Mahmood Ali made foreign minister

AH Mahmood Ali has been made the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

After being sworn in on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave him the portfolio which he held in the 'all-party' election-time government.

Nazrul Islam, a retired Lieutenant Colonel, is officially the State Minister for Water Resources.

Abdullah Al Islam Jakob, who was Deputy Minister for Water Resources, has been shifted to the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

The Ministry of Water Resources is now headed by Jatiya Party’s Anisul Islam Mahmud and breakaway Jaitya Party’s (JP) chief Anwar Hossain Monju is the Minister of Environment.

The Prime Minister, until now, had kept the foreign ministry reins to herself but had placed Md Shahriar Alam as its state minister.

Mahmood Ali, elected to Parliament from Dinajpur-4, was sworn in by President Abdul Hamid at the Bangabhaban on Wednesday. Nazrul Islam from Narsinghdi-1 also took oath as state minister.

The government now has 51 members after their induction but the Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to get anyone at its helm.

Jatiya Party has three posts in the Cabinet, which also has ministers from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Bangladesh Workers Party. The chief of Jatiya Party (JP) is also there and the rest are from the Awami League.

AH Mahmood Ali

The former diplomat entered Parliament for the first time after winning election on Awami League’s ticket in 2008.

He became the first Minister for Disaster Management established in September, the tail end of Awami League’s past tenure, while he was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He had replaced Dipu Moni as minister of foreign affairs on Nov 21 when the multi-party election-time government was formed.

Born in Dinajpur in 1943, Ali graduated from Dhaka University with a degree in economics.

He joined Civil Service of Pakistan in the early 1960s.

Ali, a freedom fighter, was wounded in the Liberation War. He was one of the first to defect for Bangladesh in 1971 while serving as a Pakistani diplomat in the US.

He had led his younger colleagues in protests against military strongman HM Ershad in December in 1990, while he was Additional Foreign Secretary.

He retired in 2001 as Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He had also served as Dhaka’s Ambassador to Germany and Bhutan.

Ali had become popular among the Dhaka-based foreign diplomats through his briefings.

He had also changed the format of briefings that ambassadors and high commissioners liked.

Nazrul Islam

Born in Narsinghdi in 1951, Nazrul Islam (PSC) graduated from the Command and Staff College of the Armed Forces in 1985.

He was bestowed the title of ‘Bir Protik’ for his contribution during Bangladesh’s War of Independence.

The retired Lieutenant Colonel served as Assistant Military Advisor at Bangladesh High Commission in the US.

He entered Parliament for the first time after winning in the 2008 election. Nazrul was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Planning in the ninth Parliament.