DHAKA: Bangladesh has recalled five envoys, including the ambassador to neighboring India, foreign ministry officials said on Thursday, in a major diplomatic reshuffle as the interim government clears out holdovers from the previous administration.
Political upheaval in the South Asian nation ushered in the interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus after weeks of violent protests forced the Aug. 5 resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who then fled to India.
The foreign ministry ordered envoys in Brussels, Canberra, Lisbon, New Delhi and the permanent mission to the United Nations in New York to immediately return to the capital, Dhaka, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It’s possible the government doesn’t want them to continue, as they were appointed by Hasina’s administration,” said one government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
“It wouldn’t be surprising if more changes in the diplomatic corps follow.”
The departure of Hasina’s government has triggered a broad administrative overhaul, with hundreds of senior officials being re-assigned or transferred, and the contracts of some key ones terminated, forcing many of them to resign or retire early.
All the recalled diplomats are set to go on post-retirement leave in December, another foreign ministry official said.
“You are requested to leave your current posts and return to Dhaka without delay,” the ministry told the diplomats in its notice, seen by Reuters.
The step follows the recall from Britain of Saida Muna Tasneem, the high commissioner, or ambassador, who was similarly told to return.
A foreign ministry spokesperson made no comment on when the replacements might be announced.
More than 700 people died as a result of the student-led movement that ousted Hasina, straining ties with India. The neighbors have a 4,000-km (2500-mile) border and maritime boundaries in the Bay of Bengal.
Minority groups in Bangladesh have made accusations of attacks on Hindus after the political changes, though the government says the violence was motivated by politics, not religion.
Bangladesh recalls five envoys in major diplomatic reshuffle
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Bangladesh recalls five envoys in major diplomatic reshuffle
- Political upheaval in the South Asian nation ushered in the interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus
- The departure of Sheikh Hasina’s government has triggered a broad administrative overhaul
France says Israel’s ‘persona non grata’ designation of UN chief ‘unjustified’
The United Nations played “a fundamental role in the stability of the region“
PARIS: France on Thursday condemned Israel’s move to declare UN chief Antonio Guterres “persona non grata,” saying the decision was “unjustified.”
“France regrets the unjustified, serious and counter-productive decision taken by Israel to declare the secretary general of the United Nations, Mr.Antonio Guterres, persona non grata,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
Paris said it had “full support for and confidence” in Guterres, adding that the United Nations played “a fundamental role in the stability of the region.”
“France reiterates its commitment to the United Nations Charter, to international law and to the importance of respecting Security Council decisions in maintaining international peace and security,” the statement added.
On Wednesday, Israel declared Guterres “persona non grata,” accusing him of failing to specifically condemn Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
Israel has been a harsh critic of the UN, with ties between the state and the international body souring even more after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Indian poet rejects US-backed award in solidarity with Palestinian children
- Jacinta Kerketta comes from the Indigenous community in Jharkhand state, eastern India
- She was nominated to receive Room to Read Young Author Award for her children’s poetry
NEW DELHI: Indian poet Jacinta Kerketta has turned down a prestigious US-backed literary award, citing her solidarity with the Palestinian children and women in Gaza killed by Israel with American military support.
The Room to Read Young Author Award, co-sponsored by the US Agency for International Development and Room to Read India Trust, aims to promote children’s literacy.
Kerketta was selected to receive it next week for “Jirhul,” her latest children’s poetry collection.
“I declined this award because USAID (U.S. Aid for International Development) is associated with Room to Read India Trust,” she told Arab News on Wednesday.
“When I got information about the award for children’s literature, I felt that it was more important to speak for the children of Palestine than to receive an award.”
She also raised concerns over the links of the international nonprofit itself, as it has been collaborating with Boeing, which is a sponsor of some of its literacy programs in India.
“At the same time when children were being killed in Palestine, Room to Read India Trust was collaborating with Boeing Company ... a company that has had arms business with Israel for a long time,” Kerketta said.
“I rejected this award to show my solidarity with the children, women.”
Originally from Jharkhand state in eastern India, the poet is a member of the minority Adivasi community — India’s marginalized indigenous people who traditionally live in and around forest areas.
“Adivasi people are struggling for their survival along with saving nature. They’re always an advocate of human freedom,” she said.
