Banner Advertiser

Friday, November 27, 2009

[ALOCHONA] FW: Islamic banking financier with links to Hezbollah declares bankruptcy after scamming thousands of Muslim families



       Islami Banking has caused financial ruination to my family and 16 thousand other customers of this particular bank in Dhaka, Bangladeh. The real criminals -- the CEO and other top officials of the bank ---got away with impunity and our money.
 
         BEWARE OF ISLAMI BANKING!
 
           Farida Majid
 


Date: Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:43:42 -0500
Subject: Islamic banking financier with links to Hezbollah declares bankruptcy after scamming thousands of Muslim families



Islamic banking financier with links to Hezbollah declares bankruptcy after scamming thousands of Muslim families


Friends,

In September this year, Robert Fisk in a despatch from Beirut to the London Independent wrote about a billionaire financier in Lebanon who had gone broke:

"Everyone trusted Salah Ezzedine. A billionaire Shia Muslim businessman and financier from southern Lebanon, he organised pilgrimages to Mecca, ran a major Beirut publishing house and a children's television station, held major investments in east European oil and iron conglomerates, and – much more to the point – was a close personal friend of very senior leaders of the Hizbollah. Indeed, many members of the world's most powerful and successful guerrilla movement, along with the families of their "martyrs" in the war against Israel, placed both their faith and their inheritance in Mr Ezzedine's hands. To the deep embarrassment of the Iranian-financed and Iranian-armed militia, however, Mr Ezzedine turns out to be an "Abu Madoff", declaring himself bankrupt, to the tune of $1.195bn (£760m), ... The Hizbollah have remained as silent as the grave – of which there are a lot in Lebanon – as well they might ... It now appears that Mr Ezzedine's financial collapse became inevitable after he wrote a $200,000 cheque to Hussein Haj Hassan, one of Nasrallah's closest political advisers and a Hizbollah member of parliament. The cheque bounced. The response to this within Hizbollah's bunkers can only be imagined.


Wow! Bouncing a $200,000 cheque to a Hezbollah MP tells us a lot about the piety of those black-turbanned gun-runners who owe their allegiance to the murderous ayatollahs of Iran.

Here is more on the Hezbollah money-making machine in today's Washington Post.

Read and reflect.

Tarek
---------
"He [Salah Ezzedine] appealed to his customers' piety by insisting that his investment strategies were compatible with Islamic banking principles, which generally prohibit interest-bearing accounts."

November 26, 2009

Investment scandal damages Hezbollah
Even backers question 'Party of God' over ties to indicted financier

By Alia Ibrahim
Washington Post

YAROUN, LEBANON -- Suleiman's brother was a Hezbollah fighter, killed in the 2006 war with Israel. His house was destroyed by an Israeli shell. And now, his life's fortune is gone, too, lost along with the money of thousands of other Lebanese who put their faith in a billionaire financier with close ties to Hezbollah.

The investment scheme, which is being called the Lebanese version of the Bernie Madoff scandal, threatens to tarnish the Shiite group's carefully cultivated image as a pious defender of the masses that is above the corruption endemic in many of Lebanon's political parties.

As Hezbollah enters the new coalition government and plots its next move in the rough-and-tumble world of Lebanese politics, the "Party of God" is facing unprecedented questions, even among supporters, over its basic integrity.

Suleiman, who would not allow his last name to be published, said he gave $261,000 saved over 22 years of work to Youssef Faour, a partner of financier Salah Ezzedine. Suleiman, 40, said he was "comforted by Ezzedine's ties with Hezbollah," which are well-known, and ignored warning signs that something was wrong.

It is not known yet whether Ezzedine's investments were fraudulent and who, if anyone, profited. Ezzedine and Faour are in custody as their trial slowly progresses.

"These two are just crooks who conned people and stole from them by telling them this was divine money that will bring them 40 percent interest in profit," said Suleiman, a father of five.

Hezbollah has denied any relationship with the financier. During a speech in September, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah said that the group had never encouraged its members to invest with Ezzedine but that it had launched an investigation. He said "a small number" of party officials had invested $4 million with Ezzedine -- a figure the Lebanese media described as significantly understated.

Observers also scoffed at the notion that Hezbollah had nothing to do with Ezzedine, noting a long track record of ties. Either way, the damage to Hezbollah's reputation is real.

