SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
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Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia January 27-February 2, 2014
BANGLADESH Chittagong District Court awards death penalty to 14 people for smuggling 10 truckloads of arms in 2004: Chittagong District Court on January 30 awarded death penalty to 14 people, including Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ameer (chief) of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), and United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) 'vice-president' and 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Baruah for smuggling 10 truckloads of arms into Chittagong District in 2004 during the last tenure of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led Government. The cases were lodged with Karnaphuli Police Station a day after the arms haul at Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) jetty in the early hours of April 2, 2004. Daily Star, January 31, 2014. INDIA NIA special court in Mumbai sentences to life imprisonment all six accused held in a fake currency racket: In the first case where Pakistan Government's involvement in printing of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) has been nailed by forensic evidence, an National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Mumbai sentenced to life imprisonment all six accused held in a fake currency racket in Maharashtra in 2009. It was the first FICN case to be registered under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) making such printing and distribution a terror activity. Times of India, February 3, 2014. LeT operative connected to 26/11 attacks accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Muzammil convicted by an NIA special court: Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative, Zia ul Haq, connected to 26/11 accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Muzammil was on January 29 convicted by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) NIA special court in connection with possession of arms and explosives and plotting to execute terror attacks in Hyderabad on May 7, 2006, in which two persons were injured. The court sentenced the accused to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. Times of India, January 30, 2014. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Khalistani terrorists' hit list, says Intelligence Bureau: Several pro-Khalistan terror outfits are plotting to attack Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Parkash Singh Badal, deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and state Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini, according to eight terror alerts that were issued by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) last year. The most recent alert, dated December 3, from the office of joint director of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said the terror outfit Khalistan Liberation Force had been assigned the task to eliminate Saini. "The ammunition, including a suicide jacket, has been pushed into the Indian Territory via Rajasthan border and has reached Chandigarh," it said. According to another alert, dated November 28, both Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal "were facing increased threat from Punjab terrorists, including Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), while they were attending public rallies, meetings during assembly polls in Delhi". Times of India, February 3, 2014. Small boats pose coastal security threat, according to Coast Guard Director General Anurag G Thapliyal:Coast Guard Director General Anurag G Thapliyal on January 31 warned that small fishing boats that do not have an automated identification system posed a threat to India's coastal security, despite a 75 per cent increase in surveillance of the 7,500-km coastline. He also noted, "The (coastal security) efforts are ongoing, but one cannot rule out the possibility (of 26/11-type attacks)... There are still some gaps, but we hope to fill them with the Coastal Security Network-II." New Indian Express, February 1, 2014. Funds raised in India through diamond trade for terror activities, according to FATF Report: Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report on money laundering and terrorist financing across the globe has revealed that India is one among five countries where the trade accounts of the diamond business are used to launder illegal funds, amounting to millions of dollars, for terror activities. The other four countries are Israel, Belgium, Canada and US. Economic Times, February 1, 2014. NEPAL Legislature-Parliament legitimizes CJ Khil Raj Regmi-led Government and CA elections: A meeting of the Legislature-Parliament on February 2 legitimized the Chief Justice (CJ) Khil Raj Regmi-led Government and Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. Although all CA members were elected on the basis of the same order, 14 CA members from Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal (MJF-N) and Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party (NWPP) voted against it. Out of 571 CA members, only 511 were present and three did not vote. Meanwhile, as the deadline given earlier by President Ram Baran Yadav to form a national consensus Government expired on February 2, Nepali Congress (NC) urged the President to invite political parties to form majority-based Government. Himalyan Times; Republica, February 3, 2014. PAKISTAN PM Nawaz Sharif announces four-member new team to help Government in peace talks with TTP: Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif on January 29 announced a new four-member non-political team to help Government in its efforts for peace with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The committee announced by the PM comprises his Adviser on National Affairs Irfan Siddiqui, Major (retired) Aamir, senior journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai and former ambassador to Afghanistan Rustam Shah Mohmand - two journalists, one former intelligence man and a former diplomat. Meanwhile, the TTP on February 1 formed a committee, which includes Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson Imran Khan for peace talks. Apart from Khan, the five members named by TTP includes Jamiat Ulema Islam-Samiul Haq group (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq, Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Mufti Kifayatullah, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) provincial chief Professor Mohammad Ibrahim and the former cleric of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz. Khan, however, played it down by saying that the TTP should select their own Taliban representatives for the peace talks. Daily Times; Hindu, February 2, 2014. TTP's main objective is enforcement of Sharia'h in the country, says TTP 'spokesman' Shahidullah Shahid: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 'spokesman' Shahidullah Shahid on January 30 said that their main objective is enforcement of Shari'ah (Islamic Law) in the country. He said what mattered was enforcement of Shari'ah, "whether through peace or war". Dawn, January 31, 2014. 'Prudent limits' imposed on use of drones, says US President Barack Obama: US President Barack Obama has declared that he has imposed "prudent limits" on the use of drones that target militants in Pakistan's tribal areas. Obama linked the use of drones to America's efforts to "actively and aggressively pursue terrorist networks" but said that the time had come for reviewing the policies that began after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US soil. Dawn, January 30, 2014. SRI LANKA NPC passes resolution calling for an international probe into the war crimes during the ethnic conflict:Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution on January 27 calling for an international probe into the war crimes allegedly committed during the country's ethnic conflict. The resolution was proposed by NPC member M. K. Shivajilingam of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which formed the NPC administration after winning the 2013 provincial elections. The NPC has sought an international inquiry into the Government's acts of "ethnic cleansing," Mr. Shivajilingam told. He proposed a second resolution calling for rejecting Government's own inquiry mechanisms. Hindu, January 28, 2014.
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