial Monday for war crimes, including genocide, saying a leaked transcript of phone calls showed the trial judge had come under pressure to deliver a quick verdict.

Lawyers representing Motiur Rahman Nizami, who is head of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party, Ghulam Azam and Delawar Hossain Sayedee had filed petitions before a court in Dhaka, defence lawyer Tanvir Ahmed said.

“The court started hearing two petitions today,” he told AFP.

Eleven suspects who are either members of Jamaat and or the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are accused of committing crimes such as murder, rape and religious persecution during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

Both Jamaat and BNP have called the trial process, which began in December 2010, “politically motivated”.

The push for a retrial comes after a pro-opposition daily published excerpts from a series of phone calls that the presiding judge held via Skype with a Brussels-based legal expert, prompting the judge to resign on December 11. KATHMANDU, Dec 24, (AFP): Nepalese animal rights groups pleaded Monday for the life of a lovelorn elephant which has trampled several people to death and is being hunted down by an army execution squad.

The male tusker, named Dhrube by locals, has been targeting humans on a killing spree in southern Nepal after being kept from potential mates, experts say, and is suspected of killing up to 15 people over four years. Chairperson of the UPA Government Sonia Gandhi during a meeting at the Presidential Palace, in New Delhi, on Dec 24. Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin signed deals to sell 71 military helicopters and kits to build 42 fighter jets to India on Monday as he

sought to firm up ties with a traditional ally. (AFP)