"Bangladesh provides the largest number of peacekeepers for the UN and if we fail to establish peace in our own country, all our efforts would go in vain," he told reporters at the Zia International Airport on his return from Commonwealth Summit in Malta.

Asked about the country's image abroad in view of frequent bombings by militants in the country, the foreign minister said, "Political leadership must rise above party politics to face it jointly." He also observed that terrorism would spread like cancer, engulfing the entire nation if the parties fail to contain this menace unitedly.

About his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at Vatican City on his way to Malta, Morshed said the Pope appreciated the longstanding communal harmony in Bangla-desh and told him that people of Bangladesh would always be in his (Pope) prayers.

Turning to the Commonwealth Summit held on November 25-27, he said Bangladesh's proposal to establish disaster management programme among the Commonwealth nations was accepted and the summit agreed on cooperation among the member states on developing early warning system and post-disaster management.

On the upcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, which will decide the next course of world trade, the foreign minister said Bangladesh wants special treatment for trade following the European Union's Everything But Arms (EBA) policy.

Bangladesh has made its point clear that LDC (least developed country) products should have free access to the markets of the developed nations as well as of the developing nations like China and India, he added.

Morshed said the deliberations on the trade issue at the Common-wealth Summit will have positive impact on the WTO ministerial meeting in mid-December towards addressing the concerns of the LDCs.

Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin, Director General of External Publicity Wing Zahirul Haque and other high officials were present at the time.