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US refuses to give diplomatic status to press minister
The government is in an embarrassing situation over the appointment
of a Bangladeshi-born US citizen as minister (press) at the Bangladesh
embassy in Washington as the US government has refused to give him diplomatic
status. US law does not allow its citizens to serve as diplomats of
other countries. A couple of months back, the information ministry on
instruction from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) appointed US citizen
Golam Arshad as minister (press) because of his close political links
to a powerful circle in the government, sources mentioned.
It is surprising that papers relating to his appointment passed through
at least seven stages without being detected that Arshad is a US citizen
holding passport of that country. Arshad had come to Dhaka in April
and obtained a Bangladeshi diplomatic passport concealing that he holds
US passport, sources said. But the US embassy did not grant him visa
against the diplomatic passport as it identified him to be a US citizen.
He then returned to US and started working at the Bangladesh embassy.
But the situation became complicated as the US government did not give
him diplomatic status and also prohibited his entry to State Department
and other government offices, sources in the foreign and information
ministries said. The information ministry is now going to decide whether
the minister (press) will continue in his job without diplomatic status
or his appointment will be cancelled.
Source: The
Daily Star.
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