WASHINGTON, 13 October 2005 — Bangladesh is appealing to the United States to help its police agencies better fight attacks by Islamic militants, the foreign secretary said Tuesday.
Hemayet Uddin said Bangladeshi law enforcement officials are poorly equipped, motivated and paid, and “prove no match to these elements, these criminals.”
The reference was in part to a string of bombings on Aug. 17 and Oct. 3 that left four people dead and injured dozens across the South Asian country.
“We need help in tracking down these people and eliminating them. This is what the government is trying to do. We’ll do it if you come and help us,” he said at a gathering at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington think tank.
Authorities blamed the attacks on extremists looking to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh, which is governed largely by secular laws. Police have arrested hundreds of suspects, including some senior clerics, but leaders of the banned groups remain fugitives. The Bangladeshi ambassador to United States, Shamsher Chowdhury, said his government has been talking with US government officials about extending cooperation on police training and getting better equipment and technology to fight militants.
The ambassador said the talks are still young and declined to detail specifics. The efforts are part of a “continuous process ... to draw up a more specific long-term cooperation program, which will include training, financing, funding and provision of equipment from the United States.” The foreign secretary praised his country for expanding womens’ rights, providing microcredit to poor, water supplies and serving as one of the world’s strongest Muslim-majority democracies.
