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Eastern Ghouta residents ‘mock’ ceasefire as killing continues

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Smoke rose from the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus on Tuesday, February 27 [Bassam Khabieh/Reuters]

by Zena Tahhan, Al Jazeera

Residents of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta are “mocking” a so-called ceasefire in the area, as bombardments by the Syrian government and their principal ally, Russia, continue, according to doctors and local activists.

At least five civilians were killed on Thursday in attacks on several towns in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta – a suburb of the capital Damascus – activist Abdelmalik Aboud told Al Jazeera from the town of Douma.

Fayez Orabi, spokesperson for the opposition’s health directorate in Damascus and its suburbs, and the UK-based monitoring group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed the numbers.

The Syrian Civil Defense – a volunteer rescue group also known as the White Helmets – said a child was killed in the attacks.

“The people of Eastern Ghouta mock the news of exit corridors – they did not believe it for a second because they have lost all confidence in the regime’s credibility – particularly because the shelling has not stopped, and neither the Russians nor the regime have expressed any seriousness in keeping civilians out of the war,” Aboud said.

Several attempts at a ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta have failed in recent days.

The area is a key target due to its proximity to Damascus, where the government of President Bashar al-Assad is based.

Eastern Ghouta has been under control of armed opposition groups since 2013 – two years into a popular uprising in Syria calling for the removal of al-Assad.

When the government responded with force, locals and army defectors decided to take up arms and managed to gain control of large territories across the country.

With Russia’s intervention in 2015, Assad’s forces have been able to regain most of the territory, but Eastern Ghouta remains one of the last armed opposition strongholds.

The area has been under a suffocating siege by government forces since 2013, in an attempt to drain the armed opposition operating there.

While Russia and the Syrian government say they are aiming at armed groups, who it refers to as “terrorists”, civilian neighbourhoods and sources of livelihood have been attacked frequently.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, about 19 markets, seven medical centres, six schools, three kindergartens and 10 civil defence centres have been hit since November 2017.

The government’s campaign to regain control over Eastern Ghouta intensified on February 18. Since then, more than 500 civilians have been killed, including women and children, according to local activists.

“One cannot describe the level of monstrosity over the past few days,” Abu Salem al-Shami, an activist in the area, told Al Jazeera.

‘Attacks never stopped’
On February 24, the United Nations Security Council voted in favour of a 30-day truce, which was violated only hours later.

And, on February 26, Russia said it would implement a five-hour ceasefire daily as well as evacuation corridors to allow the area’s 400,000 residents to escape the bombing campaign.

But residents say neither the ceasefire nor the corridors have been implemented.

“The shelling has not stopped. The [Syrian] regime has not abided by the timings of the ceasefire. The violations of the truce are constant – 24 hours a day,” Aboud said.

Al-Shami explained that people are very careful not to walk in the streets as they have “no faith” in any ceasefire.

“There were people being killed from the moment the so-called ceasefire was announced. The warplanes are constantly in the sky, day and night. A real truce would mean that people can leave their homes, buy food and drink and that humanitarian aid would be able to come in, but that hasn’t happened.

“It’s the exact opposite,” he added.

Due to the siege, very little humanitarian aid has entered Eastern Ghouta, making access to basic supplies such as food and medicine highly restricted.

According to the United Nations, nearly 12 percent of children under five in Eastern Ghouta suffer from acute malnutrition – the highest rate ever recorded since the start of the war in Syria, which has killed close to half a million people.

US court grants interim stay on debt collection against Modi’s Firestar Diamond

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A special court on Thursday gave the CBI custody of Karti Chidambaram, son of Congress leader P. Chidambaram, for questioning till March 6 in the INX Media alleged bribery case, saying the matter is at an initial and very crucial stage that requires further investigation.

CBI Judge Sunil Rana gave the order after three hours of heated arguments between Karti’s lawyer and the CBI counsel, who pleaded for 14 days custody, saying he needed to be questioned thoroughly in “a serious finance corruption case” which is not a political witch hunt or vendetta.

