DHAKA: Bangladesh’s ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia left the nation’s capital for London on Tuesday for medical treatment, said one of her advisers.
Zahiruddin Swapan, an adviser to Zia, told The Associated Press by phone that the three-time former premier and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport late Tuesday on an air ambulance.
“Our senior leaders left the airport seeing her off,” Swapan said.
Her ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems, according to her physician.
Zia left behind a South Asian nation grappling with uncertainty over its political future after her archrival, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August. Zia and Hasina are the most influential political leaders in Bangladesh.
An interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is running the country and plans to hold elections in December this year or in the first half of 2026.
Zia was sentenced to 17 years in jail under Hasina’s rule following two corruption cases stemming from 2001-2006 when she was prime minister. Her supporters say the charges against her were politically motivated, an allegation Hasina’s administration denied. Under Yunus, Zia was acquitted in one of the cases in November and an appeal in the second case was being heard on Tuesday.
Zia, 79, was freed from prison on bail under Hasina through a government order and had been undergoing medical treatment in Bangladesh. But Hasina’s administration did not allow her to travel abroad for treatment despite requests seeking approval.
The special air ambulance was sent by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Hundreds of her supporters gathered outside her residence in the city’s upscale Gulshan area to see her off.
Zia’s motorcade took nearly three hours to cross about a 10-kilometer (6-mile) stretch of road to get to the airport from her residence in Dhaka’s Gulshan area as thousands of her desperate supporters greeted her on the way, creating traffic chaos. Her hours-long journey to the airport was broadcast live by television stations.
Enamul Haque Chowdhury, a close aide of Zia, told reporters that the air ambulance had arrived from Doha to take her to London, where her eldest son and heir apparent Tarique Rahman has been in exile since 2007. Rahman is the acting chairman of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and is expected to lead the party toward the election. The country’s dynastic politics have long focused on the families of Hasina and Zia.
Zia is the wife of late President Ziaur Rahman, a former military chief who rose to prominence during years of tumultuous politics after Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s independence leader, was assassinated along with most of his family members in a military coup in 1975. Zia’s husband was also killed in 1981 in another military coup after he formed his political party and ruled the country as president for three years. Hasina’s father led Bangladesh’s independence war against Pakistan, aided by India, in 1971.
Zia’s personal physician, A.Z.M. Zahid Hossain, said Qatar’s emir arranged the special aircraft with medical facilities for the former prime minister, whose ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems.
Her departure follows dramatic political developments since last August, when Hasina’s 15-year rule ended. Hasina fled into exile in India as she and her close aides faced charges of killing hundreds of protesters during a mass protest movement that began in July.
Zia’s departure could create a symbolic vacuum in the country’s politics amid efforts by a student group that led the anti-Hasina protest to form a new political party. In the absence of Hasina and her secular Bangladesh Awami League party, the rise of Islamist political parties and other Islamist groups has been visible in the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people.
Zia’s party has been bargaining with the Yunus-led government for an election sometime this year. Yunus said his government wants to make some major reforms before the election.
Bangladesh’s ailing former premier Khaleda Zia leaves country for treatment in London
https://arab.news/8y2fy
Bangladesh’s ailing former premier Khaleda Zia leaves country for treatment in London
- Her ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems, her physician says
- Khaleda Zia was sentenced to 17 years in jail under Hasina’s rule following two corruption cases
Surging violence in Sahel rings alarm bells
- “Extremist leaders declared in March their intent to intensify attacks against national armies to prevent a genocide against the Fulani community”
ABIDJAN: Terrorists have intensified their offensives in the Sahel region in recent weeks, carrying out bloody raids in Mali, incursions into major cities in Burkina Faso and inflicting heavy army losses in Niger.
The three Sahel states’ military juntas, who had pledged during the coups that brought them to power to make security a priority, are struggling to contain the advance of extremists, who are threatening more than ever neighboring countries on the west African coast.
The last few weeks have been particularly deadly in the Sahel.
Several hundred soldiers have been killed in various attacks.
“The global vision of regional terrorism is changing. There is an ideological aspect, but also an ethnic one,” said Lassina Diarra of the International Counter-Terrorism Academy in Jacqueville, Ivory Coast.
“Extremist leaders declared in March their intent to intensify attacks against national armies to prevent a genocide against the Fulani community.”
Military violence targeting civilians — particularly the Fulani, often singled out in the Sahel region and accused of feeding the extremists’ ranks — “has exacerbated grievances and played into extremists’ narratives,” said the Soufan Center think tank in a brief.
It also highlighted “a broader strategy to degrade public confidence in state forces, boost recruitment.”
“There is also a question of competition for territory,” Diarra added.
The capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso “are surrounded,” said Diarra.
For Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi, it is important to remain cautious of “catastrophic” predictions.
The extremists’ “main advantage is their mobility and ability to move and blend with populations,” he said.
“In Burkina Faso, we cannot rule out a Somalia-like scenario, with a capital that resists while the rest of the country is out of control,” said a Western military source.
The juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger came to power through coups between 2020 and 2023 and are now united in a confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States.
