DUBAI, 1 February, 2021 (TON): Iran hosted the political leader of the Taliban during the last week, offering Tehran’s help to mediate in the peace talks between the insurgents and the government of Afghanistan.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Tehran, and told him that Washington was not a “good mediator” for the conflict, media reported on Sunday.

Iran supports an inclusive Afghan government that would include all ethnic groups and sects, Zarif said.

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem said that the meetings had taken place “in a good atmosphere.”

“The situations in Afghanistan, Intra-Afghan negotiations, the full implementation of the Doha agreement, and Afghanistan’s & region’s need (for) peace were discussed,” he added.
Meanwhile, U.S. has already accused Iran of providing hidden aids to the Taliban fighters against the U.S. forces.

On the other hand, Zarif met Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Tehran and told him that Washington was not a “good mediator” for the conflict.

Last year, the U.S. reached an agreement with the insurgents at the talks in Qatar, of withdrawing the troops from Afghanistan.

Shiite Muslim Iran has been a foe of the hard-line Sunni Muslim Taliban for decades but has been openly meeting with Taliban leaders for the past few years as the United States has started negotiating the exit of its troops from Afghanistan.

However, the media reported that some troops of NATO are expected to stay in the area beyond the deadline, as the Western alliance considers that the withdrawal conditions have not met yet.  
New US President Joe Biden is expected to take a close look at the withdrawal agreement.

Since Iran disliked the Taliban for decades, but now has openly met the group leaders for the past few years as the U.S. has started talking on troop withdrawal.

Recently, it is seen that in order to arrive at a peaceful conclusion, negotiations have been held between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Qatar.

Little progress could be witnessed as the talks resumed after a month's break.

NEW DEHLI, 1 February, 2021 (TON): Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on his latest address on radio, criticized the protestors that broke into the historic Red Fort in Delhi on Republic’s Day and clashed with the police.

Several thousands of farmers have camped on the outskirts of the capital for more than two months, demanding the repeal of the agricultural laws that they say benefit private corporations.

"The country was saddened by the insult to the Tricolor (Indian flag) on the 26th of January in Delhi," Modi said in his first public comments on a months-long farmers' agitation.

"The government is committed to modernizing agriculture and is also taking many steps in that direction," he added.

The violence erupted on Tuesday, 26 January, 2021 that came along with the country’s Republic Day.  Thousands paraded on the streets and stormed the Red Fort and engaged with the police which left one dead and hundreds injured.

Since then there have been sporadic skirmishes between protesters, police, and anti-farmer groups.

The Farmer’s Union voices that they were not responsible for the demonstrations as the protestors were in minority.

In September, India's parliament passed three agriculture bills aimed at liberalizing the country's farm sector. They were subsequently signed into law, sparking farmer's protests across the country.

Earlier this month, India's top court put the farm laws on hold and formed a committee to resolve a standoff between the government and farmers over three farm laws.

On Saturday, the PM told the opposition party leaders that an offer to freeze the laws for 18 months still stands.

On Friday, an anti-farmer group of around 200 people hurled stones at protesters and damaged their tents.

The group demanded that farmers vacate the area and said they had "insulted" the national flag during their tractor parade on Republic Day.

On Saturday, authorities blocked mobile internet services at three protest sites to "maintain public safety."

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said that the government was in delusion if it feels our movement will be weakened by suspending the internet.

"The more they try to crush the voice of the farmers, the greater this movement will become," Tikait added.

Indian farmers held a daylong hunger strike on Saturday to protest against the agriculture reforms.

This is not the first time the farmers are on the roads protesting against the governments, they have held huge rallies in the past years across the country, considering it "neglect" of the agriculture sector amid increasing privatization.

It is reported that more than half of the Indian farmers are in debt, about 20638 committed suicides in 2018 and 2019 according to the official records.  

DHAKA, 1 February, 2021 (TON): 27 March, 2021 is the expected for the Bangladesh Prime Miniter Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi in Dhaka to join the celebrations of 50 years of independence.

The Foreign Secretary, Masud Bin Momen, said on Sunday that the Indian PM may arrive In Dhaka on 26 March, 2021.

However, the itinerary of his visit is still being worked out.

As per the plan, an official banquet will be held in his honor after the event of the celebrations, told the foreign Secretary, Masud on returning from India following a four-day tour.

“In that case, a bilateral meeting can be held the next day. Or he (Modi) can travel outside Dhaka,” the secretary said.

Modi may visit Gopalganj’s Tungipara to pay respects to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at his grave.

The Indian premier was scheduled to join the celebrations of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary but the programs were finally held mostly online.

Besides his Indian counterpart Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Masud said he met Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who may visit Dhaka by the end of February.

