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Tuesday, July 5, 2011 06 www.qatar-tribune.com PHILIPPINES / EAST ASIA Thai army to respect poll verdict AFP BANGKOK AP KUALA LUMPUR Yingluck Shinawatra (centre) with Wannarat Charnnukul (left) of the Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party, Sanan Kachornprasart (second left), chief adviser of the Chat Thai Pattana, Yongyuth Wichaidit (second right), Puea Thai party leader, and Chao Maneewong (right), party leader of Palang Chon, in Bangkok, on Monday. (AFP) THAILAND’S powerful military will respect a landslide election win by allies of Thaksin Shinawatra, who it toppled five years ago, the defence minister said on Monday, easing fears of another coup. Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra, a 44- year-old political novice now set to become the kingdom’s first female premier, announced a coalition deal with four smaller parties to bolster her hold on power. The election and its aftermath is a major test of Thailand’s ability to emerge from a long political crisis triggered by Thaksin’s 2006 overthrow that last year saw the country’s worst civil violence in decades. Thailand’s outgoing defence minister, himself a retired general, said that the army accepted the election outcome, easing fears of fresh military intervention in a country that has seen almost as many coups as elections. “I have talked to military leaders. We will allow politicians to work it out. The military will not get involved,” General Prawit Wongsuwon told AFP. “The people have spoken clearly so the military cannot do anything. We accept it.” Thaksin has vowed not to seek revenge over a deadly military crackdown on his “Red Shirt” supporters in Bangkok last year that claimed the lives of more than 90 people and left major downtown buildings in flames. But, in a sign of the difficult balancing act he faces, the Reds urged their political allies to establish the facts behind the army operation, which saw soldiers firing live ammunition storm the Reds’ rally camp. “During the election campaign, political parties have to present their policies to people, but once they become the government, it’s the government’s job to find the truth,” said a Red Shirt leader, Nattawut Saikuar. The Puea Thai Party — masterminded by Thaksin from his self-imposed exile in Dubai — won 265 seats out of 500 in the lower house, the election commission said Monday after the vote count was completed. Malaysian PM to meet Pope, plans diplomatic ties MALAYSIA’S prime minister plans to meet Pope Benedict XVI this month as part of efforts to establish diplomatic ties with the Vatican, a government official said on Monday. It would be only the second meeting between a leader of Muslim-majority Malaysia and the pope. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 2002 for talks focusing on Christian-Muslim relations and the Middle East. The planned meeting comes following tensions between Malaysia’s Muslims and religious minorities in recent years over complaints of religious discrimination. The Roman Catholic Church’s newspaper in Malaysia has been embroiled in a protracted legal battle against a government ban on the use of “Allah” as a Malay-language translation for God. A representative of Prime Minister Najib Razak said a meeting with Benedict is scheduled for shortly after July 15, when Najib wraps up a visit to London. The exact location of the talks has not been determined. Establishing diplomatic links is expected to be among the subjects discussed, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements. Malaysia is one of about 16 countries ‚including China, Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Vietnam‚ that currently have no diplomatic relations with the Holy See. However, the Vatican has an “Apostolic Delegate” who serves as its liaison with Malaysia. Roman Catholics and other Christians comprise nearly 10 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million people. Nearly two-thirds of the population are ethnic Malay Muslims, while other minorities include ethnic Chinese and Indian Buddhists and Hindus. It was not clear if Najib would speak to the pope about Malaysia’s court tussle over the use of “Allah.” A December 2009 court verdict granted non-Muslims the right to use the word, but anger among some Muslims over the ruling sparked an unprecedented string of arson attacks and vandalism that mostly targeted churches in January 2010. Some Muslims insist that using “Allah” in Christian literature might confuse Muslims and tempt them to convert. The government has appealed the court verdict. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak with wife Rosmah Mansor, in Kuala Lumpur, recently. (REUTERS) That was well ahead of the 159 secured by outgoing premier Abhisit Vejjajiva’s establishment-backed Democrats, who conceded defeat after two and a half years in power. Abhisit resigned as party leader after the results. However, Puea Thai was quick to reach out to potential partners, partly to protect against possible future defections or the disqualification of some of its winning candidates in Sunday’s vote. Together the five coalition partners hold 299 of the 500 seats. The victory by Thaksin’s allies has reshaped a fractured political landscape, but the party must tread carefully if it AFP MANILA THE Philippines said on Monday it would ask the United States for long-range patrol aircraft and other modern military hardware to help defend its claims to disputed waters in the South China Sea. Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said he hoped to receive the first pieces of equipment within the year, although it was not yet certain how the cash-strapped government could afford to buy the new weapons. “We are looking at modern equipment... with the AP TIMIKA (INDONESIA) THOUSANDS of workers kicked off a weeklong strike at Freeport-McMoRan’s gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia on Monday, demanding higher wages and protesting the dismissal of their union leaders. The US mining giant insisted the work stoppage at the Grasberg mine in the remote province of Papua would not affect production. Grasberg is one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines, but has frequently seen violent worker protests, while environmental groups complain of alleged pollution and unfair distribution of profits. Union official Juli Parorongan said up to 10,000 workers from the mine were expected to join the strike after labour groups and management failed to re-negotiate contracts seeking wage increases from $1.8 to $15 per hour. “The company ignored our rights for a better wages and conditions,” Parorongan said as 2,000 workers dressed in their work clothes wants to avoid alienating other key players such as the military. Thaksin insisted Monday that he had no plan to return to office himself, and said that setting foot back in Thailand was not a priority. “I’ve been with the party too long, and I really want to retire,” Thaksin told reporters in Dubai where he lives in selfimposed exile to avoid a jail term for corruption. “Going back home is not a major concern. It is not a priority,” he added. A more important factor may be whether the new government pursues legal or other steps against the generals over the bloody crackdown against last year’s mass and wearing red ribbons started gathering in front of the mine’s gates on the first day of their peaceful sit-in. “They even fired our union very long-range patrol aircraft and also watercraft so we can guard our territory,” Gazmin told reporters. He stressed that the Philippines was not seeking old US equipment, which it has relied on in the past, but wanted new items in the face of recent tensions with China over the South China Sea and the Spratly islands. The United States has said it will study the list and see what kind of equipment the Philippines can afford and is capable of operating, Gazmin added. “When you talk of new equipment you talk of operational costs. With the very limited budget that we have, we have to see if we can afford it,” he said. Gazmin said last week the Philippines was looking for new fighter aircraft, six years after retiring its Vietnam Warvintage F5 fighter jets. Tensions in the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea have escalated in recent weeks, with the Philippines and Vietnam voicing alarm at what they say are increasingly forceful Chinese actions there. They include accusations of Chinese forces opening fire on Filipino fishermen, shadowing an oil exploration vessel leaders, who were struggling for our welfare.” Parorongan justified asking for a nearly tenfold increase, saying that was what Freeport opposition demonstrations in the heart of Bangkok. “I believe the military leaders are more concerned about their fates... than about Thaksin’s return,” said Thongchai Winichakul, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The Thaksin issue is a smoke-screen to hide their real concern — whether they would be investigated and possibly punished.” The populist Thaksin is loathed by the nation’s elites who see him as corrupt and a threat to the revered monarchy. An amnesty for the billionaire telecoms tycoon would risk infuriating many in the Bangkokbased establishment in government, military and palace circles and could prompt protests by the royalist “Yellow Shirt” movement. Thaksin, who despite being hugely divisive in Thailand has presided over victories in the nation’s last five elections, called on all sides to respect the result and said he did not “want to cause trouble” by returning. Investors reacted positively to the election outcome and formation of a coalition, with the SET stock index soaring 4.69 percent to end at 1,090.28. “The chance that there will be more street protests is slim,” said Rakpong Chaisuparakul, a strategist at KGI Securities. Philippines seeks modern military hardware from US employed by a Philippine firm, and putting up structures in areas claimed by the Philippines. The South China Sea includes the Spratlys, a chain of islands believed to sit on vast mineral resources. Aside from the Philippines, China and Vietnam, the area is also wholly or partially claimed by Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. Although the Philippines has troops on some of the Spratly islands, it has the weakest military forces in the region with no fighter aircraft and mainly World War II-vintage US ships