06-21-2004, 10:24 PM
Why did Rumsfeld visit Bangladesh, in June 2004?
Kalyanaraman
Rumsfeld: Bangladesh may not send troops
June 05 2004 at 04:48PM
By Charles Aldinger
Dhaka - United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held talks on peacekeeping in Iraq with Bangladeshi leaders on Saturday, but told reporters he had not asked the moderate Muslim country to send peacekeeping troops to Iraq.
Rumsfeld, winding up a whirlwind Asian trip, met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan and senior military officers.
The secretary told reporters travelling with him that he discussed both Iraq and Afghanistan with the leaders of the country, which has a tradition of sending peacekeeping troops around the world under United Nations mandate.
'We believe that what they're doing is a very good thing for the world'
"We talked a good deal about the fact that Bangladesh is probably among the countries that has the highest number of peacekeeping forces around the world," Rumsfeld said. "They are, at any given time, in four or five different locations."
"We believe that what they're doing is a very good thing for the world and encourage them in that."
The United States and Britain are pressing for a new UN resolution under which the world body might authorise an international peacekeeping force in Iraq, but Rumsfeld refused to say whether or not he intended to ask Bangladesh - the world's eighth most populous country and one of the poorest - for peacekeepers.
"If I answer that question and say 'yes', obviously it would suggest that I've asked them, which I haven't. And if I said 'no', it would imply that we didn't want them," he said. "In either case, it would be unfortunate."
"I have a lot of respect for the peacekeeping role that this country has played in a number of places," Rumsfeld said.
'In either case, it would be unfortunate'
An American defence official told reporters aboard Rumsfeld's aircraft that "there are talks ongoing" between Washington and Dhaka.
"Bangladesh prefers to put their troops under a UN command. We think that's where they are now. I think there's room for discussion," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
On Friday, Khan had said his country would not send troops to any country "on behalf or against anyone."
Speaking to an Asian security conference in Singapore earlier on Saturday, Rumsfeld denied Washington was pressing its Asian allies to support the occupying force in Iraq.
Authorities clamped tight security over the capital Dhaka during Rumsfeld's stay, which coincided with an opposition-led general strike.
Dhaka officials said they considered Rumsfeld's visit as a seal of American trust for Bangladesh's firm stance against terrorism and recognition for the Muslim-majority country as a moderate democracy.
Thousands of Islamic activists and supporters of left-wing political parties staged noisy protests in the capital on Friday and Saturday to denounce Rumsfeld's visit and voice opposition to Bangladeshi troops going to Iraq.
They burnt American flags and chanted anti-US slogans before police drove them away, witnesses said.
Additional reporting by Anis Ahmed
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=12...37B215&set_id=1
Kalyanaraman
Rumsfeld: Bangladesh may not send troops
June 05 2004 at 04:48PM
By Charles Aldinger
Dhaka - United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held talks on peacekeeping in Iraq with Bangladeshi leaders on Saturday, but told reporters he had not asked the moderate Muslim country to send peacekeeping troops to Iraq.
Rumsfeld, winding up a whirlwind Asian trip, met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan and senior military officers.
The secretary told reporters travelling with him that he discussed both Iraq and Afghanistan with the leaders of the country, which has a tradition of sending peacekeeping troops around the world under United Nations mandate.
'We believe that what they're doing is a very good thing for the world'
"We talked a good deal about the fact that Bangladesh is probably among the countries that has the highest number of peacekeeping forces around the world," Rumsfeld said. "They are, at any given time, in four or five different locations."
"We believe that what they're doing is a very good thing for the world and encourage them in that."
The United States and Britain are pressing for a new UN resolution under which the world body might authorise an international peacekeeping force in Iraq, but Rumsfeld refused to say whether or not he intended to ask Bangladesh - the world's eighth most populous country and one of the poorest - for peacekeepers.
"If I answer that question and say 'yes', obviously it would suggest that I've asked them, which I haven't. And if I said 'no', it would imply that we didn't want them," he said. "In either case, it would be unfortunate."
"I have a lot of respect for the peacekeeping role that this country has played in a number of places," Rumsfeld said.
'In either case, it would be unfortunate'
An American defence official told reporters aboard Rumsfeld's aircraft that "there are talks ongoing" between Washington and Dhaka.
"Bangladesh prefers to put their troops under a UN command. We think that's where they are now. I think there's room for discussion," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
On Friday, Khan had said his country would not send troops to any country "on behalf or against anyone."
Speaking to an Asian security conference in Singapore earlier on Saturday, Rumsfeld denied Washington was pressing its Asian allies to support the occupying force in Iraq.
Authorities clamped tight security over the capital Dhaka during Rumsfeld's stay, which coincided with an opposition-led general strike.
Dhaka officials said they considered Rumsfeld's visit as a seal of American trust for Bangladesh's firm stance against terrorism and recognition for the Muslim-majority country as a moderate democracy.
Thousands of Islamic activists and supporters of left-wing political parties staged noisy protests in the capital on Friday and Saturday to denounce Rumsfeld's visit and voice opposition to Bangladeshi troops going to Iraq.
They burnt American flags and chanted anti-US slogans before police drove them away, witnesses said.
Additional reporting by Anis Ahmed
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=12...37B215&set_id=1