DHAKA, July 10 (Agencies): Bangladesh and India today agreed to launch direct passenger train service between Dhaka and Kolkata within next four weeks, more than 40 years after the suspension of the rail link between the two countries.
Officials of the two countries decided that the service "will be launched within next four weeks" as the meeting between the two sides on the proposed Dhaka-Kolkata train ended here today, Bangladesh Railway spokesman Shafique Khan said.
He said Bangladeshi officials will go to Kolkata on July 29 onboard the inter-country Moitree Express in another trial run." The spokesman said the two sides initially decided that one train from both Dhaka and Kolkata would ply up-down between the two cities in a total of four trips in the initial days while the frequency would be increased with further development of infrastructures.
The meeting, he said, agreed that Bangladesh would accomplish the customs and other formalities at the originating Dhaka Cantonment Station while India would do it at the border of the two countries.
The 14-member Indian delegation was led by Additional Home Secretary A E Ahmed and the Bangladesh side was headed by Communication Ministry's Additional secretary A T M Ismail.
The spokesman said the meeting decided to settle the remaining issues, including security matters, when the Bangladesh officials would reach Kolkata in another trial run of the train to the West Bengal capital on July 29.
Bangladesh Railway officials earlier said they expected the service to be launched by mid August.
The first train from the West Bengal capital reached here two days ago on a trial-run carrying the 14-member Indian delegation for the two-day talks.
Officials yesterday said the two sides would require a consensus on the frequency of the inter-country Moitree Express as India insisted it be operated once in a week while Bangladesh wanted it to ply three days to make it commercially viable.
"We also want the immigration and custom formalities to be accomplished at the originating stations to save journey time and make it comfortable while our Indian counterparts suggested it be done at Gede, the Indian side of the border," a railway official earlier said preferring anonymity.
The Indian delegation also proposed erection of box-type fencing along the 150 metre route in the international border and immigration point.
Officials earlier said there would be three categories of fares of USD8, USD12 and USD20 while Bangladesh would keep 78 per cent of the revenue while India will get the rest, as the distance between Shialdaha and the Bangladesh border is 120 kilometres while the length of the rail track in Bangladesh territory is 418 kilometres.
The proposed service comprises chair coaches of economy class (Shovon class), air-conditioned first class and air-conditioned sleeping class along side a power car, one buffet car and a prayer car.
Passenger carriages of the train were imported from Indonesia but they were assembled in Bangladesh's Saidpur Railway Workshop to run between Dhaka and Kolkata.
Passenger train service between the two countries was suspended after the 1965 war between India and Pakistan when Bangladesh was the eastern part of Pakistan.
Lal Masjid stormed; 50 ultras, 8 commandos dead ISLAMABAD, July 10 (Agencies): In a pre-dawn operation, Pakistan army stormed the pro-Taliban Lal Masjid in central Islamabad to flush out militants holding a large number of women and children as hostages, triggering a fierce gunbattle which left 50 radicals and eight commandos dead.
Fifty militants were injured in the operation and an equal number of madrassa students and ultras surrendered.
Twentysix women and three children were rescued from the besieged complex.
Deputy Administrator of the mosque Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who is using women and children as human shields, is holed up in the basement of the mosque and has been asked to surrender.
The army launched the Operation Silence at 0400 hrs after last-ditch talks with Ghazi, brother of captured head of the mosque Maulana Abdul Aziz, to end the week-long standoff failed as he demanded special deal for foreign militants.
Heavy gunfire erupted and loud blasts were heard as commandos surrounded the mosque, where militants are believed to be holding 150 hostages, from three sides.
Security forces were being challenged by militants, who are using rocket launchers and machine guns.
They have taken positions in the basement and were firing from the minarets of the mosque.
Army spokesman, Maj.
Waheed Arshad told reporters that "It is the final push to clear the mosque of armed militants.
He said so far eight military personnel were killed and 29 others including a Captain injured in the operation.
Asked why the operation has taken this long, Arshad said troops followed a step by step approach to minimise the casualties and to avoid collateral damage to the mosque.
The defence spokesman said the complex has over 75 rooms besides vast court yards and basements and all needed to be cleared one by one."Various bunkers are yet to be cleared." They are reports that women and children were locked up in the basement and security forces are trying to verify it.
