Staff Reporter:
Foreign minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud yesterday said that the US sanction on former Bangladesh army Chief General (retd) Aziz Ahmed is not under the US “3C” visa policy which was announced by Wash-ington to help Dhaka holding free, fair, and peaceful national polls.
“US did not impose visa restriction on him (Aziz) under the US visa policy (3c) which was announced before the election. They made the decision against him under a different policy,” he said.
The foreign minister explained that the US visa policy, which was announced for Bangladeshi nationals before the January 7 election, is under Section 212(a)(3)(C)(“3C”)of the Immigration and Nationality Act, but Washington imposed visa restriction on General (retd) Aziz under Section 7031(c) of the annual Department of State, Foreign operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.
Dr Hasan was speaking at “Meet the Reporters” event organized by the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) at its auditorium in the capital.
DRU President Syed Shukur Ali Shuvo chaired the event while its general secretary Mohi Uddin moder-ated.
The foreign minister said the US authority had beforehand informed the Bangladesh mission in Wash-ington about the decision against the former Army chief.
He said that the Bangladesh government has taken a zero tolerance policy against corruption as actions have been taken against some Awami League leaders in this regard.
Hasan said Bangladesh remains engaged with the US and working together on combating corruption, terrorism, human trafficking and other issues.
Talking about US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu’s recent visit to Bangladesh, the foreign minister said that the US high official visited here with a “positive note”.
He said Lu stated that the US wants advancement of the relationship with Bangladesh putting aside the issues which created confusion in Dhaka-Washington tie.