to guard its claim. Indonesian gold miners strike work at Freeport Thousands of gold and copper mine workers hold a rally, in Timika, Indonesia, on Monday. (AFP) workers elsewhere earned, though that could not be immediately confirmed. Thousands of other striking workers, marching from the 6 killed in Philippine landslide DPA MANILA SIX people were killed on Monday and several more missing in a landslide in the southern Philippines, police andmilitary said. The victims were travelling on a road in the outskirts of Valencia City in Bukidnon province, 855 kilometers south of Manila, when aportion of a nearby mountain collapsed. Superintendent Canilo Fuentes, Bukidnon police operations chief, said the accident was triggered by several hours of heavy rains that started late Sunday. Lieutenant Colonel Jose Maria Cuerpo, an army battalion commander, said troops had been dispatched to the area to help in rescue operations.” We have retrieved six bodies,” he said. “We are trying to determine how many more are missing.”Cuerpo said at least five motorized rickshaws carrying an unknown number of passengers were buried in the landslide. The mud had also swept away a number of pedestrians, he said.” We have not yet recovered any survivors.” The southern Philippines has been battered by heavy rains since last week, causing a flash flood in the southern city of Davao that killed 31 people and displaced tens of thousands. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, three communist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in the central Philippines, an army commander said on Monday.One soldier was wounded in combat on Sunday in the village of Tacpaonear Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental province, 600 kilometres southof Manila. Colonel Jonas Sumagaysay said the soldiers were on patrol when they encountered a group of about 15 guerrillas. Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia. company’s mine area Tembagapura, were expected to join the strikers, though union officials said some roads were being blocked by police, slowing their journey. The US mining giant insisted the work stoppage at the Grasberg mine in the remote province of Papua would not affect production. Grasberg is one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines. Freeport’s spokesman in Indonesia, Ramdani Sirait, told The Associated Press that the strike was illegal. He urged workers to return to their jobs while the company continued to hold talks with union leaders to address their grievances. “We do not anticipate any impact to production,” Sirait added in an emailed statement. Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold holds just over 90 percent of the Grasberg mine, while the rest is owned by the Indonesian government.
SOUTH ASIA Tuesday, July 5, 2011 www.qatar-tribune.com 07 Police disperse opposition protesters in Dhaka AP DHAKA POLICE in Bangladesh’s capital on Monday fired tear gas and charged with batons to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters protesting against an arrest warrant of a former prime minister’s son. Witnesses said several people were injured in the clashes in front of the headquarters of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Two television stations report up to 30 people were injured, and the opposition chief whip in parliament was among them. NTV station reported that 30 people were injured, while Somoy station said 25 were hurt. Jahangir Alam, an opposition supporter, told The Associated Press by phone from the scene that the security officials acted immediately after the activists started marching through the streets after a rally. Dhaka’s protests were part of Zia’s party’s planned agitation across the country. A court on Sunday ordered the arrest of Tarique Rahman after police charged him with masterminding a grenade attack on a rally that killed 24 supporters of thenopposition leader Sheikh Hasina in 2004. More than two dozen grenades ripped through the rally being addressed by Hasina, who was unhurt. Hasina is the current prime minister, while Zia held the office when the attack occurred. Also on Monday, three former police chiefs charged in the case were sent to jail pending trial, after they appeared in a magistrate court to seek bail. Denying their bail appeals, the court asked the authorities to arrest and send them to jail, said prosecution lawyer Syed Rezaur Rahman. The investigators claimed Tarique Rahman planned the attack to eliminate political opponents. Zia’s party denies the allegation. The party plans a series of protests, including a 48-hour general strike starting across the country on Wednesday. The country’s largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e- Islami, supports the planned strike. Rahman, a central leader of the opposition party, has been living in London since 2008. He faces several other corruption charges. Bangladeshi riot police extinguish a fire set by protesters during a strike, in Dhaka, on Sunday. (AFP) Dhaka bans film over villain’s dress AFP DHAKA BANGLADESHI censors have banned a film in which the main villain is shown wearing a jacket associated with the ruling Awami League party, saying it could trigger violence in the country. The film Ridoy Bhanga Dhew (Heart Breaking Wave), which was shot in Thailand, was refused a screening permit as it “mocks” ruling party officials, the vice-chairman of the Film Censor Board, Surat Kumar Sarker told AFP on Monday. “We have rejected the film because it clearly violates the country’s film censor rules. It goes against a political philosophy of the country,” Sarker said. The main villain in the film is shown wearing a “Mujib coat” — a distinctive, black sleeveless jacket named after Bangladesh’s founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who wore it when addressing political rallies. It is usually worn only by Awami League members keen to show their party allegiance. