Biswal likely here on May 4

Nisha Desai Biswal, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, is likely to arrive here on May 4 to discuss ways how the counter terrorism cooperation between Bangladesh and the United States can be taken forward further, reports the UNB.

 

Biswal wants to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan during the visit, said a diplomatic source.

 

However, there is still no official announcement about the visit and her engagements are yet to be finalized.

 

Biswal will leave on May 5, according to the source.

 

On Thursday night, US Secretary of State John Kerry phoned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and requested her to take necessary steps to bring the perpetrators of Kalabagan murder to trial.

 

According to the Prime Minister's Press Wing, John Kerry talked to Sheikh Hasina or 16 minutes from 9:04 pm to 9.20 pm and exchanged pleasantries.

 

John Kerry said he would send US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asian Affairs Nisa Desai Biswal to Bangladesh to further bolster the cooperation on counter terrorism.

 

Earlier on Monday night, Xulhaz Mannan, 35, a USAID staff and former protocol officer of the US Ambassador, and his friend Mahbub Tanay, 25, were hacked to death in their flat at Kalabagan.

 

Reiterating that her government condemns any kind of killing, the Prime Minister said one of the two victims of Kalabagan killings was a close relative of a former foreign minister of Bangladesh.

 

She said Bangladesh has mutual cooperation on counter terrorism with many countries of the world, including the USA, and under such cooperation, the FBI came to Bangladesh.