Bangladesh interim authority Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus is said to have made at least two concerted attempts over the past month-and-a-half to constrain the functioning of Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman who was told not to proceed for a five-day visit to the US that was scheduled to begin on May 11.
In a sudden development, Pakistan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Syed Amed Maroof left for Islamabad on leave on May 11. Sources said Maroof’s sudden departure was a consequence of his association with a 23-year-old Bangladesh Bank (central bank) employee. Northeast News is in possession of a document that establishes his departure.
Maroof, who had lodged himself in a Cox’s Bazar hotel during his two-day visit (May 9-10) to the coastal town, before meeting representatives of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), left for Pakistan in a T-shirt and jeans.
Authoritative sources in the Bangladesh interim government revealed that files were processed on two occasions, but this did not bear fruit considering that Gen Zaman has considerable clout and support among some of the other senior officers and at least six General Officers Commanding (GOCs).
The sources said that Gen Zaman’s hosts in the US, the organisers of the Land Forces Pacific (LANPAC) Symposium and Exposition-25, have also conveyed their regrets to him. This four-day conference was scheduled to start on May 11 at Honolulu in Hawaii. Subsequently, it was “made known” that Gen Zaman would head on a month-long tour to the US and proceed for Hajj.
The sources said that Gen Zaman met the “all important” Savar-based 9th Infantry Division GOC Maj Gen Moin Khan and the Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Mizanur Rahman Shamim, who was handpicked by him as the GOC 9th Infantry Division when he took over on June 23, 2024.
Gen Zaman was sounded out verbally by Yunus not to proceed for the US tour. While Gen Zaman, who was to take a Turkish Airlines flight to the US, remained grounded, Principal Staff Officer in the Armed Forces Division Lt Gen Kamrul Hassan met American Embassy Charge d’Affaires Tracey Ann Jacobson around 7:35 pm on May 11. This meeting, which was held at the US Embassy in Dhaka’s Baridhara neighbourhood, lasted nearly two hours.
The respective mission heads of the US (Jacobson), the UK (High Commissioner Sarah Cooke, European Union (Ambassador Michael Miller), Australia (High Commissioner Susan Ryle) and Canada (High Commissioner Ajit Singh) met Yunus this afternoon at the latter’s office in Dhaka’s Tejgaon area.
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This was preceded by a meeting between Directorate General of Forces Intelligence Director General Maj Gen Jahangir Alam’s meeting with Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen.
