Stop violence, western diplomats urge after meeting with Khaleda Zia

Several Western diplomats including the new US ambassador have called for an end to ongoing violence after a meeting with BNP chief Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office where she has lodged herself since Jan 3.

The BNP has been enforcing an indefinite violent blockade and general strikes that have left more than 100 people killed, mostly in fire-bombings.

Khaleda is asking for a snap general election, cancelling the one held on Jan 5 last year because she boycotted it demanding a ‘neutral’ oversight.

The Australian High Commission in Dhaka said in a statement on behalf of the group after the meeting on Tuesday evening they had discussed “current events” in Bangladesh.

It said the meeting followed a similar one with the foreign minister on Sunday.

The ambassadors, high commissioners and charges d’affaires of Australia, Canada, Denmark, the EU, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the US were present in both meetings.

According to the statement, they recalled their earlier statements on the political situation, and those by the UN, and “called for an end to Bangladesh’s continuing violence”.

“We encouraged confidence-building measures – including the de-escalation of Bangladesh’s political conflict – in the interest of fostering safety, stability, growth, human rights and democracy in Bangladesh,” read the statement similar to the Sunday one after the foreign minister’s meeting.

But the envoys meeting with Khaleda generated lot of speculation as it came hours before her hearing in a special court on corruption cases filed during the 2007-2008 military-backed government.

The court ordered her arrest on Feb 25 after she repeatedly skipped hearings.

Wednesday will be the first hearing after her arrest warrant was issued.

Her lawyers moved to the court on Tuesday against the arrest warrant, but the court did not hear the petition.

That means she will have to appear before the court or police have to produce her before the court on Wednesday.

Her lawyers said that she would not be going to court on Wednesday “because there is no security”.

The envoys, however, issued the statement calling for an end to the violence.

“As friends and partners of Bangladesh, we welcomed the opportunity to meet the BNP Chairperson,” the statement said.

“We will continue to express our common hopes to all sides.”

The Australian high commissioner also read out the statement after emerging out of the meeting.

A spokesperson for the British High Commission in Dhaka said High Commissioner Robert Gibson did not attend the meeting.

Gibson, however, earlier met Khaleda at this office amid blockades and called for confidence-building measures for sustainable solutions of the political impasse.