B'desh Army chief meets Yunus, Prez Shahabuddin; discusses military's role in assisting civil admn

Dhaka, Sept 1 (PTI) Army Chief Gen Waker-uz-Zaman Monday met Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and President Mohammed Shahabuddin and discussed the military's role in assisting the civil administration, amid deteriorating law and order situation in Bangladesh in recent days.

In a statement, the army described the meetings as "courtesy calls" and said Gen Zaman briefed them about his recent visit to China.

According to a statement issued by the Chief Adviser's Press Wing, Yunus thanked the military for their continued contribution to the maintenance of law and order.

The chief adviser emphasised the need to streamline this role, including a clearly defined command structure and close coordination among all forces in the coming months, leading up to the elections, it added.

Gen Zaman assured the chief adviser of his full cooperation with the interim government and said the army is committed to making the government successful in all its initiatives and programmes.

Officials said Gen Zaman was accompanied by several senior military officials as he first went to Yunus’s official Jamuna residence and then Bangabhaban presidential palace for the back-to-back talks.

The development came two days after the military action against a political outfit aligned with last year's student-led movement that toppled the government of then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The action drew strong condemnation from Yunus’s government and different political parties.

The military, on the other hand, said it had acted in line with the government’s “zero tolerance” policy against “mob violence”.

On Saturday, Yunus’s office issued an “Official Statement of the Bangladesh Interim Government” condemning harshly the security forces over their action and particularly the “brutal attack" on Nurul Haque Nur, the chief of Gano Odhikar Parishad.

The interim government promised to launch a “thorough and impartial investigation into this heinous incident” with "utmost urgency" and no individual, “regardless of influence or position, will be spared from accountability".

The army chief's meetings with the head of the state and the interim government chief came a day after he reportedly met Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed. PTI AR ZH ZH