The group and its top officials have long had access to large sums of money by virtue of generous support from Shiite businessmen and from Iran. But Hezbollah has gone out of its way to avoid flamboyant displays of wealth, instead projecting itself as an organization ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with residents of the Shiite slums of southern Beirut and the villages of southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah's propaganda advertises its membership as a group of dedicated and selfless "martyrs" who liberated the land and whose only agenda is to protect it from Israel. To make up for a lack of government services, the group has built its own network of schools, hospitals and even financial institutions.

That track record has set Hezbollah apart from other parties in Lebanon and from the Palestinian organization Fatah, whose political corruption is legendary. Nasrallah has signaled that he knows how dangerous corruption scandals could be for his party. At a recent meeting with female Hezbollah members, he reportedly spoke out against "Envoy culture" -- referring to the SUV brand that is popular among party members and that has become a symbol of their affluence.

Allegations of involvement in the drug trade have further damaged Hezbollah's reputation. In a recent speech, Nasrallah raised the issue and spoke of an attempt to "destroy the culture of resistance."

Some wonder whether his statements will be enough.

"Hezbollah is not the first revolutionary movement to be corrupted by money, and it won't be the last," wrote columnist Sateh Noureddine in the pro-Hezbollah newspaper As-Safir.

Much of the change in behavior can be traced to the aftermath of Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, when government compensation money flooded impoverished Shiite neighborhoods devastated by Israeli attacks.

Some of the money went toward reconstruction, but much of what was left ended up with Ezzedine. Some Hezbollah backers sold their land and their homes so they would have extra money to invest with the businessman, who promised eye-popping returns. He even appealed to his customers' piety by insisting that his investment strategies were compatible with Islamic banking principles, which generally prohibit interest-bearing accounts.

Ezzedine's services sparked a boom -- new cars, restaurants, cafes and fashions.

"All logic and reason suddenly disappeared in one day, as well as the simplicity in life and its requirements," wrote Ibrahim al-Amin, editor in chief of Al-Akhbar, a pro-Hezbollah newspaper.

But now, the morality of Hezbollah's cadres is being questioned for the first time by supporters suffering amid the country's rough economic situation, said Mona Fayyad, a sociology professor at the Lebanese University.

"People have started asking questions. Where is the money coming from? Till now, they avoided speaking about this loudly, because they are terrorized," she said.

In the long run, she said, damage to Hezbollah is unavoidable because its success, to a large extent, depends on an image of superiority that its cadres reflected -- and that is now gone.

"Sayyed Nasrallah used to address his supporters by calling them the most honorable people, placing them above all other humans," she said. "What happened showed they are just as corruptible as everybody else."


Bing brings you maps, menus, and reviews organized in one place. Try it now.

__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] An OPen Letter To The Prime Minister Of Bangladesh



An OPen Letter To The Prime Minister Of Bangladesh


By Mohammad Zaman,USA

Dear Ms. Prime Minister,

Please, forgive my ensuing vociferous HO-JO-BO-RO-LO. If reading is no fun to you,please, have it read by some OSD. Or if you wish, let him tear it in billion smithereensfor he really longs for some darn thing to do!

The news reports emanating from Bangladesh, if true, are not flattering to your stewardship as the Prime Minister of my beleaguered country. A right to dissent is the essence of democracy. This essence is being trampled ostensibly under your watchful (?)eyes by your own henchmen. May be, Mr. Jalil is a crooked guy, but you should have known his business for long, for he was your own man! The day he exercised his inalienable democratic right to dissent, he got tangled with myriad troubles. Thugs began to shout at his door. Tax man shows his ugly face in his neighborhood. Being a reasonable person of average intellect, can you advise how should I put these events together?

Your police (in fact, police should not belong to you) interfered with the rights of an honorable citizen (in fact, an eminent professor) to demonstrate and to speak his mind. Your rowdy supporters seem to an inalienable right to steal and/or dismantle the loud speakers of any and every dissent! Do you think that the loud speaker belongs only to the Prime Minister? Or do you believe that loud speakers are the only means of effective communication?

When a citizen's democratic rights are being trampled shamelessly; you show the audacity to pronounce that the health of democracy is sound and well! Being a reasonable person of average intellect, can you advise how should I put these bits of events together? Dear Ms. Prime Minister, Do you remember the days when you were the leader of opposition? Do you remember that you (and your million minions) shouted to your falsetto as to the nasty reign unleashed by the other minions (I mean, the minions of the other PM)? Now, if someone compiles a DIGITAL kaleidoscope of newspaper headlines, depicting the violence and the misrule under your watchful eyes, given the matter of fact, would you advise me, how should I rate your reign?

