Mirza Fakhrul back in Dhaka after US tour, Tarique meeting in London

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has returned to Dhaka after meetings with UN and State Department officials in the US and acting party chief Tarique Rahman in London.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 Sept 2018, 04:59 PM
Updated : 16 Sept 2018, 04:59 PM

Mirza Fakhrul arrived on Sunday afternoon ending his five-day tour that sparked a fierce political debate back home ahead of the general election.

The BNP secretary general along with Executive Committee member Md Tabith Awal left Dhaka for New York last Wednesday.

The party’s Assistant International Affairs Secretary Humayun Kabir flew to New York from London to join them.

They met Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenča at the UN headquarters amid a row with the ruling Awami League ahead of the general elections.

They also sat with officials at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of the US State Department in Washington the next day.

During the discussions, the BNP leaders brought allegations of oppression against the ruling Awami League.

Release of Chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is now in jail on corruption charges , also came up for discussion.

Mirza Fakhrul started for London on Friday and met Tarique there before flying back home, BNP leaders said.

The BNP reportedly has hired a US lobbyist firm for arranging the meetings, though the party claims Mirza Fakhrul travelled there at the invitation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Awami League alleges the BNP has soiled Bangladesh’s image by ‘exhibiting its political bankruptcy through whining’.

Ruling party leaders have also asked about the source of the money with which the lobbyist firm was reportedly hired.