DHAKA: Bangladesh’s former military dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad threatened to kill himself yesterday after security forces besieged his home following his decision to boycott next month’s elections.
“I have loaded four pistols and I’ve told the government that if they play any tricks with me, I will kill myself,” Ershad told a local television crew during an interview. “I will die before the RAB (the paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion) or the police can lay a finger on me,” he said, before making a trigger-pulling gesture towards his head.
Hotline to solve diplomatic spat
JAKARTA: Indonesia and Australia announced yesterday they would set up a hotline to repair ties following media reports last month that Canberra had spied on top Indonesian officials.
Indonesia has suspended police cooperation over preventing asylum seekers from setting sail to Australia and there were concerns the row could hit trade relations.
“We have agreed to establish a special communications channel to ensure we can resolve the issues,” Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.
Tibetan sets himself on fire
BEIJING: A father-of-two set himself on fire in protest at Beijing’s rule in Tibetan regions, triggering clashes and a security crackdown, a US broadcaster and an overseas pressure group said yesterday.
Radio Free Asia said Konchok Tseten, 30, torched himself in Aba prefecture, an ethnically Tibetan area of the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan which has seen a wave of similar actions. He was severely burned, and local Tibetans clashed with police as they tried to stop them taking him away, sources told RFA, which is funded by the US government. Details of Tseten’s condition were not immediately available. Agencies
