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| Jan. 5: The Bangladesh Supreme Court has lifted a four-year-old stay, setting the stage for the final battle to restore the word "secularism" to the country's Constitution and force political parties to drop "Islam" from their names. The Supreme Court has vacated the stay on a 2005 ruling by a high court that had thrown out the fifth amendment which allowed religion-based politics to flourish in the country during the past three decades. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main Opposition and the architect of the fifth amendment, has now moved the apex court seeking a stay on its ruling and challenging the high court verdict. The Supreme Court will hear both pleas simultaneously on January 18. "The original spirit of the Constitution will be restored if the implementation of the high court verdict is cleared by the appellate division of the Supreme Court," law minister Shafique Ahmed told PTI. Such a ruling will also mean dozens of religion-based political parties in Bangladesh will be forced to drop Islam from their names and stop the use of faith while electioneering. The fifth amendment was introduced by a BNP government in 1979 when Zia-ur Rahman, the husband of current party leader Khaleda Zia, was President. The amendment had allowed religion-based political parties to come into being and added the Arabic "Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim" (In the name of God, the most merciful, benevolent) to the preamble of the Constitution. The amendment also abolished the word "secularism" from the Constitution. Ahmed said the Arabic words would remain intact as the high court verdict did not say anything about them as they were part of the preamble, not of the "main body". "Secularism would automatically be restored in the Constitution" once the high court verdict is implemented, he said. The fifth amendment had also legitimised the subsequent government of Zia-ur Rahman after the August 15, 1975, assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The original Constitution of 1972 embodied four fundamental principles of nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism. The 2005 judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court by the then BNP-led coalition government with the Jamaat-e-Islami being its key partner. However, with Sheikh Hasina storming back to power in December 2008 in a landslide, the current government decided not to press the appeal at the apex court which has overturned the stay now. Officials in the office of the attorney-general said despite the BNP's intervention, they expected the case to be disposed of soon as the government had decided not to pursue the appeal.
  Page last updated at 12:57 GMT, Wednesday, 6 January 2010 
Obama 'bomb plot' rebuke prompts intelligence pledgeBarack Obama said he would not tolerate failures over the plot A top US intelligence official has promised action after sharp criticism from President Barack Obama over a failed airliner bomb plot. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said the intelligence community had to boost efforts to prevent new types of attacks. Mr Obama had earlier told senior officials that the failure to anticipate the attack was a "screw-up". The alleged bomber is accused of trying to bring down an airliner over Detroit. Mr Obama said US intelligence officials had known that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which claimed responsibility for the plot, had been planning an attack against America. He also said they knew the group had been working with an individual - now known to be Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian charged over the plot. The intelligence community had failed to "connect the dots", Mr Obama said in a statement, adding: "That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it." 'We got it' Mr Abdulmutallab's name was on a US database of about 550,000 suspected terrorists, but not on a list that would have subjected him to additional security screening or kept him from boarding the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Mr Blair reacted by acknowledging the failure of the intelligence community to catch the suspect.
"The intelligence community received the president's message today - we got it, and we are moving forward to meet the new challenges," he said. He added that intelligence officials had made "considerable progress" in collection and analysis of information and in improving collaboration, although they needed to strengthen their ability to stop "new tactics". Mr Blair's position was created in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, amid efforts to improve intelligence co-ordination. The White House said before Tuesday's security meeting that Mr Obama was standing by three of his top security officials, including Mr Blair.
But the BBC's Richard Lister in Washington says that given Mr Obama's comments, it seems likely that there will be some kind of shake-up and that heads will roll. Mr Obama spoke on Tuesday after being briefed on security reviews ordered after Mr Abdulmutallab's arrest. According to the White House, he used stronger language in the closed-door meeting with top security officials. "This was a screw-up that could have been disastrous," it quoted the president as telling them. "We dodged a bullet but just barely." Those who attended the meeting included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, CIA Director Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller. Yemen 'training' Enhanced airport screening and a review of the US watch-list system were ordered after the 25 December attempted attack. Since the incident, officials have moved dozens of names on to "watch" and "no-fly" lists, as they seek to overhaul security.
Those on the watch-list are subject to extra security checks, while those on the no-fly list are not allowed to board flights to the US. The suspect began his journey in Lagos, Nigeria, and changed planes at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen were among the 14 countries singled out by Washington for enhanced security measures for travellers, introduced on Monday. Countries considered by the US to be sponsors of terrorism - Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria - were also included. The move sparked objections by some of the states. Cuba and Nigeria said they had protested to US diplomats. Mr Abdulmutallab was allegedly trained in Yemen - a country that has come under increased scrutiny from the US since his arrest. The US suspended the repatriation of Yemeni prisoners from its Guantanamo Bay detention centre in the wake of the plot, though Mr Obama reiterated that he would push on with his plan eventually to close the prison. The US re-opened its embassy in Yemen on Tuesday, following what it called successful counter-terrorism operations by government security forces on Monday north of the capital. Yemeni authorities have tightened security measures at Sanaa's airport, as well as around several other embassies.  CHRISTMAS JET BOMB PLOT KEY STORIES BACKGROUND  Al-Qaeda's influence How Yemen could slide towards chaos if action is not taken VIDEO  'A challenge of utmost urgency'   Obama links al-Qaeda to jet plot  Passenger on overpowering suspect  Bomb suspect's friend - 'it's a huge shock' RELATED INTERNET LINKS The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites FROM OTHER NEWS SITES Washington Post Obama: Security agencies failed - 1 hr ago New Statesman* Obama condemns "screw-up" over jet bomb plot - 3 hrs ago Mail Online UK Downing Street 'blabbermouth' starts diplomatic row with U.S. over warnings about Detroit bomber - 4 hrs ago SiliconValley.com Obama sharply criticizes intelligence failure in Christmas bombing attempt - 10 hrs ago Reuters UK Obama says bomb attempt an intelligence "screw-up" - 12 hrs ago * Requires registration   News feeds
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Page last updated at 11:47 GMT, Wednesday, 6 January 2010
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