Blake: Leave corruption investigations to independent institutions

U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Robert Blake has called for corruption investigations to be left to independent institutions. Speaking to reporters at the National Library’s American Corner on Tuesday, Blake said he had urged the government the same.

He was commenting on the recent appointment of a commission by President Mohamed Nasheed to investigate corruption charges, a move condemned by DRP, who accused the government of plotting to intimidate ex- government officials belonging to the party.

“Such [investigations] are best handled by independent institutions like the bribery commission and so forth. So I’ve urged the government to make maximum use of independent commissions so that this does not seem as a partisan effort,” said Blake, speaking after a series of meetings with government officials and opposition parties. He was here on a farewell visit before a Senate vote on his nomination for a promotion at the State Department.

Blake, who has been the top U.S. diplomat here since September 2006, also urged the government and the opposition to work together to tackle problems facing the Maldives.

“I heard from several people that there is a risk of this country becoming polarized and therefore the two sides not being able to work together,” he said. “I certainly hope that doesn’t happen. It’s important for there to be corporation on both sides of the political isle to address the economic situation and future challenges.”

Blake hailed the “great progress” the Maldives has made in the democratic reform process.

DRP to propose Shahid as Majlis Speaker, Nazim as Deputy Speaker

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has decided to propose the name of the party’s council member Abdulla Shahid as the Speaker for the People’s Majlis. The country’s biggest opposition party will also propose the name of People’s Alliance’s Vice President Ahmed Nazim for the post of the Deputy Speaker. The People’s Majlis is to convene for its first sitting on 28th of this month.

The DRP made the decision at the first meeting of their parliamentary group held last Wednesday. The spokesperson for the party, Mohamed Saleem, said that the names were endorsed unanimously by the party‘s parliamentary group and that Nazim’s name was proposed as the Deputy Speaker because the PA had formed a coalition with the DRP during the parliamentary elections held on 9 May. He further said that the party’s Deputy Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali had been endorsed unanimously as the DRP’s parliamentary group leader at the meeting.

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had also taken part in the DRP’s first parliamentary group meeting.

The DRP/PA coalition had won 35 seats during the parliamentary elections, with DRP taking 28 seats and PA securing seven.

Miladhoo School morning sessions cancelled again

The morning session classes at the Noonu atoll Miladhoo School was cancelled again last Wednesday, not two days after the School resumed classes after closing down for a week due to a mysterious sickness that affected some students.

The Deputy Principal of Miladhoo School, Abdulla Haneef, said on Thursday that they had closed down the school two weeks before because some students were fainting under mysterious circumstances in class. However, because the exams were so close they had resumed classes again last Monday but had been forced to cancel the morning sessions again on Thursday because the several students had fainted again.

Haneef said that a team from the Education Ministry had visited the island on Wednesday night and that during Thursday morning session eight students had fainted, forcing the Education Ministry team to recommend cancelling classes again.

Haneef said that the mysterious fainting spells usually occurred during the morning sessions.

“On Wednesday the same thing happened during the morning classes,” Haneef said. “So we had to cancel the classes, but since it only seems to happen during morning sessions we decided to cancel all the morning session classes.”

He said that due to the school being closed down for more than a week, the students had lost many lessons and would be ill-prepared for exams. He however said that they had no other option as the mysterious illness was having negative psychological effects on the rest of the students.

Haneef said that symptoms of the illness included chest pains, epileptic fits, shortness of breath and fainting, and that altogether seven female students from Grade 10 and 7 suffered from the symptoms. He also said that many residents of the island believed that black magic was the cause of the illness.

ACC orders MTDC to cancel Ulhigamu resort bid

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has ordered the Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) to cancel its bid to purchase Rf50 million worth of construction materials for the Ulhigamu resort being developed by the corporation. The ACC cited irregularities with the bid and failure to comply with government bidding procedures as the reason for the cancellation.

According to the statement issued by the ACC last Thursday, the invitation for bids for the project had not been submitted to the Tender Evaluation Board. Although it was indicated that the bid invitations had been sent under MTCC’s “Procurement and Policies Direct Invitation”, the statement said that there were no documents from the company’s directors’ board that indicated that the bid had been made under ‘extenuating circumstances”.

The Anti-Corruption Committee also noted that while the bid had been submitted in violation of government procedures, it also violated the MTDC’s own Procurement and Contracting Policy and Procurement Manual.

All contracts worth more than Rf1.5 million (US$117,000) are required to be screened by the Finance Ministry’s Tender Evaluation Board.

Vienna temple fight injures 11

At least 11 people have been injured during a fight inside a Sikh temple in the Austrian capital Vienna.

Police said five men armed with knives and another with a pistol started a fight in the temple, the BBC’s Bethany Bell reports.