The visit will not only focus on the celebrations but the projects as well.

The ‘Independence Road’ from Mujibnagar to West Bengal and Feni Bridge is likely to be launched along with the inauguration of a digital exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi and Bangabandhu.

Officials are also discussing five to six Memorandums of Understanding, including one on disaster management.

Bangladesh has challenges like balancing trade deficit and resolving water-sharing discords of Farakka and Teesta Barrages while India has challenges like transit to North Eastern Region (NER) through Bangladesh from the Indian mainland, establishing security at those regions.

The ties between the two countries are of utmost importance for both, for to maintain pleasant and friendly relations in future, both the countries have also certain challenges and opportunities to resolve the other major issues.

NIGERIA, 1 February, 2021 (TON): On Sunday, in a ruling pronounced, Nigeria’s Constitutional Court confirmed the second round of the presidential election to be held on 21 February, 2021.

The court observed that in the first round, none of the candidates got an absolute majority of votes, and whose annulment, partial or total cancellation claimed by opposition candidates was rejected by the Court.

"The Court receives the request of the President of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) in the form, validates and proclaims the final results of the first round of the presidential elections of 27 December, 2020. The court, therefore, declares Mohamed Bazoum and Mahamane Ousmane candidates in the second round of the presidential elections."

Mohamed Bazoum leads with 39.3% of the total 5.1 million votes followed by ex-president Mahamane Ousmane at 16.98%.

For the second round, Bazoum and Ousmane must engage in the negotiations with the 28 remaining candidates who did not place.

Eighteen opposition parties including that of Ousmane, gathered in the coalition Cap 20-21, called the failed candidates in the first round to join the candidacy of the former president.

Hama Amadou, the opponent rejected from the ballot because of conviction in the case of trafficking babies, Cap 20-21 already threatened not to recognize the results of the second round if it not honest and transparent without ballot box suffering.

The former President Salou Djibo has formed a second alliance, the Alliance of Candidates for Change (ACC), offering their support in the second round "to any interested candidate", in return for power-sharing afterwards, and also ten other unsuccessful candidates in the first round formed the alliance.

However, the score altogether of the ACC candidates does not exceed 10%.

Myanmar, 1 February, 2021 (TON): Democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Prize winner, and others detained of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the early morning raids.  

Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday in a coup against the leader.  

The army said it had carried out the detentions in reaction to the election fraud, imposing a state of emergency for one year and handing power military chief Mn Aung Hlaing.

The phone lines to the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main commercial center of Yangon were unreachable.

In Yangon, the soldiers took up positions at city hall and mobile internet data and phone services in the NLD stronghold were disrupted, the residents said.

Suu Kyi, Myanmar President Win Myint, and other NLD leaders were taken in the early hours of the morning.

“I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law,” he said, adding he expected to be arrested himself.

After the tensions between the civilian government and the military peaked, it stirred fears of a coup in the aftermath of the election.

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the arrest of Suu Kyi.

“The United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede Myanmar’s democratic transition and will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

The Australian government said it was “deeply concerned at reports the Myanmar military is once again seeking to seize control of Myanmar” and called for the immediate release of the unlawfully detained leaders.

Japan said it was watching the situation and currently had no plans to repatriate Japanese nationals from Myanmar.

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said Myanmar’s military had never submitted to civilian rule and called on the United States and other countries to impose “strict and directed economic sanctions” on the military leadership and its economic interests.

In the elections on 8 November, 2020, NLD won 83% of the available seats however, many saw it as a referendum on the civilian government.

It can be seen that the military raised disputes over the results of the elections and filed complaints at the Supreme Court against the President and the chair of the electoral commission. It is noteworthy, that it is just the second elections since the end of military rule in 2011.

NEW DELHI, 31 January 2021, (TON): Indian Police registered a case at the Alipur police station under section 186, 332, and 353 of the Indian Penal Code against 44 protesters including two journalists while they were covering farmers’ protest. All three sections correspond to obstructing any public servant in the discharge of his public function and are bailable offences. Police also levelled charges that he misbehaved with the police.

Meanwhile, Alipur Police authorities confirmed arrest of two journalists including Mandeep Punia, a freelance journalist and Dharmender Singh, while they were covering the ongoing farmers’ agitation at Delhi’s Singhu border. It was revealed that journalists; Mandeep Punia worked for Caravan magazine and Dharmender Singh worked for Online News India.

A group of around 150 men claiming to be “local residents” had managed to get past three layers of security barricades on 29 January and reach the protest site at the Singhu border. Leaders of farmers’ union have claimed that the mob was sponsored by the BJP and RSS. However, same could not be confirmed. One of the journalist was conditionally released.