It is reported that your ministers and even your high advisers are not privy of the exact governmental role of your expatriate computer expert cum Bostonian son. Well, if a citizen like me smells a little déjà vu vis-à-vis the now infamous Hawa Bhabon, whom will you blame?

Dear Ms. Prime Minister,

Something seems to be terribly rotten in the sate of Denmark! Do you know that an aspiring Bappi was killed just for the joy of killing? Masum, a straight shooter reporter of an out spoken NewAge suffered an attempted straitening by a bunch of ruffians for he tells the story and his editor does not kowtow. Well, we have seen the parade of the supposed bosses (the honorable Home Minister and her Junior) of the rabid RAB at Masum's bedside. But who cares! Masum needs no sympathy – Masum deserves justice.


And that is the sacred job, dear Prime Minister, is entrusted upon you... Are you up to? As you know, once almighty Hawa Bhavan is in disarray; its chief patron, having a waylaid sore back, supposedly recuperating on the distant Albinos Land and its all powerful point-man is on perpetual remand. But those, who wields the same double edged sword of power of today, for the sake of their own tomorrows, don't you think, should slow down and think a little before sliding on onto their own wayward galumph?


My dear Prime Minister,
Fugacious glory, like cherry, is all but seasonal …And here, Dear Prime Minister, I must say something about that all pervading "crossfire" that is nibbling away the very essence of our justice system. "It is a practice of our justice to condemn some as a warning to others. To condemn them because they have done wrong would be stupidity, as Plato says; for what is done cannot be undone.

But they are condemned so that they may not do the same wrong again, or so that others may avoid the example of their wrongdoing." (Montaigne) Thus some of your not-so-well-read minister may justify that the 'extra-judicial killing' in 'crossfire' serves the same end-point of "condemnation plus warning" as Montaigne maintained. But this simplification misses the very important point of "practice of our justice". Built-in checks and balances are intrinsic to the justice system. Arguments are made pro and cons. The accused has his/her time to present his/her own stories in presence of fellow citizens (juries or assessors). A judgment is rendered and the common people know the ins and outs.

Yes, justice system at its crux, at times to the chagrin of many, is an elaborate process lest we condemn our innocent. Yet when I talk to my friends at home, the paradox is confounding. They also despise the idea of killing by crossfire but still are happy with the proximate outcome. Criminals, after long, are really afraid! Such ambivalence of my friends at home sprouts directly from a feeling of helplessness, that nothing can be done and that the lesser pain is better than the greater!

But, Dear Ms. Prime Minister,
Your government, with its enormous machineries of power is no helpless fawn like a commoner. It just is callus and moribund. Or it just doesn't care about the inherent rights of its citizens. Hence, to do one 'small good', it embarks on one 'terrible bad'. Once upon a time, during the reign of your nemesis, it was 'Operation Clean Heart'. It eventually morphed into the then-infamous 'Operation Heart Attack'. Those pathetic operators were not sufficiently abreast of the physiology of heart attack otherwise they also could have divined the new meaning of now-infamous but much more palatable 'Operation Crossfire'.
Dear Ms. Prime Minister,What a morbid inflection of a rather mundane word 'CROSSFIRE'!

Yes, extreme situation, indeed, needs extreme measure. Situation arising from stupidity and apathy, however, often ends up with stupendously stupid measure! Crime and violence is not a quantity and/or entity in itself. It rather is a form of a more sinister societal ill that can aptly be described in a single sad word "LAWLESSNESS". Unlawful extra-judicial measure, not only adds further to the abysmal entropy but also acts as a catalyst for its accelerated perpetuation, especially when it is sanctioned by a legitimate government — the prime function of which, as John Locke would have argued, is to
preserve and protect the rights of its citizens.
'
Living in my safe sanctuary in North America, I am not subject to the abject lawlessness as experienced by my friends living in Dhaka. I, thus, am in no position to utter a single word opposing their position of staying mum. But as a person who cares for dignity and sanctity of human life, I do have harsh opinion as to the often-stated subliminal policy of an elected government that happened to be your own.

And lastly and most importantly, Dear Prime Minister, I would like say something about LEADERSHIP. If you despise to hear, please, take your US-made hearing device off your ears!!

