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A30 world news
Dialuna 4 Juli 2022

With no fuel and no cash, Sri Lanka keeps schools closed

while the first ship carrying problem is the lack of dol- The government said it was
gasoline would come on July lars and appealed to some 2 also negotiating with suppli-
22. million Sri Lankans work- ers in Russia and Malaysia.
ing abroad to send their for-
Several other fuel shipments eign exchange earnings home Sri Lanka has suspended re-
are in the pipeline. But he through banks instead of in- payment of about $7 billion
said authorities are struggling formal channels. in foreign loans due this year
to find $587 million to pay out of $25 billion to be repaid
for the fuel. Wijesekera said He said workers’ remittanc- by 2026. The country’s total
that Sri Lanka owed about es, which usually stood at foreign debt is $51 billion.
$800 million to seven fuel $600 million per month, had
suppliers. declined to $318 million in The economic meltdown
June. has triggered a political crisis
Last month, schools were with widespread anti-gov-
closed nationwide for a day According to the Central ernment protests erupting
due to fuel shortages and had Bank, the remittances — the across the country. Protest-
remained closed for the last nation’s main foreign ex- ers have blocked main roads
(AP) — Cash-strapped Sri only several days, will be pro- two weeks in urban areas. change earner — dropped to demand gas and fuel, and
Lanka on Sunday extend- vided for essential services, Schools will remain shut un- from $2.8 billion in the first television stations showed
ed school closures for one including health and port til Friday. six months of 2021 to $1.3 people in some areas fighting
week because there isn’t workers, public transport and billion in the same period over limited stocks.
enough fuel for teachers food distribution, officials Authorities also announced this year for a decline of 53%.
and parents to get chil- said. countrywide power cuts of In the capital, Colombo,
dren to classrooms, and up to three hours a day from The drop came after the gov- protesters have been occu-
the energy minister ap- ”Finding money is a chal- Monday because they can’t ernment last year ordered pying the entrance to the
pealed to the country’s lenge. It’s a huge challenge,” supply enough fuel to power the mandatory conversion of president’s office for more
expatriates to send money Power and Energy Minister generating stations. Sweep- foreign currency. It said that than two months to demand
home through banks to fi- Kanchana Wijesekera told re- ing power cuts have been a black-market premiums have President Gotabaya Rajapak-
nance new oil purchases. porters. blight on Sri Lanka’s econ- led people to hoard foreign sa’s resignation. They accuse
omy for months, along with currency. him and his powerful family
A huge foreign debt has left He said the government has severe shortages of essentials that included several siblings
the Indian Ocean island with ordered new fuel stocks and including cooking gas, medi- Sri Lanka’s has been getting holding top government po-
none of the suppliers will- the first ship with 40,000 cine and food imports. most of its fuel needs from sitions of plunging the coun-
ing to sell fuel on credit. The metric tons of diesel is ex- neighboring India, which try into the crisis through
available stocks, sufficient for pected to arrive on Friday Wijesekera said the main provided it with a credit line. corruption and misrule.

Afghan clerics’ assembly urges recognition of Taliban govt

(AP) — A three-day assembly of ghan assets abroad. “special attention and to ensure jus- University. Later, Taliban spokesman
Islamic clerics and tribal elders tice, religious and modern educa- Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters
in the Afghan capital concluded Ansari said that more than 4,500 Is- tion, health, agriculture, industry, the that security forces fired on someone
Saturday with pledges of support lamic clerics and elders who attended rights of minorities, children, women suspected to have a hand grenade, but
for the Taliban and calls on the renewed their allegiance and loyalty and the entire nation, according to Is- that “there is nothing of concern.”
international community to rec- to the Taliban’s supreme leader and lamic holy law.” The Taliban adhere
ognize the country’s Taliban-led spiritual chief, Haibatullah Akhun- to their own strict interpretation of However, IS claimed responsibility
government. dzada. Islamic law, or Sharia. for the attack. It said in a statement
that three of its fighters climbed onto
The meeting in Kabul was tailored In a surprise development, the reclu- On Friday, Akhundzada, who rose the roof of a building near the gath-
along the lines of Afghanistan’s tra- sive Akhundzada came to Kabul from from a low-profile member of the ering and posted a video showing a
ditional Loya Jirgas — regular coun- his base in southern Kandahar prov- Islamic insurgent movement to the group of heavily armed men, their
cils of elders, leaders and prominent ince and addressed the gathering on leader of the Taliban in a swift transi- faces masked, who say they have “tak-
figures meant to deliberate Afghan Friday. It was believed to be his first tion of power after a 2016 U.S. drone en positions very close to the gather-
policy issues. visit to the Afghan capital since the strike killed his predecessor, Mullah ing” and are awaiting orders to attack.
Taliban seized power. Akhtar Mansour, also offered prayers
But the overwhelming majority of for Afghanistan’s earthquake victims. The IS affiliate in Afghanistan,
attendees were Taliban officials and In his hour-long speech carried by known as Islamic State in Khorasan
supporters, mostly Islamic clerics. state radio, Akhundzada called the The powerful quake in June killed Province or IS-K, has been operating
Women were not allowed to attend, Taliban takeover of Afghanistan a more than 1,000 people in eastern since 2014. Since the Taliban take-
unlike the last Loya Jirga that was “victory for the Muslim world.” Afghanistan, igniting yet another cri- over, IS militants have staged numer-
held under the previous, U.S.-backed sis for the struggling country. Over- ous assaults on Afghanistan’s new
government. His appearance added symbolic heft stretched aid groups already keeping rulers and the Taliban have launched
to the gathering. The Taliban are un- millions of Afghans alive rushed sup- a sweeping crackdown against IS in
The former insurgents, who have der international pressure to be more plies to the quake victims, but most the country’s stronghold in eastern
kept a complete lock on decision- inclusive as they struggle with Af- countries responded tepidly to Tal- Afghanistan.
making since taking over the country ghanistan’s humanitarian crises. iban calls for international help.
last August, touted the gathering as a
forum on issues facing Afghanistan. The international community has The gathering in Kabul also touched
been wary of any recognition or co- on the Taliban’s chief rivals, the mili-
According to Mujib-ul Rahman An- operation with the Taliban, especial- tant Islamic State group, and appealed
sari, a cleric who attended the gather- ly after they restricted the rights of on Afghans across the country, saying
ing, an 11-point statement released at women and minorities — measures that “any kind of cooperation” with
the end urges countries in the region that hark back to their harsh rule IS was prohibited.
and the world, the United Nations, when they were last in power in the
Islamic organizations and others to late 1990s. On Thursday, at the start of the gath-
recognize a Taliban-led Afghanistan, ering, gunfire was heard near the
remove all sanctions imposed since Saturday’s 11-point resolution called heavily guarded assembly venue, the
the Taliban takeover and unfreeze Af- on the Taliban government to pay Loya Jirga Hall of Kabul’s Polytechnic