The militants offered intense resistance as they appeared well trained, he said adding some terrorists have occupied the minarets of the mosque and are firing at security forces from there.
Arshad denied reports that Pakistan army planned to use nerve gas against militants.
"Pakistan armydoes not use nerve gas and has no stocks of it".
Referring to Ghazi's claim that his mother was killed during the operation, he said the cleric had not allowed his own mother to go out for treatment.
The operation was launched as soon as ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) President Shujaat Hussain in a brief nationally televised press conference said talks to find out a peaceful solution to the stand-off had failed.
Hussain said he was never disappointed so much in life as an agreement could not be reached even after the government showed maximum flexibility.
The operation came at the end of a seven day stand-off during which over 1300 boys and girls holed up in madrasa surrendered.
Mosque stormed after Ghazi insisted on deal for ultras: Govt ISLAMABAD, July 10 (Agencies): Pakistan government today said it decided to storm the Lal Masjid after its deputy head Abdul Rashid Ghazi insisted on negotiating "special terms" for foreign militants holed up in the complex even though an agreement had been reached over his own surrender.
After 11 hour-long talks last night, the 13-member committee headed by former premier Shujaat Hussain reached an agreement on the terms and conditions for Ghazi and his associates to give up their arms and come out of the besieged complex, Religious Affairs Minister Ijazul Haq said.
As per the "agreement", Ghazi and his family had agreed to be put up in a rest house under "house arrest" and face legal proceedings in the cases related to him.
The negotiations were conducted through a cellular phone given to Ghazi by the negotiators as both sides preferred not to meet directly due to security reasons.
The radical cleric had also agreed to face legal proceedings as the Supreme Court yesterday took suo moto notice of the incident and ordered that any surrender be done before the sessions judge of Islamabad, Haq told reporters.
An understanding had been reached with Ghazi that all militants, who were with him would be screened and released if they were not wanted by security forces.
For this ten buses were ordered and a place had been prepared for their stay, Haq, said.
However, after reaching an understanding on all issues, Ghazi sought to know the fate of foreign ultras.
He was then told that they would have to face legal proceedings and no free passage would be given to them.
When the government insisted that foreign militants should surrender, Ghazi said he would call back but the call never came and he switched off the phone.
This prompted Hussain to declare failure of the talks and led the government to storm the complex to save women and children holed up there, the Minister said.
The two sides had also decided that the boys and girls madrasa administered by Lal Masjid would be given to Wakaful Madaris, an umbrella body of madrasas in Pakistan whose leader Hanif Julandhari was also part of the delegation that negotiated with Ghazi.
However, some of the clerics, who accompanied Hussain later told reporters that differences arose because the draft of the agreement was altered after it was presented to President Pervez Musharraf.
But Hussain dismissed it saying, it was only change of "legal terms" not the conditions.
Ghazi had his own version to tell to the media.
Minutes before the operation began, he used the mobile phone given to him and spoke to the local TV channels to say he has agreed to all terms but the talks broke down when he insisted that he would give up in front the media and a delegation of clerics.
He said he wanted the media to visit the complex to prove his point there were no major weapons nor foreigners present with him as claimed by the government.
But his proposal was shot down.
He also vented his anger against Hussain and Haq, saying they should not be "spared" as they along with certain clerics played a "dirty role".
Before he could continue his conversation, his phone was disconnected.
Later he appeared again to say that his mother has been killed and he would fight till death.
Dead bodies everywhere inside Pakistan mosque: Witness ISLAMABAD, July 10 (Agencies):Dead bodies are "everywhere" inside a radical Pakistani mosque raided by troops today, a source inside the complex told AFP by telephone.
A man who picked up one of top mosque cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi's mobile phones said those inside were under "massive bombing and gunfire.
This is indiscriminate killing".
"There is no contact with each other because no one can leave the rooms and basements.
There are dead bodies everywere," the witness added, declining to give his name as explosions and gunfire echoed in the background.
One of those killed was Ghazi's elderly mother, who died of suffocation from smoke caused by blasts, while Ghazi was still alive, the source added.