As the news broke about Mandeep Punia’s detention and a video of him being dragged across the barricade went viral, Hartosh Bal, the political editor of Caravan magazine posted on Twitter that Mandeep Punia had spent the entire day trying to verify the truth behind the protest. “We’ve learnt Mandeep had spent the morning trying to track down those from BJP claiming to be ‘locals’ at Singhu,” Bal tweeted. He also wrote that the magazine was informed by Additional DCP J. Meena that an FIR (no: 52/21) was registered at the Alipur police station.

Those arrested including Mandeep Punia and Dharmender Singh complaint against ill treatment and torture by the Indian Police. Court proceeding will be held tomorrow on 1 February 2021. 

CAIRO, 31 January 2021, (TON): Egypt has re-nominated Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, 78-year-old, as Secretary General of the Arab League (AL) for a second term. It was confirmed by Egyptian Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said on Saturday.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi sent messages to Arab leaders to express Egypt’s intention to re-nominate Aboul-Gheit as the Arab League chief for another five years. 

Ahmed Aboul-Gheit also served as Egypt’s foreign minister from July 2004 to March 2011.

DHAKA, 31 January 2021, (TON):   The third phase election to 62 municipalities ended across the country Saturday amid reports of violence and election boycott by BNP candidates. Candidates of the ruling Awami League have been unofficially elected from majority of the municipalities that went to polls in the third phase. There were reports of clashes, allegations of vote rigging, polling centre capture, and boycotts. In the earlier phase in Sirajganj municipality, Tarikul Islam, 45, was killed  by his rivals when he was celebrating his victory on the basis of unofficial results.   

The Election Commission (EC) is conducting the polls in five phases and till now third phase of it has been completed. The main contest of ballots is between two arch-rival political parties -- the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Other parties include Jatiya Party and Islami Andolan Bangladesh. A total of 229 people ran for mayoral posts at the 62 municipalities in 36 districts. There were 2,360 councillor candidates and 755 women's reserve seat candidates. Fifty-six municipalities will go for election on February 14 in the fourth phase. Of them, EVM will be used in 31 municipalities. Elections to 31 municipalities will be held in the fifth phase on February 28, using EVM.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid ensured proper probe regarding complaints through Election Commission and has asked all the candidates and their supporters to remain calm and peaceful and work with more zeal and enthusiasm in their respective municipalities once they are elected.

TRIPOLI, 31 January 2021, (TON): During a virtual meeting of the Security Council on Libya, the United Arab Emirates that followed a policy, accusing the United States of harbouring civil war in Libya by military intervention in Libya, issued a statement Friday through a letter to United Nations expressing its readiness to work closely with the new US administration for a peaceful solution to the conflict including to preserve and reinforce the ceasefire agreement agreed to in October 2020.

Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE ambassador to the UN said in a letter,  “The UAE stands ready to work closely with all Security Council members, including the new US administration, to achieve a peaceful settlement for the Libyan people.” Welcoming Security Council’s call for all foreign forces to withdraw from Libya and end to foreign intervention in the conflict, she said, “The UAE firmly believes that diplomatic and political solutions are the sole path to end the Libyan conflict.” She added, “This will enable and encourage a political process and a Libyan-led transition that fulfils the aspirations of the Libyan people for stability, peace, and prosperity.”

The UAE, Egypt and Russia are supporting US national General Khalifa Haftar, who is also underhand assisted by the US since April 2019 to seek to seize control of the Libyan capital Tripoli from the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).  GNA, on the other hand is supported by Turkey, which has been condemned by all nations including the US, Russia, Egypt and UAE to compel Turkey to withdraw its forces. However, Libyans fear that once Turkey withdraws, way will be paved for General Khalifa Haftar to take control over oil reserves and all other affairs. Now it seems US, Israel, UAE and others are in principle again in communication.  

KABUL, 31 January 2021, (TON): A suicide bomber on Saturday drove a Humvee loaded with explosives material into a Afghan defence forces protected camp in Sherzad district of Nangarhar, killing at least eight security personnel and wounding three others. The killing of the soldiers would not be confirmed by independent sources. There are claims that it was a symbolic attack in which an Afghan soldier drove his Humvee and collided accidently that caused blast.

Meanwhile, media reports claimed that Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said his group carried out the attack but Taliban officials in Nangarhar province admitted engagement with Afghan troops but declined to have carried out any suicide attack.

The symbolic attack came two days after the Pentagon said the Taliban was not living up to promises made in a deal signed with Washington last year, including reducing violence and cutting ties with Al-Qaeda.

Washington claims that the agreement required the Taliban halt attacks on US forces, sharply decrease violence, and advance peace talks with the government in Kabul while the US would steadily reduce its troops and completely withdraw all forces by May 2021.