“My community gives me the courage to show solidarity with those fighting for their freedom.”
More women and children have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades, according to new analysis by Oxfam.
Oxfam’s “conservative figures” earlier this week indicate that more than 6,000 Palestinian women and 11,000 children in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023. The numbers do not include at least 20,000 of those who are either unidentified or missing.
Earlier this year, a study published by the medical journal The Lancet estimated the true number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza could be more than 186,000, taking into consideration also indirect deaths as a result of starvation, injury and lack of access to medical aid.
UK Armed Forces ill-equipped to back Israel as Middle East conflict escalates: Experts
- RAF Typhoons played no part in intercepting Iranian ballistic missiles launched on Tuesday
- Ex-defense secretary: Royal Navy destroyers, carrier groups, F-35 jets not at optimal capacity for deployment to warzone
LONDON:The UK lacks the military means to help Israel defend itself from Iranian ballistic missile attacks, defense experts have told the Daily Telegraph.
Iran struck Israel with nearly 200 long-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday, but RAF Typhoon aircraft based in Cyprus lacked the weapons needed to intercept them.
They were instead relegated to a monitoring role, with the Ministry of Defense saying they “did not engage any targets.”
The Royal Navy’s fleet of Type-45 destroyers is also ill-equipped to respond to such attacks, according to former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
Its two carrier groups, meanwhile, are reportedly understaffed to the point where they would struggle if deployed to an active war zone.
Tom Sharpe, former navy commander, told the Telegraph: “Our involvement (in the response to Iran) was underwhelming and it’s a reflection of 40 years of underfunding. Given what is going on in the Middle East and Russia, we need to expedite our ability to provide ballistic missile defense from our T-45 destroyers.”
MoD sources told the newspaper that “the Armed Forces remained open to the changing situation in the Middle East,” and were capable of destroying incoming ballistic missiles.
RAF jets took part in defending Israel from an Iranian missile barrage in April following an Israeli attack on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus. However, that Iranian attack involved less sophisticated cruise missiles and drones.
The ballistic missiles used in Tuesday’s attack fly faster and on higher trajectories, making them harder to intercept.
Tehran is believed to have spent large sums on developing its ballistic missile program in recent years, and US intelligence believes it to have a stockpile of over 3,000.
The UK plans to equip its Type-45s with next-generation Aster 30 interceptor weapons to intercept ballistic missiles, but the development program, though approved by the MoD, is yet to get underway.
Wallace, who green-lit the program, told the Telegraph: “Britain could have the capability to have a Type-45 permanently guarding our shores equipped with the upgraded Aster 30.
“We should, with immediate effect, seek to accelerate the already planned upgrade of their missile systems in light of what we are seeing in the Middle East.”
The US was able to deploy three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to help defend Israel against the missile salvo.
UK forces, initially deployed to the region to conduct missions against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, have seen their numbers bolstered since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas last year.
However, their combat capabilities have been repeatedly questioned, including after a Telegraph investigation discovered that manpower shortages meant the Royal Navy was not at “optimal readiness” to be deployed to the Red Sea to counter the threat posed by the Houthis in Yemen to global shipping.
A source told the Telegraph: “The Navy has clearly been hiding the fact it has a clear problem with getting sailors to sea. They don’t have enough people to crew the ships they already have, let alone new ships.”
Wallace said the UK’s F-35 aircraft, which fly from its carrier groups, were also poorly equipped to deal with threats in the Middle East.
“Sadly, because of slow walking by the F-35 Joint Programme Office in the US, Britain’s F-35s cannot enjoy the full range of weapons that we would like to put on them.
“This limits its utility and means that a land-based Typhoon still offers the best offensive capability in the Gulf region.”
He added: “If F-35s were properly equipped with the right missiles it probably is worth sending, but at the moment it isn’t. It would go down there and guard American aircraft carriers and not maximize its potential.”
Sharpe said: “We are getting a little fixated by drones and swarm attacks and yet, if you look at the Red Sea, 94 percent of attacks on shipping contained missiles.
“Tuesday was 100 percent missiles. The good old missile is not going away. All of this needs more money.”
