ISLAMABAD: Rana Mohammad Hanif, Federal Finance Minister, said here tonight [July 29] that the first Islamic Development Bank will start functioning in Jeddah by the end of October (5th of Shawwal). Talking to newsmen soon after his return from Riyadh … the Finance Minister said that delegates from 22 member countries from the Muslim World attended the meeting of the Board of Governors while the membership will increase to 27 in due course. He said the bank would start its operation with a total of 73 million Islamic dinars. … …[H]e said the purpose of the [IDB] will be to foster economic development and social progress of member countries and Muslim communities.

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Lagos,] a group of Army officers seized power in oil-rich Nigeria at dawn today [July 29] in a bloodless and apparently successful coup against the Government of General Yakubu Gowon. The new Nigerian Head of State was named … as Brig … [Murtala] … Mohammad. The new leader of Nigeria was due to have a meeting with two other Brigadier-Generals, an Army Colonel, a Major and an Inspector of Police in Lagos. … The coup was announced … by Col. Joseph Garba.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2025