July 25, 2006 (Dhaka): In a statement to the Overseas Correspondents Association of Bangladesh last week, Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan said, “We are deeply concerned over the current situation in the Middle East. We feel the world community should come forward to restrain the state terrorism of Israeli aggression on Lebanon and the people of Palestine.” Khan also referred to Israeli action as “fundamentalism and religious terrorism.” Khan also mockingly referred to the United States as the “guardian of democracy,” then accused it of holding a “double standard” favoring Israel and of sponsoring the Israeli action.

Well-informed sources inside Bangladesh report that the Foreign Minister’s remarks stunned many in the government and left them confused as to his motives. Reportedly, the Prime Minister and others were furious as Khan’s comments undermine a message of Bangladesh as a moderate Islamic country, which the government promotes, especially to the United States. “With even many Arab states more critical of Hezbollah than Israel,” said one Bangladeshi, “the Foreign Minister’s remarks try to put Bangladesh in the radical camp.”

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