On the first day, he met imams at the Imam Training Academy in Uttara and discussed with them the issues like militancy and elections in Bangladesh.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Director General of Islamic Foundation Fazlur Rahman, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Patricia Butenis, Imam Training Academy Director Abul Khair and the USAID country director in Bangladesh.

Emerging from the meeting, which lasted over an hour, Boucher said he had the chance of having a meeting with the imams.

"It was a good afternoon...I think I have learned quite a lot from them (imams) and I hope to talk to people during the course of my visit to learn more about Bangladesh, to see how the US can help the people of Bangladesh as they develop," he said before getting into the car, without taking any question from the reporters.

Meeting sources told the news agency that while addressing the meeting, Boucher said Bangladesh is such a country where people are followers of Islam, but practise democracy.

Boucher praised the imams for their role on issues like dowry, terrorism, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS and health.

In the meeting, the visiting assistant secretary of state asked the attending imams some questions and also replied to some questions from them.

He wanted to know whether the imams play any role for any particular party during elections. In reply, he was told that imams do not work for any particular party, as an imam has to be acceptable to everybody.

About militancy, the US dignitary wanted to know about the role of imams on the burning issue. He was told that a few days ago, a quarter, in the name of Islam, orchestrated terrorism. "But, the imams across the country came forward together to resist terrorism."