Staff Reporter :British High Commissioner to Dhaka Robert W Gibson on Wednesday urged all parties to consider confidence-building measures in a bid to defusing the current tension in Bangladesh and stop violence. “I have consistently called on all parties to fully consider the effects of their actions and resist from causing further damage to the country’s national interest. I also urge all parties to consider confidence building measures that would defuse the current tension and allow normal life to resume,” he said. He made the call in a statement he read out after meeting BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia at her political office at Gulshan in Dhaka in the afternoon. During the hour-long meeting, Gibson, who returned to Bangladesh from the United Kingdom on February 4, conveyed his personal condolences at the death of Khaleda Zia’s son Arafat Rahman Koko. Earlier on Tuesday, US Ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat after an hour-long meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmul Ali expressed concern over the prevailing situation, and laid emphasis on combined effort of all political parties to stop the ongoing violence in Bangladesh. Making the call, Gibson further said, “In the long term, I hope that further confidence building measures can be taken that will ultimately break the habitual cycle of violence and disruption that appears to characterise elections in Bangladesh and which would allow all legitimate political activity to take place peacefully.”He also said that alongside with convey his personal condolences, he and the BNP chief discussed the current situation in Bangladesh during the meeting. “I have taken the opportunity to offer my personal sympathies to Khaleda Zia over the loss of her son. The UK is committed to the future stability, development and prosperity of Bangladesh in which we are and will remain close partners. As I have said before, the extent of the current violence and disruption to the lives of people in Bangladesh is distressing and deplorable,” he said disclosing the conversation of the meeting. The British High Commissioner met the BNP chief at a time when Khaleda Zia has been staying in her office for over a month. Gibson was the first diplomat to meet the BNP chief after January 3, as she has been staying there since the day.BNP Chairperson’s advisor Sabih Uddin Ahmed and a senior official of the British High Commission were present at the meeting, among others. However, there was no briefing on the meeting from the BNP side.Gibson visited Khaleda Zia’s office before going to the UK. After return, he in a statement on February 4 called upon political parties to come together and break the cycle of violence and disruption. He also expressed his sadness and regrets to learn of the continuing loss of life and injury, as well as the detrimental effect on children’s education and the economy caused by the ongoing violence across Bangladesh.
