Sadeq Khan
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) and referred to by Arab leaders as Da’esh, has avowedly included the continental part of South Asia in its map of caliphate and its scheme of covert “militaristic” operations or terrorist actions. Western intelligence has been warning against such possible terrorist attacks against targets in Bangladesh, particularly after killing of two foreign nationals, one Italian and one Japanese, by daring assassins, both in public places. The government has taken those warnings with a pinch of salt.
Government leaders have been claiming that followers of Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, both awaiting to be sent to the gallows convicted by the War Crimes Tribunal, are behind those killings in desperate bid to stir up unrest and prevent their execution. Both the death row prisoners have now exhausted all their legal remedies for stay on execution of the verdict. It is therefore unlikely that targeted killing of foreign nationals would be undertaken by their followers.
Delhi takes warning seriously
Another foreign national, an Italian Padre, has also been targeted and is under treatment in Combined Military Hospital after severe injury by bullet wounds. It is also noteworthy that neighbouring India has taken seriously warnings by Western intelligence that ISIL may target vulnerable spots or persons within Indian territory. Seven states have been identified as vulnerable by the Indian Home Ministry, including neighbouring West Bengal and Assam.
The Indian Home Ministry issued a security advisory to state governments on 17 November warning that ISIL aims to “expand the arc of high profile terror actions beyond the core area of Syria and Iraq”.
Rajnath Singh, India’s Home Minister, said that ISIL “is not a threat for any particular country but for the entire world. India is alert about ISIL”. An ISIL audio message – hosted on Sound Cloud and lasting two minutes and 47 seconds – is a chant that proclaims: “The caliphate is back,” and urges young men to take up “jihad” and “reach for martyrdom if not victory”.
An Indian home ministry official told The Hindu newspaper on November 18 that the message was probably uploaded by Bangladeshi ISIL recruits in Syria and Iraq “to connect to the Bangladesh audience”, referring to ISIL claim of credit for murders of two foreigners in Bangladesh. No organisation within or outside of Bangladesh has, however, claimed as yet the shooting of the Italian priest on November 18 in Dinajpur, a district that borders India. The foreigners’ deaths come amid a wave of murders of supposedly ‘blasphemous’ bloggers, writers and publishers in Bangladesh, claimed by Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Al Qaeda affiliate.
Many people wonder whether the government of Bangladesh is wise to ignore such warnings, and suggest it is better to be safe than sorry. In today’s globalizing world, security situation in Bangladesh is unlikely to be unaffected by global scourges. It may be suicidal to look at security matters through the prism of political calculations.
Ray of hope flickers
Meanwhile, a ray of hope has appeared at the end of the tunnel of Syrian imbroglio. Russian military intervention in the triangular war in Syria on the invitation of Syrian President Bashar al Asad appears to have broken the stalemate. Under pressure of heavy bombardment by Russia as well as the United States and France, and on losing some ground to Syrian government forces, the ISIL leadership evidently decided to take on its latter’s principal adversaries by massacres on the latter’s home grounds one by one.
There was a bomb placed in a Russian tourist plane flying from Sharmel Sheikh to Moscow, the blast destroying the plane in the sky and killing all passengers and crew. There were suicide bombings in Beirut and in Iraq killing targeted gatherings in mosques and markets. Then there were coordinate shootings and suicide-bombings in Paris in several places. Europe was shaken. France declared war on ISIL. Russia appeared successful in persuading Western powers, including USA, that the triangular conflict must reorient, and the anti-ISIL coalitions, one between Syria, Russia, Iraq and Iran, and the other between Syrian rebels, Arab powers, and US-led NATO alliance, with Jordan in-between, should come together, find a way to resolve their differences by negotiations, and combine all forces to defeat ISIL.
Meeting in Vienna on November 14, 2015 as the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the Arab League, China, Egypt, the EU, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the United States discussed how to accelerate an end to the Syrian conflict. The participants unanimously condemned terrorist attacks of November 13 in Paris and suicide-bomb massacres in Beirut, Iraq, Ankara, and Egypt and expressed a unanimous sense of urgency to end the suffering of the Syrian people, the physical destruction of Syria, the destabilization of the region, and the resulting increase in terrorists drawn to the fighting in Syria.