The number of injured is expected to rise, a police spokeswoman said.

It is unclear what caused the fight, with reports of a feud between rival families and also of disputes with worshippers at other Sikh temples.

Preacher ‘attacked’

All six of the armed men were severely injured in the incident and were taken to hospital where they were arrested, our correspondent says.

One report said the men were extremists who disagreed with the teachings of the preacher.

He was named as Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha by the Austrian Press Agency.

The six armed men apparently attacked him, prompting his supporters to rush to his aid.

Other people may have been less seriously hurt but ran from the building before emergency services arrived, authorities said.

The temple is situated in Vienna-Rudolfsheim, in the 15th district of the capital.

Pakistan army fights for key city

Pakistan’s army says it is fighting house by house to clear the Taliban from the city of Mingora, the largest in the Swat valley.

A spokesman said it now controlled a corridor from a suburb to the city centre, and had captured three of Mingora’s five main crossroads.

Maj Gen Athar Abbas said the operation could be slow because security forces wanted to avoid civilian casualties.

The fighting began after a peace deal broke down earlier this month.

Hundreds have died and more than a million have fled Swat since the operation against the Taliban was launched.

Maj Gen Abbas said five militants had been killed and 14 arrested in Mingora on Sunday.

“The forces from the outside have established links with various troops with platoons inside, which were under siege because of the militant presence in the city,” he told the BBC.

“Now they have established linkages and have increased their strength and have now started the operation of clearing the crossroads.”

He added that soldiers were having to search buildings one at a time.

“The main buildings are being cleared. It is a big city, it will take a little more time but the operation is moving at a good pace,” he said.

He warned that the operation could be “painfully slow”, as up to 20,000 civilians were still trapped there.

“This is an extremely difficult, extremely dangerous operation because clearance has to be done street by street, house by house,” he said.

Journalists are not allowed near the city so it is not possible to verify the army’s claims.

But the success of Pakistan’s military operation in the region hinges on a swift victory in Mingora, says the BBC’s Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad.

This fresh assault on the Taliban has the full backing of the US, which has identified Pakistan and Afghanistan as central to the international battle against Islamist extremism.

Scene of beheadings

Although the military has always had bases in Mingora, the city has effectively been under Taliban control in recent weeks.

One of the intersections the army says it has regained control over is Green Square where the Taliban is thought to have carried out several beheadings.

A citizen in Mingora confirmed this, but told the BBC that fighting was continuing in four nearby villages: Takhtaband, Garozai, Nawakalay and Shahdara.

There was no comment from the Taliban on the latest fighting in Mingora.

The army also said it had made progress in other parts of the Swat valley, with the city of Matta reportedly cleared of militants.

A curfew remains in place in Matta, and there are already reports of many civilian casualties, but these cannot be independently confirmed.

Our correspondent says the Swat battle is the most important yet in the army’s offensive against the Taliban in north-west Pakistan.

A swift victory would bolster public support for a greater fight against the militants, our correspondent adds.

But anything other than complete victory could diminish public support for the campaign and prove disastrous for Pakistan’s fragile political coalition, he adds .

Nearly 1.5 million people have been displaced by this month’s fighting in the north-western region, and about two million since last August, the UN’s refugee agency says.

In separate developments over the weekend:

• Pakistani aircraft have bombed Taliban militants near Orakzai tribal area, killing at least seven people. The militants are thought to have been preparing to travel to South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
• Police say a French tourist has been kidnapped by gunmen in the southern Baluchistan province. Four other French nationals travelling with the tourist reported the kidnapping.

Pakistan’s army began an offensive against the Taliban on 2 May after the peace deal broke down and the militants began expanding their area of influence.

In Swat, the army says that about 15,000 members of the security forces are fighting between 4,000 and 5,000 militants.

It says more than 1,000 militants and more than 50 soldiers have been killed since the offensive began.

Tamil Tigers admit leader is dead

Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels have admitted for the first time that their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead.

The BBC’s Charles Haviland says that a statement issued by the Tigers said their “incomparable leader” had “attained martyrdom”.

The Sri Lankan army last week released pictures which it said showed the body of Prabhakaran.

It said he was killed as he tried to flee a last stand by the rebels in the north-east of the island.

The statement was signed by the defeated group’s head of international relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan.

It says that the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) had declared a week of mourning for their dead leader, starting on 25 May.

The statement calls on Tamils all over the world to “restrain from harmful acts to themselves or anyone else in this hour of extreme grief”.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Pathmanathan said Prabhakaran had died on 17 May but did not give details of the circumstances.

Mr Pathmanathan said the Tigers would now use non-violent methods to fight for the rights of Tamils.