bdnews24.com :
UN officials have denied media reports in Bangladesh that Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernández-Taranco has finalised his Dhaka visit to try to broker a deal between the Awami League and BNP.
Eri Kaneko, Associate Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General’s office, told bdnews24.com that Taranco had not finalised plans for the visit as yet.
Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN, AKA Momen, also denied knowledge of any date being set for Taranco’s trip to Bangladesh.
The UN had earlier said it was worried over renewed political strife and violence since the BNP-led alliance began a nationwide transport blockade on Jan 5.
In a regular briefing on Wednesday, Secretary-General’s spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Taranco was tasked by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to liaise with the Bangladesh government.
He had also told about a meeting between Taranco and US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal.
Some local media have been speculating since then that the Argentinian diplomat, who tried to mediate a political solution to the impasse in Bangladesh before the Jan 5, 2014 national election, was going to visit Dhaka yet again to make fresh efforts to resolve the current crisis.
Media reports claimed that Taranco had already spoken with officials of the US State Department, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN and other stakeholders in Bangladesh.
Ambassador Momen, however, said he had not spoken with Taranco.
