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Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said the government is hopeful of resolving the US sanction issue.
“Bangladesh is a victorious nation. We overcome many troubles in the past. Such trouble arises off and on and we faced them successfully” the minister said while responding to a question on how does the government is handling the sanction issue on Friday.
The US government recently imposed designated sanctions on seven top police officials including the present IGP for their role while serving the RAB.
The minister, who was talking to the newsmen after a programme in the city, said the US State Department had praised RAB on various aspects for its contribution to curbing terrorism and militancy.
“State Department has admitted that in the recent years the RAB has been able to clamp down terrorist activities from the country.
“Curbing terrorism, drug trafficking, and human trafficking across the country are some of the objectives of the US State Department. And the RAB has been doing these things successfully” the minister said hoping the US State Department will take these issues into consideration.
“RAB has also earned people’s trust. So I think the US will understand these aspects and then their position will be changed,” Dr Momen added.
Replying to a question, the minister said appointing lobbyists is a common practice in the USA.
Asked from when and which firm was appointed by Bangladesh in the USA as a lobbyist, the foreign minister said he had no specific knowledge about the issue.
Replying to another query whether BNP engaged a lobbyist firm in the USA, he said anybody has the right to engage a lobbyist firm there.
‘But I do not know about that. I heard it from the media” he added.
He noted that Bangladesh emerged as an independent country due to its people’s hunger for democracy.
“When their voices were curbed people started their struggle for independence. So historically, our people are keen to follow democratic values and rule of law”.
“No democracy is flawless. Even sometimes, democracy gets stumbled in matured democratic countries like the US. So if there is any gap in our democratic process we will surely try to remove the gap”.
He claimed that in Bangladesh democracy now reaches to grass root level after a prolonged journey.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen inaugurated the international conference on "Law & Legal Education During and Post-Pandemic" held in BILIA Auditorium.
The conference was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) and the Asian Association of Law Professors (AALP).
Chairman of BILIA Barrister M. Amir-Ul Islam, Ambassador Muhammad Zamir, Professor & Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka Dr. Md. Rahmat Ullah and Director of BILIA Professor Dr. Mizanur Rahman spoke among others in the inaugural ceremony of the conference.
In his speech in the programme, the foreign minister said to check the spread of Covid pandemic, a string of rules were enforced which were non-compliant with the people’s freedom of movement.
He urged the legal expo to codify the rules in such a manner so that people’s rights can be protected at a maximum level.