“In view of the submissions made and the fact that the matter is at the initial stage of investigation, which is a very crucial stage and further as per the case diary and day-to-day report of the investigation, the claim of the CBI is based on the ground that there is a prima facie material showing the involvement of the accused and it requires further investigation,” the judge said in his nine-page order.

“In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the view that the police custody of the accused is necessary to confront the accused with documents, co-accused and to unearth the larger conspiracy and role of other accused persons involved in this case.”

Hence, the Judge said, it would be appropriate to grant further custody to the CBI of Karti for five days.

The investigating officer was asked to get the accused medically examined every 24 hours during the custody and Karti would be at liberty to seek the assistance of his counsel during the remand period.

Earlier, the prosecution contended that INX Media had received foreign investment to the tune of 26 per cent, including FDI, and in pursuance of criminal conspiracy it again approached the FIPB unit of the Finance Ministry and sought permission for the downstream investment.

“It is further submitted that such deceitful and fallacious proposal was favourably considered by the officials of the Ministry of Finance and was approved by the then Finance Minister (P. Chidambaram),” the Judge said, recalling the prosecution arguments.

The Judge disallowed Karti’s plea for home-cooked food but directed that he could be allowed medicines.

The INX Media had also received foreign investment of Rs 300 crore from August 22, 2007 to May 12, 2008 — which was in excess equivalent to Rs 300.7 crore. It was received from three Mauritius-based foreign investors.

Appearing for the agency before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta said Karti, who was arrested on Wednesday and sent to one day CBI remand, spent the whole night in the cardiac care unit of Safdarjung Hospital and came to the CBI only in the morning.

“He was only questioned for a few hours. It is amazing that despite no history of cardiac problem, doctors advised him to be in the CCU,” Mehta said.

He said one-day custody was not enough to question him and the CBI needed 14 days to interrogate Karti.

Mehta said investigation was at a crucial stage and custody remand of Karti was required to confront him with documents, co-accused and the trail of proceeds of crime as he was the ultimate beneficiary and the prime conspirator in monetary transaction involving huge sum of money.

The prosecutor accused Karti and his father, who was then Finance Minister in 2008, connived with each other to get Foreign Investment Promotional Board (FIPB) clearance for the INX Media, headed by murder accused Peter and Indrani Mukherjea, which was earlier accused of serious violations in receiving overseas funds.

The prosecution said Karti needed to be confronted with other accused, including his Chartered Accountant Bhaskar Raman, who is already in custody, and suspects in the case. There was need to travel to several cities for which 14 days custody would be required, he said.

He said Advantage Strategic Consultants, which is linked to alleged illegal payments, was virtually owned and controlled by Chess Management in which Karti is said to have stakes.

In her statement to a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC, Indrani Mukherjea said she along with her husband had travelled to a hotel in Delhi where they had met Karti.

Mehta said the hotel stay and travel details of the Mukherjeas were available with the CBI.

He said the Enforcement Directorate had recovered a hard disk in which it found four invoices relating to the alleged payments. He said there was evidence of money shared at various foreign locations on 33 occasions.

Opposing the CBI plea, Karti’s lawyer Abhishek Singhvi said the agency had questioned him for 22 hours on August 23 and 28 and no summons were issued to him after that.

“Logical inference is that you (the CBI) have nothing to ask. That’s why you did not issue any summon for the last six months,” Singhvi said in the court.

He challenged the CBI plea on three grounds saying there was no flight risk, Karti was cooperating in the investigation and there was no threat of tampering with evidence.

“The whole issue of arrest is motivated and illegal and not justified. Non-cooperation does not mean that he replies to the agency in the way they want him to.”

“All the four invoices (payments) referred to, Karti was neither a shareholder nor a director nor connected with any of them. In two of them, there was no remittance, no receipt of money was found. With the other two invoices also, he had nothing to do,” Singhvi contended.

“How this bribe money travelled to these companies is a billion dollar question that the CBI should explain.”