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is Sheikh Rahman’s daughter. “There is no need for the character to wear this dress. It could spark violence,” said Akanda Sanawar Morshed, a filmmaker and member of the censor board. Morshed also noted that a hero in the film was shown wearing a safari suit of the style favoured by members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Hasina’s bitter enemy Khaleda Zia. The film’s director Gazi Mazharul Anwar told AFP that, while he was a member of the BNP, he had never set out to mock anyone. “Politics has nothing to do with the film,” he said, adding that he would appeal the ban. In 2007, Bangladesh’s then army-backed government banned a movie after a character — playing the role of a criminal — was shown in military fatigues. One more MP held in Nepal passport scam AFP KATHMANDU A THIRD Nepalese lawmaker was arrested on Monday over alleged involvement in the forgery and sale of diplomatic passports, police said. Nepal is one of the few countries that gives diplomatic passports to all its lawmakers, and the arrest was part of a major police investigation into a racket involving the sale of the passports to wealthy Nepalese. Two other MPs are already in custody on suspicion of involvement in the scam, which allows buyers of the passports to gain easier access to Western countries by posing as lawmakers. Police said ruling party lawmaker Narad Muni Rana, the latest to be arrested, had applied for two diplomatic passports and sold one to the traffickers behind the scam. “We seized Rana’s passport from the racketeers,” the head of the organised crime division Rajendra Singh Bhandari said. “It seems they were buying diplomatic passports from the lawmakers, finding people willing to pay up to one million.” UK soldier missing in Afghanistan AP KANDAHAR A BRITISH soldier who is part of the NATO-led international force fighting in southern Afghanistan went missing Monday in the country’s restive south and an extensive operation is under way to find him, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed insurgents captured the soldier during a firefight with NATO troops in the Babaji area of Helmand province and that he died in the crossfire. Ahmadi said that six other NATO troops died in the gun fight. The Taliban claim could not be independently confirmed. NATO said the coalition has no reports of a gun battle in Babaji on Monday. NATO said its soldiers were still searching for the missing British soldier. British officials said the serviceman was based in Helmand province and was reported missing in early Monday morning. It did not release the soldier’s name but said his family has been notified and is being updated as the search continues. Only one soldier from the NATO-led force is presently believed to be in captivity. Bowe Bergdahl, a 25-year-old US Army sergeant from Hailey, Idaho, was taken prisoner June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan. He is believed held in Pakistan. Although the Helmand provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, is scheduled to transition security operations to Afghan control this month, the province remains a particularly violent insurgent stronghold. Also Monday, the outgoing US commander in Afghanistan marked his last Fourth of July in uniform by speaking to Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed insurgents captured the soldier during a firefight with NATO troops in the Babaji area of Helmand province and that he died in the crossfire. American troops during a reenlistment ceremony in the south of the country. Gen. David Petraeus, who was recently confirmed as the next director of the CIA, told the 235 troops re-enlisting in Kandahar province that they have achieved progress on the battlefield but that “much work remains” to be done in Afghanistan. “You raised your right hand and said ‘Send me,’ and today you raised your right hand again and said ‘Send me again, if needed,’” he told the soldiers on America’s 235th birthday. “I cannot say how impressive your action is,” he said. “It is the most meaningful display of patriotism possible.” Petraeus will be replaced by US Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen even as 33,000 US troops begin to withdraw from Afghanistan, the start of President Barack Obama’s promised withdrawal of all combat troops by 2014. Later on Monday, Petraeus is to speak at another re-enlistment ceremony at Bagram Air Field, just north of Kabul. In Islamabad, the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan issued a joint statement condemning attacks by Islamic militants along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the Dir, Bajaur, Mohmand, and Kunar regions. The statement was a shift in tone after weeks of accusations by Afghanistan that the Pakistani military had launched hundreds of rockets into eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 40 Afghan civilians. Pakistani officials had accused NATO and Afghanistan of failing to eradicate Afghan sanctuaries of militants currently staging attacks on Pakistan, killing dozens of security troops. “Pakistan desires the closest of relations with Afghanistan,” read a statement from the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We believe that both countries are faced with common challenges relating to militancy and terrorism which require deep and close cooperation.” The two countries are planning future meetings to enhance coordination between each other and NATO, according to the statement. Meanwhile, NATO said a service member was killed Monday in a bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan. The death brings the number of fatalities in Afghanistan this year to 271, three of them this month. On Sunday, three U.S. Senators visiting Afghanistan criticized the pace of withdrawal and expressed concerns that it may leave NATO with too few troops to deal a decisive blow to the insurgency. “I believe that the planned drawdown is an unnecessary risk,” John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, said. McCain arrived in Afghanistan with Sens. Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham. McCain lost to Obama in the 2008 presidential race. Suu Kyi tests freedom with rare trip to ancient temple AFP BAGAN (MYANMAR) DEMOCRACY icon Aung San Suu Kyi visited an ancient temple city in central Myanmar with her son on Monday, in a tentative first test of her freedom to travel following her release by the junta. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose previously announced plan for a political tour prompted stern warnings from the regime, was greeted at Bagan airport by crowds of journalists and what appeared to be plain-clothes police. It is the first time Suu Kyi has ventured outside the main city of Yangon where she lives since being freed from seven years of house arrest last November, but politics are not officially on the agenda. Suu Kyi did not make any statements upon arrival and headed straight for her hotel with her youngest son Kim Aris, who told AFP he was “very happy” to be in Bagan, Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi (right) welcomed at Bagan Hotel, in Bagan, Myanmar, on Monday. (AP) one of Myanmar’s top tourist attractions. “It’s my first holiday in 13 years. She also needs a break. We’re going to stay here for four days. I’m very happy,” said the 33-year-old British national, who was reunited with his mother last year after a decade apart. Suu Kyi’s earlier plan to launch a political tour prompted a demand from the regime for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party to stay out of politics, and a warning that “chaos and riots” could ensue if she went ahead. That tour has been delayed by a few weeks until the weather conditions are right, Suu Kyi said last week. Security is a major concern because Suu Kyi’s convoy was attacked in 2003 during a political trip, in an ambush apparently organised by a regime frightened by her popularity. While her stay in Bagan has been described as a private visit, observers said that any activity that put Suu Kyi in contact with the people of Myanmar could have repercussions. “Any attempt by her to travel beyond the regime’s comfort zone of the NLD headquarters and her residence is going to take on political significance,” said Maung Zarni, a researcher at the London School of Economics. Her travels will also offer insight into how much support the 66-year-old still enjoys following her long absence from public view and an election that has left her sidelined from politics. She attracted large crowds of supporters when she travelled during previous periods of freedom. “It will test her popularity, whether she can still have a role in politics after being locked up for many years,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. “It will also test the limits of the regime. She knows that the military can stop her at any time.” A top Myanmar diplomat in the United States told Radio Free Asia on Sunday — after defecting — that the regime’s warnings to Suu Kyi “must be taken seriously”. Kyaw Win, who was the second highest-ranking official at Myanmar’s embassy in Washington, also said the regime had failed to begin its transition to democracy following the country’s first elections in two decades in November. Suu Kyi’s NLD party won a landslide election victory in 1990 that was never recognised by the junta. The party was disbanded by the military rulers last year because it boycotted the recent vote, saying the rules were unfair. The junta’s political proxies claimed an overwhelming victory in the poll, which was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and intimidation.
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