ISSG constructive dialogue
By constructive dialogue, the participants built upon the progress made in the October 30 gathering in Vienna. The ISSG acknowledged the close linkage between a ceasefire and a parallel political process pursuant to the 2012 Geneva Communiqué, and that both initiatives should move ahead expeditiously. Key issues agreed are as follows:
The ISSG expressed willingness to take immediate steps to encourage confidence-building measures that would contribute to the viability of the political process and to pave the way for the nationwide ceasefire. In this context, and pursuant to clause 5 of the Vienna Communiqué, the ISSG discussed the need to take steps to ensure expeditious humanitarian access throughout the territory of Syria pursuant to UNSCR 2165 and called for the granting of the UN’s pending requests for humanitarian deliveries. The ISSG expressed concern for the plight of refugees and internally displaced persons and the imperative of building conditions for their safe return in accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law and taking into account the interests of host countries. The resolution of the refugee issue is important to the final settlement of the Syrian conflict. The ISSG also reaffirmed the devastating effects of the use of indiscriminate weapons on the civilian population and humanitarian access, as stated in UNSCR 2139.
The ISSG members stated their commitment to ensure a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition based on the Geneva Communiqué in its entirety.
They agreed to support and work to implement a nationwide ceasefire in Syria to come into effect as soon as the representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition have begun initial steps towards the transition under UN auspices on the basis of the Geneva Communiqué. The five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council pledged to support a UNSC resolution to empower a UN-endorsed ceasefire monitoring mission in those parts of the country where monitors would not come under threat of attacks from terrorists, and to support a political transition process in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué.
UN sponsored peace
All members of the ISSG also pledged as individual countries and supporters of various belligerents to take all possible steps to require adherence to the ceasefire by these groups or individuals they support, supply or influence. The ceasefire would not apply to offensive or defensive actions against Da’esh (ISIL) or Nusra or any other group the ISSG agrees to deem terrorist.
The participants welcomed UN Secretary General Ban’s statement that he has ordered the UN to accelerate planning for supporting the implementation of a nationwide ceasefire.
The group agreed that the UN should lead the effort, in consultation with interested parties, to determine the requirements and modalities of a ceasefire. The ISSG reaffirmed the importance of abiding by all relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including UNSCR 2199 on stopping the illegal trade in oil, antiquities and hostages, from which terrorists benefit.
Pursuant to the 2012 Geneva Communiqué, incorporated by reference in the Vienna statement of October 30, and in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2118, the ISSG agreed on the need to convene Syrian government and opposition representatives in formal negotiations under UN auspices, as soon as possible, with a target date of January 1. The group welcomed efforts, working with United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and others, to bring together the broadest possible spectrum of the opposition, chosen by Syrians, who will decide their negotiating representatives and define their negotiating positions, so as to enable the political process to begin. All the parties to the political process should adhere to the guiding principles identified at the October 30 meeting, including a commitment to Syria’s unity, independence, territorial integrity, and non-sectarian character; to ensuring that State institutions remain intact; and to protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination.
Syrian-led governance
The ISSG members fixed a target of six months for a Syrian-led process to establish credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance, and set a schedule and process for drafting a new constitution. Free and fair elections is to be held pursuant to the new constitution within 18 months. These elections must be administered under UN supervision to the highest international standards of transparency and accountability, with all Syrians, including the diaspora, eligible to participate.
Pursuant to clause 6 of the Vienna Communiqué, the ISSG reiterated their resolve to fight against and defeat Da’esh, Nusra, and other terrorist groups, as designated by the UN Security Council, and further, as agreed by the participants and endorsed by the UN Security Council. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan agreed to help develop a common understanding of groups and individuals for possible determination as terrorists.
Source: weekly holiday