He also argued that how a son could get paid for FIPB clearance through his father who had himself ordered a serious fraud investigation into the matter.

He alleged that Indrani Mukherjea made the confession under the compulsion of the CBI as she is in its custody in the case of the brutal murder of her own daughter.

To this, Mehta objected and said Indrani was not in the CBI custody but in judicial custody and she has given her statement that needed to be taken as an evidence.

(PTI)

12 Maoists, one policeman killed in Telangana gunfight

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Hyderabad: In a major setback to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), at least 12 guerrillas were killed in a gunfight with police in Telangana’s Jayashankar Bhupalapally district on Friday.

A police constable also lost his life, police said and three personnel of the elite Greyhounds anti-Maoist force were injured.

The exchange of fire occurred in the forests near Venkatapuram village on Telangana-Chhattisgarh border in the early hours of Friday.

The Maoists received the big jolt in the joint operation by the police of the two states in Tadapalagutta-Pujarikamkedu region on the inter-state border.

The incident occurred when police, including Greyhounds personnel, launched combing operations in the forests following tip-off about the presence of Maoists.

They surrounded the guerrillas and asked them to surrender. However, the Maoists opened fire, forcing the police to retaliate. Some Maoists escaped deep in the forest.

Additional forces were rushed to the area to launch the combing operations. Senior police officers, including Jayashankar Bhupalapally district Superintendent of Police R. Bhaskaran, also rushed to the scene.

Some top leaders of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) including the banned outfit’s Telangana Secretary Haribhushan alias Jagan and another key leader Chukka Rao were suspected to be among the slain Maoists. The dead include six women cadre of the outfit. Haribhushan’s wife Samakka was also killed in the encounter.

Haribhushan had been heading the outfit since formation of Telangana State and he was carrying a reward of Rs 30 lakh on his head. According to police, he was an accused in at least 50 cases.

Sushil Kumar, a constable of Greyhounds was also killed in the gun battle. Three other police personnel were injured and they were airlifted to Bhadrachalam town. The bodies of Maoists were also shifted to the town for autopsy.

Five guns, including one AK-47 rifle, a scanner, a laptop and Rs 41,000 cash were recovered from the scene.

The CPI (Maoist) received the setback when it was trying to revive its activities in its former stronghold of north Telangana.

During last few weeks, there were reports about the presence of Maoists in the old Warangal and Khammam districts. Police said many had crossed over from neighbouring Chhattisgarh and were indulging in extortion and other illegal activities.

In December last year, eight Maoists of Chandrapulla Reddy Poru Bata, a splinter group of old People’s War, were gunned down by police in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

This was the first major incident since formation of Telangana State in 2014.

The Maoist movement had considerably weakened in the undivided Andhra Pradesh since 2005 when the police launched massive operations and eliminated several top leaders following the collapse of the ceasefire and first-ever talks between then state government and the Maoists.

(IANS)

Watch: Teaser of Rajinikanth’s movie ‘Kaala’ released

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Chennai: The teaser of superstar Rajinikanths upcoming flick ‘Kaala’ has been released, with the trilingual movie all set to hit the screens on April 27.

The near two-minute teaser starts off with veteran star Nana Patekar asking what kind of a name ‘Kaala’ is, with a voiceover in the next scene saying it means not only the colour black, but also someone who fights and defends.

Later, Rajinikanth himself is shown explaining that black is the colour of hard work. The actor is seen speaking in the Tirunelveli slang of the Tamil language.

Actor Dhanush, also Rajinikant’s son-in-law, has produced the movie under his banner Wunderbar Films Pvt Ltd. Pa Ranjith is the director of the film, his second association with Rajinikanth after their 2016 gangster flick ‘Kabali’.

Dhanush released the teaser on his Twitter page Thursday. ‘Kaala’ will be released in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Besides Rajinikanth and Patekar, the movie also features Hindi cinema actor Huma Qureshi, actor-director Samudrakani, Eswari Rao and a host of others.

Ranjith’s favourite musician, Santosh Narayanan has once again teamed up with the filmmaker to compose the musical score for the film.