Nepal ex-PM faces graft charge over land deal with Indian yoga guru’s firm
- A spokesperson for Patanjali in India denied any wrongdoing, saying it bought the land privately through due legal process
KATMANDU: Authorities in Nepal have charged former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal with corruption and demanded a million-dollar fine over the purchase of land by a firm owned by Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, a court official said on Friday.
Nepal, prime minister between 2009 and 2011, faces charges of allowing Patanjali Yogpeeth Nepal’s company to purchase more land than it was legally allowed to own for herb production, processing and a hospital in the Himalayan nation 15 years ago.
Both Nepal and Patanjali Yogpeeth deny any wrongdoing.
The 72-year-old Nepal heads a small opposition group in parliament and his United Socialist Party says the prosecution is an act of “political vendetta” against him.
FASTFACT
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a corruption watchdog, alleged that some of the land, in Kavre district, was later allowed to be swapped with other land, or sold at a higher price, causing a loss to the state.
“I have not done anything illegal nor indulged in any corruption concerning Patanjali land deal causing any loss to the state,” Nepal told the Kantipur daily newspaper.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority a corruption watchdog, alleged that some of the land, in Kavre district, was later allowed to be swapped with other land, or sold at a higher price, causing a loss to the state.
The allegations were set out in a charge sheet filed by the commission on Thursday at the Special Court in Katmandu.
The commission demanded Nepal be ordered to pay a fine of 185.85 million Nepali rupees ($1.35 million). If found guilty he could also be sentenced to up to 17 years in jail.
A spokesperson for Patanjali in India denied any wrongdoing, saying it bought the land privately through due legal process.
“Patanjali has not acquired any government land. It is unfair to drag our name in local political vendetta actions and proceedings,” S K Tijarawala, Patanjali’s spokesperson, told Reuters in a text message.
The commission also charged 92 others, including some former ministers and officials, some of whom are already dead.
Yaga Raj Regmi, information officer of the court, said Nepal would receive a formal court notice giving him 15 days in which to present himself at court and the hearing would start after that.
70-year-old Irish woman detained in Israel as son urges authorities to ‘send her home’
- Deirdre Murphy, an Irish activist originally from Cork and now based in Swansea, was arrested last week in the West Bank village of Khalet Al-Daba’a
LONDON: The son of a 70-year-old Irish woman detained by Israeli authorities has issued a plea for her release, citing urgent concerns over her health and wellbeing, The Independent newspaper reported on Friday.
Deirdre Murphy, an Irish activist originally from Cork and now based in Swansea, was arrested last week in the West Bank village of Khalet Al-Daba’a, which was recently demolished by Israeli bulldozers.
She remains in custody at the Givon Prison in Ramla after choosing to challenge a deportation order issued against her, The Independent added.
Her son, Dale Ryan, called on Israeli authorities to ensure that she is treated “with dignity and respect” and urged them to “send her home quickly,” adding that he is “really proud” of his mother.
“Israel is meant to be a civilized country, so you think (the detainees’) basic rights would have been met. But maybe that trust is a little bit misguided,” Ryan told The Independent.
Ryan said that Murphy suffers from bronchiectasis, a long-term condition that causes inflammation of the airways in the lungs.
“Stress can make symptoms worse as well,” he said. “So I am a little bit concerned. I just hope my mother’s in good health, but also my mother is quite a resilient person. I know she will gain strength from this.”
Murphy was detained alongside Swedish national Susanne Bjork, 48, who told the newspaper that the pair were denied access to a toilet during their initial detention.
“Who doesn’t allow a 70-year-old woman to go to the toilet? It’s certainly not something a democratic country would be doing,” Bjork said.
She has since been deported from Israel.
Israeli police did not respond to the allegation when approached by The Independent.
According to the International Solidarity Movement, Murphy has not had legal counsel since Monday. The group also alleges that she was brought to a deportation hearing on Wednesday without legal representation and without her lawyer being notified, despite her request.
The two women had been in Khalet Al-Daba’a filming and monitoring settler activity when they were approached by a settler in military uniform, who demanded to see their passports. Bjork said that they were complying with orders to leave the area when they were apprehended.
Authorities later accused the women of being in a restricted area and of failing to show ID, allegations the Swedish woman rejects.
“These are completely false accusations,” she said. “As soon as they told us we were not allowed in the area, we tried to leave. The soldiers had at first our passports, and then the police took our passports. We complied with all instructions.”
Video footage obtained by The Independent shows armed Israeli personnel holding the women’s passports. The video ends before they were detained by the settler.
The women were released briefly on Saturday evening and then detained again after refusing to leave the country voluntarily. Murphy opted to fight her deportation, while Bjork agreed to depart.
Bjork added that their treatment in custody stood in stark contrast to the treatment of Palestinians, describing seeing “two small boys who were blindfolded and zip-tied” brought into the police station.
“They looked about 13 or 14, these boys were obviously terrified. I mean, we were getting water and being fed and everything, so we’re very privileged in one way, because the way we were treated and the way Palestinians are treated is wildly different,” she said.
A spokesperson for Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed to The Independent that consular assistance is being provided in Murphy’s case.
