& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Security, or lack of it?

By Staff Correspondent
No reason was given either by the US or by the Bangladesh officials as to what prompted some major changes in the itinerary of President Bill Clinton’s visit here.
The Itinerary was kept under wraps by both the sides. Details were released by the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Internet site of the White House at 'whltehouse.gov' several hours prior to the arrival of the US President.
A major change in the itinerary was made by dropping the visit to a Grameen Bank project and a BRAC school at Joypura. The CNN. quoting White House sources, said in its Sunday night bulletin that the programme was dropped.
It said that the visit to Joypura was cancelled because of security concerns raised by US Secret Sendee as they could not ensure security at the town (Joypura).
Officials of both BRAC and Grameen said they were informed only hours before the US President s arrival that the programme was cancelled with a request to ’replicate’ part of the programme on the US embassy premises.
The visit to Savar National Memorial was also dropped for unknown reasons. No government official could give any reason for this. Everyone said the US President would be going there sometime later in the day. •
From Page 1
The US President did not arrive in the special Boeing which is called the Air Force One. His aircraft was kept parked at Delhi. Instead, he arrived in Dhaka in a smaller jet.
For purpose of Identification. any aircraft used by the US President is called Air Force One and his helicopter Marine One. The US Presidential fleet to Dhaka also Included a.C 17 Globemaster, a C-130 aircraft and a Northwest 747.
On arrival at the Zia International Airport, the President was whisked away by the US Secret Service and was led Into a 'land cruiser ’ instead of one of the two limousines, all flown from the US. This method of using 'decoy cars' was resorted to more than twice during his visit, sources said.
A surveillance aircraft was kept flying for 12 hours from 10 in the morning. It landed only once for refuelling. Other spotter aircraft and helicopters were kept flying in the air while the US President was moving in the city by road.
Despite such high security measures taken by the US, which engaged several advance teams for many days, the reasons for changes in the programme could not be known. A well placed source said it was not unlikely that wrong information or 'disinformation' by interested quarters may have led to some programme casual-
fies.
A highly placed security official when asked said. "Bangladesh is. security wise, very safe. We/can provide absolute security cover in any particular place in the country. It is up to the guest to accept or not."
When asked by a newsman at j the joint press briefing yester- ’ day afternoon. President Clinton did not give any direct reply on the issue.
An American reporter asked him: "Sir. can you tell us what security concerns prompted you to cancel your trip to the village (Joypura) today? And are you confident it will not happen again on this trip, particularly in Pakistan?
Clinton replied. “The answer to the first part of your question is. No I won’t, because I don’t think I can. I should." But let me (tell) that 1 thought it was very important for me to come here. And I think it's important for the United States to see its friends and to work for a future. I regret that I could not go to the village. And I'm delighted rthat the villagers are coming to see me because it will give me a chance to highlight something the American press has heard me talk about many times. ' which is that the whole micro-credit movement in the world j basically began here in Bangladesh with the Grameen Bank nearly 20 years ago--maybe more than that now."