(PTI)

Bengaluru court rejects bail plea of Mohammed Nalapad in assault case

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The bail plea of Mohammed Haris Nalapad, son of a Congress legislator NA Haris, has been rejected by a court in Bengaluru. 24-year-old Mohammad Nalapad, accused of severely thrashing a man at an upscale restaurant in Bengaluru, is charged with attempt to murder and has been in jail since last week when he surrendered along with six others.

The public prosecutor in the case said the bail was denied as the court thought the accused could influence the witnesses.

“Court expressed that there are going to be chances of witnesses getting influenced and the investigation getting coerced. Court has come to a conclusion that they don’t deserve bail. It is victory to justice and society at large,” Public Prosecutor Shyam Sundar told news agency ANI.

Earlier this month, Mohammad Nalapad allegedly walked up to a man who was having dinner at a cafe in the upscale UB City mall, with his bandaged foot on a table. Mohammad Nalapad allegedly asked him to remove it and “sit properly”. When Vidwath refused, he was attacked by the group and beaten so severely that his eyes were swollen shut and his clothes were blood-soaked. He had to be admitted to the ICU.

The incident has deeply embarrassed the ruling Congress just months ahead of elections in Karnataka. The party has expelled Mohammad Nalapad for six years and sacked him as the state unit’s Youth Congress general secretary.

The opposition in Karnataka has accused NA Haris of shielding his son, who was arrested two days after the incident. The BJP also accused the government of going soft on the accused.

Mr Haris, a two-time lawmaker from the Shantinagar assembly segment, last Tuesday tendered an apology in the state legislative assembly for the violent conduct of his son. He also put out a public apology last week and said, “Children make mistakes…we cannot disown or abandon them.”

(Agencies)

Afghan president offers to recognise the Taliban

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by Al Jazeera

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has offered to recognise the Taliban as a legitimate political group, as part of a proposed process he said could lead to talks aimed at ending more than 16 years of war.

Ghani’s offer on Wednesday, made at the start of an international conference aimed at creating a platform for peace talks, adds to a series of signals from both the Western-backed government and the Taliban suggesting a greater willingness to consider dialogue.

Ghani proposed a ceasefire and prisoner release as part of a range of options, including new elections involving the armed group, and a constitutional review as part of a pact with the Taliban.

“We are making this offer without preconditions in order to lead to a peace agreement,” Ghani said in opening remarks at the conference, attended by officials from about 25 countries involved in the so-called Kabul Process.

“The Taliban are expected to give input to the peace-making process, the goal of which is to draw the Taliban, as an organisation, to peace talks,” he said.

The comments represented a significant shift for Ghani, who, in the past, has regularly called the Taliban “terrorists” and “rebels”, although he has also offered to talk to parts of the movement that accepted peace.

The Taliban, fighting to return to power after its 2001 removal by US-led forces, has offered to begin talks with the US, but has, so far, refused direct discussions with Kabul. It was unclear whether the group would be prepared to shift its stance, despite growing international pressure.

“I think that what they are saying is that the door is still open. They have shown a softness in their stand,” said political analyst Habib Wadark.

“Not just the Taliban, but the Afghan government and its international counterparts, and I think it is a perfect time not for a peace deal to be struck at this stage but probably a temporary ceasefire, which can then pave the path of a sustainable peace in the long term,” he told Al Jazeera.

Ghani, who recently helped launch the latest stage of a major, regional gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, said the momentum for peace was building from neighbouring countries that increasingly saw the necessity of a stable Afghanistan.

“The Taliban show awareness of these contextual shifts and seem to be engaged in a debate on the implications of acts of violence for their future,” he said.

Political office
Ghani said a framework for peace negotiations should be created with the Taliban recognised as a legitimate group, with their own political office to handle negotiations in Kabul or another agreed location.

Taliban officials have acknowledged they have faced pressure from friendly countries to accept talks, and said their recent offers to talk to the US reflected concern that they could be seen to be standing in the way of peace.

