Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud announced that Washington had informed the Bangladesh embassy about the sanctions on former army chief General Aziz Ahmed (retired) prior to making the information public. However, these sanctions are not related to the US-declared visa policy but are imposed under a different act.
The foreign minister made these remarks on Tuesday afternoon during the ‘Meet the Reporters’ event organized by the Dhaka Reporters Unity.
The United States has imposed the ban on Aziz Ahmed based on allegations of corruption. In a statement released on Monday in the US (after midnight on Tuesday in Bangladesh), it was declared that Aziz Ahmed and his family members are now ineligible to enter the United States.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated, “The US Department of State announced today the public designation of former General Aziz Ahmed, previously Chief of the Bangladesh Army Staff, due to his involvement in significant corruption. His actions have contributed to the undermining of Bangladesh’s democratic institutions and the public’s faith in public institutions and processes. These public designations are made under Section 7031(c) of the annual Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.”
This designation renders Aziz Ahmed and his family members generally ineligible to enter the United States, the statement concluded.
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