Staff Reporter:
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has sought stronger United Nations (UN) support for expanding the deployment of Bangladeshi peacekeepers and police personnel during separate bilateral meetings with two UN under-secretaries-general in New York.
During a meeting with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre La-croix on Monday in New York, the minister reaffirmed Bangladesh’s longstanding commitment to UN peacekeeping and requested support for the early verification of Rapid Deployment Level (RDL) status for Bangladeshi Formed Police Units (FPUs).
He also sought greater deployment of Bangladeshi individual police officers, consideration of deploying a Bangladesh FPU in current or future UN peacekeeping missions, and increased leadership and profes-sional positions for Bangladeshi officers at the UN Headquarters and in field missions.
Lacroix highly appreciated Bangladesh’s sustained contribution to UN peacekeeping operations and its readiness to provide well-trained and capable police personnel to meet the evolving requirements of peacekeeping missions.
He also commended Bangladesh’s active and constructive role in multilateral diplomacy.
In a separate meeting with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support Atul Khare, the home minister discussed operational and logistical support for Bangladesh’s planned specialized po-lice deployments to Haiti.
The discussions covered contingent-owned equipment, shipment arrangements and reimbursement-related issues associated with the deployment.
Khare praised Bangladesh’s significant contributions to UN peacekeeping and peace building operations and assured the minister of continued operational support for Bangladeshi peacekeepers, according to a press release received here yesterday.