Israeli police told the newspaper that the women had been detained on “suspicion of violating a military order” and were barred from the West Bank for 15 days.
“Over the weekend, police received a report from the security coordinator of the community of Ma’on regarding the presence of several suspicious individuals near a structure in the area of Khirbet Al-Dab’a, located within an active military firing zone near the community of Avigayil in the South Hebron Hills,” they said.
“Officers from the Hebron station, along with IDF forces from the subdistrict, arrived at the scene and identified the individuals as two foreign nationals, who were present within the closed military zone in violation of a standing military order. Information provided by the Judea and Samaria Central Investigations Unit (YAMAR) indicated that one of the suspects are known abroad for involvement in anti-Israel activity.
“Following the hearing on Sunday, it was determined that both individuals would be removed from the country,” the statement continued.
“One of the suspects agreed to the removal order and signed a declaration stating that she would not appeal the decision. The second notified authorities of her intent to file a petition against the decision.”
They confirmed Murphy will remain in custody until “her departure or the legal resolution of her appeal.”
Russia downed three drones targeting Moscow, mayor says
- Emergency services were working at the sites
MOSCOW: Russian air defense forces shot down three drones attempting to attack Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, the Russian capital’s mayor, said on Friday.
He did not provide further details about the incident but said emergency services were working at the sites where debris from the downed drones had fallen.
Separately, Russia’s aviation watchdog said that the Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports in the Moscow region had temporarily suspended operations to ensure flight safety.
On Java, Indonesian Muslims celebrate Eid with time-honored royal tradition
- Procession involving local harvest is at least 400 years old, historian says
- Tradition can be traced back to Demak Sultanate, first Islamic kingdom in Java
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s historic royal capital of Solo will celebrate Eid Al-Adha with a royal procession on Saturday, in which “mountains” of local harvest are paraded and distributed as a symbol of gratitude and a reminder of the role of leaders in looking after the people’s welfare.
Grebeg, which roughly translates to ‘mass celebration,’ is a public ceremony held three times a year on the island of Java to mark Islamic holidays, including Eid Al-Fitr and the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
Though Indonesians joined Muslims in other parts of the globe in starting Eid celebrations on Friday, the centuries-old Javanese tradition will take place on the second day of Eid.
“Grebeg tradition started about 200 years ago at the Surakarta Royal Palace, this is a continuation from the same tradition that began in the Demak Sultanate,” Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Haryo Adipati Dipokusumo, chief administrator of the Surakarta Royal Palace, told Arab News.
Demak Sultanate, which was located in the present-day city of Demak, was the first Islamic state in Java, while Surakarta is another name for Solo, once the capital of the Mataram Sultanate — the last major independent Islamic state in Java before it was colonized by the Dutch.
Grebeg involves an elaborate arrangement of local produce — including long beans, chili, and cassava — assembled in a decorated, mountain-like form and paraded from the palace to the nearby Great Mosque for a blessing, before it is brought to the public square for distribution.
“First and foremost, the palace began this tradition as a way to spread Islamic teachings,” Dipokusumo said. “It is symbolic of values taught by Islamic prophets. The values of sincerity, patience, belief and trust, which also cover the importance of faith, intention, and gratitude.”
Eid Al-Adha, the second of the two main holidays observed in Islam, commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith when he was commanded by God to sacrifice his son. To reflect his readiness to do so, Muslims around the world slaughter an animal, usually a goat, sheep or cow, and distribute the meat among relatives and the poor.
The grebeg staged at Eid Al-Adha is known as Great Grebeg and incorporates the animal sacrifice aspect of the holiday. On Saturday, more than 500 people are expected to participate.
Historically, the tradition also functions as a barometer of the local economy and welfare, he added, as the quality of the local harvest will be on display for the ceremony.
“If there is some kind of issue with the production or distribution, it will be visible, prompting questions as to why it is happening. Let’s say maybe there is some kind of pest going around,” he said. “It will then prompt the palace to send an officer to investigate.”
According to Ody Dwicahyo, an historian at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, the tradition is between 400 and 500 years old.
Today, it is observed not only in Solo but also at the royal palace in Yogyakarta, another Javanese city.
People will usually try to get an item from the mountain of produce to take home, Dwicahyo told Arab News.
“Javanese people believe that produce from the king is symbolic, that it is blessed and far more special than food items they buy in the markets or harvest from their own farms,” he said.
“Grebeg is mainly about Earth’s harvest, but when it is conducted during Eid Al-Adha, there’s the additional aspect of meat distribution from the ritual sacrifice presented by the king.”
As Javanese people are “big believers in symbolic gestures,” grebeg served as an important occasion where the king gives something back to the people in return for their loyalty, and also a symbol of “how leaders must ensure the people’s welfare,” Dwicahyo said.
Today, the palaces in Solo and Yogyakarta function as “cultural keepers” for this time-honored tradition.
“Though times and people become more modern, this annual event is still routinely organized so people will still be aware of its function,” he said.
“Maybe people won’t participate directly, but it’s actually a symbol that is applicable for leaders anywhere in the world: that a leader must ensure the welfare of his people.”
