USA-Bangladesh Relation

The US wants fair elections and security for embassy staff in Bangladesh

By Imran Ansary
Published Fri, Dec 23, 2022 4:04 PM

The United States has said that it wants free and fair parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. At the same time, they told us about the safety of the people who work at the country's embassy in Dhaka.
In a phone conversation with Alam on Thursday, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and State Minister of Foreign Affairs Shahriar confirmed this.
The United States Department of State said in a press release that Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke on the phone with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, Shahriar Alam, on Thursday. They talked about how to improve relations between the US and Bangladesh, how important it is to have free and fair elections, and how to keep US Embassy staff safe.
Shahriar Alam told Sherman that the government is determined to ensure Bangladeshi diplomats are safe and secure. He said ambassadors will get adequate security as always.
The state minister said ambassadors should understand Bangladesh's political history before making public statements.
It should be noted that last Wednesday morning (December 14), the US ambassador went to the house of missing BNP leader Sajedul Islam Sumon. He entered Suman's house at 9:05 a.m. He stayed there for about 25 minutes. Then he left the house.
While coming out of there, an organization called 'Mayer Kanna" gave a memorandum to the ambassador about the disappearance 45 years ago and the violation of human rights during the military regime. On that day, US embassador Peter Haas had an urgent meeting with foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen. During the meeting, the ambassador was worried about his safety because his personal information had been leaked.
A day after the incident with Peter Haas, Donald Lu, the US Secretary of State for Central and South Asia, met with Mohammad Imran, the ambassador of Bangladesh to the US. Washington expressed concern about the ambassador's safety.