Bangladesh scraps appointment of Shahidul Islam as ambassador to US

Shahidul’s appointment has been scrapped amid brewing tensions between the US and Bangladesh over an American ban on RAB officials

The government has scrapped the contractual appointment of M Shahidul Islam as the ambassador to the United States.

The Ministry of Public Administration issued a notice on Thursday, saying the decision effective from Sept 1 came after his appeal to the government.

Shahidul’s appointment has been scrapped amid brewing bilateral tensions between the US and Bangladesh over an American ban on RAB officials.

Prior to his appointment as the envoy to the US in January 2021, Shahidul served as the secretary general of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multicultural Technical and Economic Cooperation. He was previously the deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington.

The government chose Muhammad Imran, who was serving as the high commissioner in India to succeed Shahidul, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Jul 13.