Staff Reporter :
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Bangladesh government to find out a tangible way to deescalate the situation and engage constructively the opposition for the long-term stability and development of the country.
Ban Ki-moon came up with the remarks at a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at the US State Department yesterday on the sidelines of the ‘White House Summit to Counter Violent Extremism,’ according to a UN official.
During the meeting, the UN Secretary General shared his concerns over the ongoing violence in Bangladesh and also expressed concern over the loss of lives and political violence that have occurred in Bangladesh since the beginning of 2015.
Both of them discussed cooperation between the United Nations and the government of Bangladesh.
The UN Secretary General assured the Foreign Minister of the UN’s continued engagement with strengthening the democratic and development process in Bangladesh.
Ban Ki moon stressed that the UN would continue to have dialogue with the government to understand the evolving political situation.
He also thanked Bangladesh for its contributions to the work of the United Nations, particularly to peacekeeping operations
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh said Mahmood Ali told the UN chief that the government remained “committed to ensuring the human rights and security of innocent civilians who are being targeted by terrorist acts and remained open to account for the lawful measures taken to this effect”.
The Foreign Minister, however, “regretted that the BNP leadership persistently rebuffed the government’s overtures, and instead chose the path of violence and terrorist methods at the expense of innocent lives”.
The UN secretary general earlier this week appealed to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the BNP Chief Khaleda Zia seeking to end the violence as he assigned UN assistant secretary general Oscar Fernandez- Taranco to work with the government and the opposition.
Earlier, the BNP called for UN mediation as it spearheads its fierce campaign demanding a mid-term election before 2019 as scheduled. Hasina has rejected the demand.
BNP officially welcomed the UN secretary general’s call yesterday while government leaders on the other hand told a visiting EU delegation no talks could take place until the BNP-led 20-party rightwing alliance with fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami being a major partner stops the violence.
The Foreign Minister expressed his interest in having further discussions soon with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ZeidRa’ad Al-Hussein, who was present at the meeting.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Mohammad Ziauddin and Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque accompanied the Foreign Minister at the meeting.
The UN Secretary General spoke at the Opening Session of the White House Summit, and shared the UN plans to support the global initiatives to counter violent extremism leading to terrorism.
