US congressmen angry at false Bangladesh media reports quoting colleagues

Two US congressmen have reacted sharply to false reports by a section of Bangladeshi media claiming several of their colleagues have condemned the 'confinement' of BNP chief Khaleda Zia and an embargo on publicising her son Tarique Rahman's speeches.

New York Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Jan 2015, 01:53 PM
Updated : 9 Jan 2015, 02:49 PM

US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel in a statement on Thursday local time said using "fraudulent press statement" in the name of the Congress was "unacceptable".

Bangla daily Prothom Alo, Manabzamin, Naya Diganta and news agency UNB on Friday ran reports claiming six US congressmen made a statement on Bangladesh's political situation over the first anniversary of 10th national polls.

The UNB, however, 40 minutes after releasing the report at 1:10am, issued a media advisory on its website for the news to be ignored.

One Bangladeshi-run online newspaper each in the UK and another in the US also ran the report.

The reports claimed the US congressmen had called for dialogue between the Awami League and the BNP.

Apart from Congressmen Royce and Engel, the reports named Congress members Steve Chabot, Joseph Crowley, George Holding and Grace Meng.

Thursday's statement said Jan 7 reports by certain Bangladeshi media outlets on the country's political situation were "based on fraudulent statement" attributed to the Committee and certain members of Congress.

Meng's office confirmed bdnews24.com that they had issued no such statements while Royce's office said they were surprised.

“Though the Committee and many Members of Congress continue to monitor the political situation in Bangladesh, the Committee did not – and the Members did not – issue any such statement,” Thursday's statement clarified.

Meanwhile, one Jahid F Sardar Sadi, identifying himself as the BNP chairperson’s special aide and the party’s foreign affairs envoy, told reporters on Thursday that the US Congress's opening session on Jan 6 had seen an unprecedented discussion on Bangladesh's current situation.

He claimed Congressman Hakeem Jeffries had presented the topic in the House of Representatives.

Jeffries’ office told bdnews24.com that it was a false claim.

A bdnews24.com investigation revealed that Sadi, who lives in Florida, had served prison terms in over two dozen cheating cases in Florida and Arizona.

Documents of an Arizona bank fraud case, reviewed by bdnews24.com, said Sadi had cheated people using various aliases.
He was appointed the BNP's foreign affairs envoy and special advisor on Nov 17, 2013, the party's US unit leaders said.
BNP's former US chapter chief Abdul Latif Samrat dubbed Sadi as a "controversial man" and expressed astonishment at his appointment.
Another BNP leader Md Bashir said, "He (Sadi) has tarnished Bangladesh's image by forging the signs of Congressmen and publicising a false statement."