Ghani said the process would be accompanied by coordinated diplomatic support, including a global effort to persuade neighbouring Pakistan, which Kabul has regularly accused of aiding the Taliban, of the advantages of a stable Afghanistan.

He renewed an offer of talks with Pakistan, which rejects the accusations and points to the thousands of its citizens who have been killed by armed groups over the years.

In return for Ghani’s offer, the Taliban would have to recognise the Afghan government and respect the rule of law, he said.

In addition, Taliban prisoners could be released and their names removed from international blacklists, while security arrangements could be made for the Taliban members agreeing to join a process of reconciliation. Former fighters and refugees could be reintegrated and provided with jobs.

The US last year stepped up its military assistance to Afghanistan, notably through a sharp increase in air attacks, with the aim of breaking a stalemate with the fighters and forcing them to the negotiating table.

While the US military says the strategy has hit the Taliban hard, the group still controls or contests much of the country and continues to inflict severe casualties on Afghan forces.

The Taliban also claimed responsibility for two major attacks in Kabul last month that killed or wounded hundreds of civilians.

Army jawan gets life term in murder case

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Muzaffarnagar: A court here has sentenced an army jawan to life imprisonment for killing a shopkeeper over some financial dispute in 2010, a prosecution lawyer said today.

Additional district sessions judge Poonam Rajput convicted army jawan Yogesh Kumar last evening after he surrendered. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him.

Two persons – Akhilesh and Kamal – were also sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case on January 30, while a non-bailable warrant was issued against Yogesh who had not appeared in the court.

Yogesh last evening surrendered in the court after which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. According to prosecution lawyer Ritu Choudhary, shopkeeper Tejpal was shot dead by the three men at Sisauli village here on November 5, 2010.

(PTI)

CBI allowed by court to interrogate Karti Chidambaram for one-day

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New Delhi: Karti Chidambaram, arrested by the CBI in connection with the probe into the INX Media case, was today sent for one-day custodial interrogation by a Delhi court.

Though the CBI had sought 15-day remand for the custodial interrogation of Karti, duty magistrate Sumeet Anand granted a day’s custody, making it clear that he should be produced before the concerned special judge tomorrow at 2.30 pm.

Duty magistrate is a judge before whom an accused is produced when the concerned judge is not available or when any accused is produced after the regular court hours. In this case, the concerned special judge had left the court premises at around 4.30 pm, about 20 minutes before Karti was brought to the court.

46-year-old Karti, who was arrested in the morning at Chennai airport after he landed there from London, was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Sumeet Anand at around 4.50 pm when the CBI sought his custody to quiz him for unearthing the “total conspiracy” in the case claiming he was not cooperating in the probe.

During the hearing, CBI’s prosecutor V K Sharma told the court that Karti has not cooperated in the investigation and he has been repeatedly travelling abroad which “confirmed apprehensions” that “he will flee” from the country.

He alleged that one of the grounds for arresting Karti was that the CBI had recorded statement of Indrani Mukerjea, former Director of INX Media (P) Ltd, before a magistrate on February 17 in which she had said that Karti had “accepted one million dollars from INX Media” at the Hyatt Hotel here.

Opposing the CBI’s contentions, senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Karti, said it was a “bizzare” case and no grounds for arrest were made out. “It is a bizzare case at the threshhold. It is not a case of arrest, leave aside police custody or judicial custody,” Singhvi told the court while opposing the CBI’s remand plea.

He also argued that Karti was summoned twice by the CBI on August 23 and 28 last year and he was interrogated for 22 hours by the agency. Singhvi said, “there are no reasons given for the arrest. It is because you (CBI) want to show it to your bosses that you are doing some work.”

“Unlike others, I (Karti) am not ‘Hindustan leaver’ and instead I am ‘Hindustan returner’,” he said and claimed that Karti was cooperating with the CBI and the court might impose any condition while releasing him from the agency’s custody. “I (Karti) am not a fugitive,” Singhvi, who was assisted by senior advocates Dayan Krishnan and Mohit Mathur, told the court.