"Here goes my people and I follow them" – of leadership, thus spoke M. K. Gandhi – a leader of "leaders-of-finest-caliber". He was the undisputed leader of British India and yet, he was not in the conventional league of leadership. Leadership of extra-ordinary intellect and greatness like the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Moulana Azad, instead of being stifled, flourished under his rather expansive shade! "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did itourselves" - thus goes Lao Tzu (Taoist philosopher).

But you (and for the matter of fact, your nemesis) belong to a different genre where leaders are anointed by virtue of divine imposition. They are not followers of their people's aspiration and/or desires. They rather shall lead as to their own aspirations and/or desires. And yes, they have a following too! And that's how, one may say, they are to be measured. This quote from Dennis Peer is but a jeering memento as to the mendacious greatness of our present-day great leaders (God knows –who) - "One measure of leadership is the caliber of people who choose to follow you."

Yes it is true that some uxorious kind has dubbed you greatness with appellations like Jono-Netri. And that is great.... I love it… But when I saw an avenging face a sitting Prime Minister injecting the PeelKhana tragedy in political football by advising her opponent (a Desh-Netri) to get out of Moinul
Road to make room for families of yet more slain military men – I crouched in infernal disbelief. What kind of Jono-Netri shall play with a wound that still remains raw in the nation's psyche! Well, then I remembered her glowing face in Boston, thanks to the internet, after she negotiated her own release while scores of her own people languished behind …And I also wonder, what kind of Desh-Netri shall continue to occupy a state-owned stately mansion when she herself is rich enough that necessitates the so-called "whitening of black money"! Well, then I remembered that this is the same Netri who once left no
stone unturned for the release of a once-enthroned prince who treated her beloved "Desh" with less dignity than a crumpled ball of discarded tissue paper!!!
My Dear Prime Minister, In the aftermath of 1/11 our hope soared.

We hoped for sobriety to reign supreme. We hoped for reason to prevail. We hoped for "priority" to get priority. Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome (Chinese proverb).

And we voted insane.
You are not to blame…

Dear Prime Minister,

I do not want to cram your head further with stories. You must have seen and heard a lot. Here are a few thoughts from a very ancient epic where a king despite being indisputably brave and incontestably strong was described as aloof and out of touch with his people's welfare and thus deserving of the ultimate punishment:

His vanity swelled him so vile and rank
That he could hear no voices but his own. He deserved
To suffer and die … (Beowulf)

Your ascendancy to power was on the wings of democracy. I want to believe you when you talk high of democratic ideals and principles. I do not condone the calls (from different quarters) for another election. I despise the calls to topple your government.

Your failure shall be a failure not of yours only. Your failure shall be a failure for the nation as a whole. I want you to succeed. I want you to serve your people until your term ends. But I want you to serve well. Government is nothing but an institutional tool to serve. As the head of the government, you must listen to voices of the people who graciously have given you the opportunity. In democracy, people eventually prevail for they are the REAL MASTERS!
And lastly, Dear Prime Minister, I wish your success.

And don't listen to Paban's nefarious Dad or Hawa Bhavon's ex-Head Mistress. Follow your heart and work for your real MASTER.And in no time, you too shall become a LEADER …

Mohammad Zaman
Ellisville, Misouri
E ,mail :doctorzaman@gmail.com

http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=295135



__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Dr. Abid Bahar's exposure of Mujib and BKSAL



Dr. Abid Bahar's exposure of Mujib and BKSAL

By Zoglul Husain, UK

London 26 November 2009. I read with much interest Dr. Abid Bahar's three articles on Mujib and BKSAL, recently published in the News From Bangladesh (NFB). It would be nice to read the whole thing in the book, which Dr. Abid Bahar intends to publish, especially as the articles have already aroused both interest and support, and have been acclaimed by many.

About the articles, Dr. Abid Bahr wrote: "Adapted from a book in progress: The BKSAL Legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Part 1: Is President Sheikh Mujib's Death a Murder or a Mutiny? A Tragedy for the Daughter Indeed! Part 11: President Sheikh Mujib's Death: Tajuddin's Prophecy already published, Now part 111: Understanding Bangabandu and the BKSAL rule of "My Way or no Way" and Hasina's Logi boitha". Part 111 was published in the NFB on 24 November 2009.

Dr. Abid Bahar describes himself as a former Mujib 'devotee', who in course of time woke up to the reality through experience and his hard work in his research on Mujib. With his present dispassionate view, he now claims that Mujib wanted power, he did not want independence of Bangladesh and that he should not be called 'the father of the nation', as, like Mussolini, Mujib was also a fascist.