Vietnam condemns China for assault on its fishermen in the disputed South China Sea
- The fishermen first reported the assault near the Chinese-controlled islands by radio on Sunday but did not identify the attackers
HANOI: Vietnam condemned China on Thursday while saying that Chinese law enforcement personnel assaulted 10 Vietnamese fishermen, damaged their fishing gear and seized about 4 tons of fish catch near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
The fishermen first reported the assault near the Chinese-controlled islands by radio on Sunday but did not identify the attackers.
Three of the fishermen suffered broken limbs and the rest sustained other injuries, according to Vietnamese state media. Some were taken on stretchers to a hospital after they returned to Quang Ngai province late Monday.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed Chinese law enforcement personnel on Thursday for the high-seas attack, saying it had “seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty in the Paracel Islands,” international law and an agreement by the leaders of the rival claimant countries to better manage their territorial disputes.
Chinese officials did not immediately issue a reaction.
Vietnam conveyed its protest and alarm over the attack to the Chinese ambassador in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
Vietnam demanded that Beijing respect its sovereignty in the Paracel Islands, launch an investigation and provide Hanoi with information about the attack, Vietnamese spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
China has become increasingly aggressive in asserting its claims in virtually the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in global trade transits each year. The busy sea passage is also believed to be sitting atop vast undersea deposits of oil and gas.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the strategic waterway.
The United States has no claims in the disputed waters, but it has deployed Navy ships and Air Force fighter jets to patrol the waterway and promote freedom of navigation and overflight. China has warned the US not to meddle in what it says is a purely Asian dispute.
The Vietnamese newspaper Tien Phong cited one of the fishermen, Tran Tien Cong, as saying that two foreign boats approached them from the rear and that personnel from those vessels boarded their boat and started beating the fishermen with a meter-long (three-foot-long) stick, apparently made of iron.
The Vietnamese fishermen panicked and did not fight back because they were overwhelmed by an estimated 40 attackers. Another fisherman, Nguyen Thuong, was cited as saying that the attackers, who spoke through a translator, ordered them to sail back to Vietnam. The assailants then seized their fishing gear and fish catch.
After being beaten, the Vietnamese fishermen were forced to kneel and were covered with plastic sheets before the attackers left.
The Paracel Islands lie about 400 kilometers off Vietnam’s eastern coast and about the same distance from China’s southernmost province of Hainan. Both countries, along with the self-governing island of Taiwan, claim the islands.
The islands have been under the de facto control of China since 1974, when Beijing seized them from Vietnam in a brief but violent naval conflict.
Last year, satellite photos showed that China appeared to be building an airstrip on Triton Island in the Paracel group. At the time, it appeared the airstrip would be big enough to accommodate turboprop aircraft and drones but not fighter jets or bombers.
China has also had a small harbor and buildings on the island for years, along with a helipad and radar arrays.
China has refused to provide details of its island construction work other than to say it is aimed at promoting global navigation safety.
It has rejected accusations, including by the US, that it is militarizing the sea passage.
Swedish teenagers charged over blasts near Israel’s Copenhagen embassy
- The two teenagers, aged 16 and 19, were detained on Wednesday on a train at Copenhagen’s main railway station
COPENHAGEN: Two Swedish teenagers were charged in a Danish court on Thursday with possessing five hand grenades and detonating two of them on a rooftop near Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen, the prosecutor said in court.
No one was injured in the two explosions early on Wednesday, but the building near the embassy sustained some damage, investigators said.
The two teenagers, aged 16 and 19, were detained on Wednesday on a train at Copenhagen’s main railway station, and were questioned on Thursday in a Copenhagen city court. The court banned publication of their names.
A third man, aged 19, was detained elsewhere in the Danish capital and was released after questioning, Danish police said.
The police said they were investigating whether the embassy was the target of the explosions.
The blasts in the Danish capital followed a surge in tensions in the Middle East.
Israel, which has been fighting the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip for nearly a year, has sent troops into southern Lebanon after months of cross-border exchanges of fire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel on Tuesday.
This year at least 10 Swedes have been charged in Denmark with attempted murder or weapons possession, sparking criticism over the spread of organized crime.
Swedish authorities have previously said security police averted several planned attacks linked to Iranian security services using local criminal networks, a charge that Iran has said is “baseless.”
