& 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

Morshed blames global politics for OIC defeat

Says SQ Chy's comment on Jewish machination not govt version

Staff Correspondent
Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan yesterday blamed a number of recent developments in global politics for Bangladesh's defeat in the election to the post of secretary general of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).
"There was no single reason for the defeat; instead, a number of changes in the world scenario caused it," he said without elaboration. The defeat, however, will not change Dhaka's role in the OIC, Morshed said at a press conference at his foreign ministry office.
"Although Bangladesh received verbal or written support from 30 countries before the election, the minds of the voters changed following many developments in the global scenario," he said.
Bangladesh declared its candidature in March last year and by that time a war started in Iraq which caused new polarisation in the world politics, Morshed explained.
The war split the Middle East into many groups on many issues. "Each country takes its position in line with national self-interest and global scenario," he observed. "Still, Bangladesh will try to play its vital role in the organisation," he said.
"Even after the defeat, we have assured the newly elected secretary general of our full co-operation in performing his duty and upholding the causes of Muslim Ummah."
He also brushed aside the notion that vying for the post alongside Malaysia will strain bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Malaysia. "The foreign minister of Malaysia will come to Dhaka very soon to talk about strengthening bilateral issues, " he told journalists responding to a query.
Asked whether manpower export to Malaysia stopped after Bangladesh threw its candidate for the OIC post, the foreign minister said Kuala Lumpur did not resume manpower recruitment from any of the countries with whom it signed Memorandum of Understanding recently.
Khan also ruled out any negative impact on Dhaka's relations with some important OIC members following the statement of defeated candidate Salauddin Quader Chowdhury that the proIsrael lobby won the election.
"The statement made by the Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was completely his personal opinion which has nothing to do with the government or the state's stand in
this regard."
He expressed his ignorance about the role of Israel or any force outside the OIC in determining who will be the next secretary general. "The Israel issue also never featured in any of our discussions," he claimed. Asked if the US had any role in the election, the foreign minister replied in the negative.
Explaining Bangladesh's debacle in the election, the foreign minister said there were many reasons for the defeat including some regional grouping in the organisation. There are at least three groupings in the OIC looking after the interests of Asian, African and Arab countries.
The recent Arab League conference possibly helped change the mind of many Arab countries in this regard. There were also many backstage parleys centring the election, the minister said without elaborating. Besides, the proximity of Turkey to the trouble point Middle East might have swung the Arab votes in Turkey's favour.
Morshed said this is for the first time that the process of democrati-sation of the OIC has initiated following the direct election for the post and Bangladesh can claim the credit for democratising the OIC by participating in the election.
Earlier, only some influential groups in the organisation played the decisive role, he said.
The foreign minister also declined to accept the suggestion that the recent visit of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ended in futility. Morshed said Rumsfeld never asked Bangladesh to send its soldiers to Iraq, as every country is capable of making its own decision.
Morshed is leaving Dhaka for China via Bangkok today to attend the ACD (Asian Cooperation Dialogue) Foreign Minister's meeting and is likely to return home on June 30.