The CBI, in its remand plea, has alleged that Karti had not cooperated in the investigation by joining the same “until compelled to do so by the Supreme Court” and he “vehemently denied that he or his company had any interaction with INX Media on any matter including FIPB related matter despite evidence to the contrary”.

“Thus, Karti Chidambaram needs to be subjected to sustained interrogation for unearthing the total conspiracy hatched in the case and also to find out the details of overseas payments received by him from INX Media as a quid pro quo for influence exercised by him over the public servants to scuttle the punitive action required to be taken against M/s INX Media (P) Ltd for the illegal acts of receiving excess investment than the approved FDI and also for making of downstream investment without the FIPB approval.

For this purpose, his police custody remand for a period of 15 days is considered essential,” the remand plea said. The agency claimed that Karti’s “frequent” visits abroad has confirmed “apprehensions of his tampering with the evidence lying abroad against him and others in the form of secret note received from the Ministry of Finance”.

It said the “secret note” received from the Finance Ministry was also shown in a sealed cover to the apex court and the Madras High Court while objecting to Karti’s foreign visits and justifying the look out circular (LoC) issued against him.

At the outset, the court allowed the request of Karti’s lawyers to have an interaction with him inside the court room for 10 minutes, after which the proceedings resumed. When Karti was brought from CBI headquarters here to the Patiala House court premises and taken to the courtroom, he told waiting scribes, “It’s absolutely a political vendetta. I will be vindicated”.

Earlier in the day, Karti was taken into custody by a team of CBI officials at the Chennai airport on his return from the United Kingdom. The CBI had lodged an FIR on May 15 last year alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when P Chidambaram was the Union finance minister.

It also alleged that Karti had received funds to the tune of Rs 10 lakh in the case. The case was lodged by CBI for alleged offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) of the IPC and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

CBI also alleged that Karti had also received money from INX Media to scuttle a tax probe. The firm was owned at the time by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail on charges of allegedly murdering Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora. The Enforcement Directorate has also registered a money laundering case in the INX Media matter.

(PTI)

Kharge declines govt’s offer to attend Lokpal meeting as special invitee

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New Delhi: Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has written to the prime minister, declining the governments offer to attend the meeting of the Selection Committee for Lokpal appointment as a special invitee.

The government had invited him to today’s meeting of the Selection Committee as a special invitee. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge has said that a special invitee invitation is a concerted effort to exclude the voice of the opposition in Lokpal selection.

As per the Lokpal Act, only the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha is a member of the Selection Committee and since Kharge is not the Leader of Opposition, he is not a part of the committee.

A special invitee invitation is a concerted effort to exclude the independent voice of the opposition altogether from the selection process of the most important anti-corruption watchdog, Kharge said in his letter to Modi.

“My mere presence as special invitee without rights of participation, recording of my opinion and voting would be a mere eyewash ostensibly aimed at showcasing the participation of the opposition in the selection process.

In these circumstances I must decline the invite as a special invitee to uphold the inviolability of the Lokpal Act 2013 as the current proceedings have reduced a sacred procedure to a political presence, he said in the letter.

(PTI)

MP bypoll: Congress wins Mungaoli, Kolaras seats

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Bhopal: In a jolt to the ruling BJP ahead of Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh this year, the opposition Congress on Wednesday won bypolls to Mungaoli and Kolaras seats.

Congress candidate Brijendra Singh Yadav won in Mungaoli by defeating BJP rival Bhai Sahab Deshraj Singh Yadav by 2,124 votes, an official said. Yadav got 70,808 votes, while the BJP polled 68,684 votes.

In Kolaras, Congress party’s Mahendra Singh Yadav defeated BJP’s Devendra Kumar Jain by 8,083 votes. The Congress polled 82,515 votes and the BJP 74,432 votes.

Counting of votes began at 8 a.m. Kolaras in Shivpuri district and Mungaoli in Ashok Nagar.

Congress leaders, including party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, congratulated the winning candidates and said it was the people’s victory.

(IANS)

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