United Nations (United States) (AFP) – US President Joe Biden met Tuesday with Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on the margins of the UN’s annual summit, in a show of support after an uprising toppled the country’s autocratic government.
Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was appointed as the country’s “chief advisor” in August following the bloody, student-led movement that ousted then-premier Sheikh Hasina, who has since fled the country. According to a readout provided by Bangladeshi officials, Yunus briefed Biden on how the students “rose against the tyranny of the previous government and gave their lives to create this opportunity to rebuild Bangladesh.”
The 84-year-old economist, renowned for pioneering microfinance banking services for low-income groups, said that his government would require US cooperation to help rebuild the nation. Biden acknowledged the students’ sacrifices and pledged his “full support” for Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi readout said.
The White House did not immediately release details of the conversation. Yunus also presented Biden with a book featuring paintings made by the students.
Hasina’s government was accused of widespread rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of political rivals. More than 450 people were killed in the weeks of violence leading up to her removal. Since her departure for exile in neighboring India, cabinet ministers and other senior members of Hasina’s party have been arrested, and her government’s appointees have been purged from courts and the central bank. Journalists seen as close to her regime have also been detained.
The United States had a mostly cooperative relationship with Hasina, an ally of India seen as a partner on US priorities such as battling Islamist extremists, but had criticized her backsliding on democracy.
© 2024 AFP