The timing of the publication of the articles is also significant, as they have been published almost concurrently with the Supreme Court verdict on the assassination of Mujib.

Personally in my view, there cannot be any doubt that Mujib regime, between 1972 and 1975, was out and out a fascist regime.

Mujib regime killed, according to many, more than 30 thousand patriots, who opposed plunder by India and by the BAL, and through the regime's misrule and plunder, along with Indian plunder and conspiracy, they caused the man-made famine of 1974, in which 3 to 5 hundred thousand people perished, according to reports. Mujib suppressed all democratic rights and unleashed a reign of terror. In the above circumstances, according to some, Bangladesh faced extinction as an independent nation and was about to become a vassal state of the Indian hegemonists. The coup of 15 August 1975 saved the situation to a large extent and it was widely supported by the people.

However, at the present time, we are again facing threat against our independence and sovereignty, our national interest and our national resources, from the same hegemonist and expansionist India, which, in stead of the then Soviet (which became imperialist by then) backing during the Mujib regime, is now backed by the US imperialism, a much more pernicious and a much more sinister force. We, therefore, have to organise peaceful political resistance for our survival.

Many military coups, people's uprisings and armed-struggles have been hailed most gloriously in many parts of the world. The 15 August 1975 coup, at least, according to many, saved Bangladesh from extinction and stopped the ruthless massacres and man-made famines and created conditions for bringing back democracy.

About our judiciary, there is a valid question that needs to be considered: do we have anything except for Kangaroo courts and travesty of justice? Can a military coup, participated by tanks and sections of the army, be treated as an ordinary murder case, especially when the coup saved Bangladesh from extinction and rescued the people from massacres, terror, plunders, famines and fascist repressions of a dreadful and terrible autocratic regime? Shortly before one-eleven 2007, the Awami thugs ransacked part of the high court and launched arson attacks in its premises. This high court has not yet been able to seek justice for itself about that attack, because of externally imposed pressure! The judiciary, as much as the executive, carried out Moeen U's orders in the recent past and they are now carrying out Hasina's directives.

We must pledge anew to save our country. There can and should be unity between the patriots, irrespective of the political spectrum, Left, Right or Centre. It is our national task today to organise peaceful political resistance at the grassroots.

Our history written by Indian hegemonists and their lackeys are full of lies, deceit and falsehood. I hope the patriotic and great efforts of Dr. Abid Bahar, and others like him,will help people recover the true history of Bangladesh.

Writer: Zoglul Husain
E-mail: zoglul@hotmail.co.uk

http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=295138



__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Naxals collude with north-east insurgents



Naxals collude with north-east insurgents

A CNN-IBN exclusive report has discovered that the collaboration between the Naxals with the North-East insurgent groups runs well beyond the supplies of arms from the latter. The Naxalas also get on-spot help from the NE insurgents.

Maoists camps dot the Jharkhand Bengal border. From these camps, Maoists launch one attack after another, increasing the area they control in India. The Red Corridor has seen progressive increase in terms of area and coverage.

CNN-IBN has now learnt that at least 7000 armed Maoists have spread out across the West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura district in West Bengal along with East Singhbhum in Jharkhand.

In Bengal, they are being assisted by 50 hard-core rebels from Manipur's insurgent group, People Liberation Army, who are training tribal villagers living inside these forests.

Sources have told CNN-IBN:

  • Just two months ago the Maoists acquired more weapons from illegal arms-suppliers in south-East Asia.

  • The weapons were originally meant for the now-decimated LTTE.

  • The arms were supplied by an elaborate network that is run in North-East India by the Naga insurgent group NSCN (IM).

  • The arms were smuggled in through two routes: Burma and Bangladesh.

  • The arms include 850 AK-47 rifles, 4000 small weapons and several hundred grenades.

  • They also include cheaper Chinese copies of weapons such as the American M-16 rifles and Russian Kalashnikovs - AK-47s and AK-56s.

  • Maoists are also trying to establish links with the ULFA.

  • They want ULFA to supply arms from Yunan province of southern China through the insurgents in Myanmar.

Clearly, the Maoists are preparing for a new surge. This time their target is West Bengal and their increased alliances with north-east insurgent groups of India will make it more difficult for the security forces to fight the Red terror.


http://ibnlive.in.com/news/red-alert-naxals-collude-with-northeast-insurgents/105466-3.html?from=search






__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___