Moriarty lauds Dhaka for curbing terrorism
US Ambassador in Dhaka James F Moriarty yesterday lauded the role of Bangladesh in combating terrorism and extremism.
“The government of Bangladesh is doing good job in addressing the issue of terrorism,” he said while addressing the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop in a city hotel.
Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) in assistance with Defense Institution Reform Initiative (DIRI) of USA organised the workshop titled 'Towards Developing a National Counter Terrorism Strategy for Bangladesh.'
About the importance of regional cooperation to combat terrorism, Moriarty said terrorists are crossing borders and using different countries to launch attacks in the third countries.
There is obviously a big need for regional cooperation in this regard, the US envoy said, adding every nation has to come up with a strong will to address terrorism within the countries.
He emphasised the need for increasing military and civilian interactions to build trust and establish working relationship, and also developing a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy to combat terrorism.
All the government agencies and organisations must work together to develop and implement the strategy, Moriarty said.
Addressing the function as the chief guest, lawmaker M Idris Ali, also chairman of parliamentary standing committee on defence ministry, blamed the BNP-led coalition government for terrorism acts in Bangladesh.
In recent past, he said Bangladesh has been subjected to a series of terror attacks in cultural and religious events, public meetings and in cinema halls.
“The most severe attack took place in August 2004 in a public meeting of the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina,” said Idris. The August 17, 2005 countrywide synchronised bomb attacks was a daring one on a wider scale in Bangladesh, he added.
More than 500 bombs were exploded in 300 locations in a span of only half an hour in that attack, he said.
“Two religious parties, partners of the four-party, are said to have direct link with the attacks,” he said.
Idris said the present government has taken various steps, including promulgation of Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 and Money Laundering Prevention Act 2009 to combat terrorism.
BEI President Farook Sobhan presided over the workshop. John Hansen of DIRI also spoke on the occasion.
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