On Thursday (October 12), a new discussion has started in politics centered on a news of the ‘Meeting of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir with US Ambassador Peter Haas’ in Dhaka. On this day in the afternoon in Baridhara, the meeting was held for about one and a half hours, according to various media reports. After the day-long discussion, BNP informed the media in the evening, ‘No such meeting took place. Total lies and rumors are being spread.’
Speaking to Bangla Tribune, multiple political sources of BNP said that Mirza Fakhrul had a one-to-one meeting with Peter Haas on Thursday. No one other than BNP Acting Chairman Tariq Rahman is aware of that meeting. And because of this, the senior leaders of the party became jealous. After leaving the meeting, Mirza Fakhrul joined the student convention at the Engineers Institution in the capital.
Reluctant to reveal the name and party identity, one of the BNP mentioned that politically, what the United States wants is to put the ruling Awami League and the main opposition BNP at the same table ahead of the 12th National Parliament elections. As part of that effort, the United States pre-election observation team is negotiating with political parties, especially Awami League and BNP, trying to bring them to an agreement.
BNP has already said that it will not sit in any discussion without the issue of the government during the election. At the same time, Awami League also said that there will be no dialogue. The delegation is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Friday (October 13). Before this, the visiting delegation will also go to the Dhanmondi office of the Awami League president. Although the positions of the two parties are openly contradictory, the United States is trying to bring the two sides to a compromise.
In this initiative, the news of ‘Pitas Haas meeting with Mirza Fakhrul’ came to the fore. A new dimension was added to this information earlier on Thursday evening. On this day, at the Dhaka Metropolitan South Awami League’s peace and development rally at Bangabandhu Avenue, Obaidul Quader, the general secretary of the party, said, ‘What is the use of these (BNP-Peter Haas meetings) when everything is over? Stop the election by showing Peter Haas, riot in Dhaka, don’t let that game be played. That game is a game of terror. Talks with those who are America’s mentors are over.’
Although Mirza Fakhrul claimed in multiple media, no such meeting took place on Thursday. When asked about this, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the Bangla Tribune at around 8:30 on Thursday night, ‘These are nonsense, no meeting took place. False talk.’
Shayrul Kabir Khan, a member of BNP’s media cell, told reporters, ‘The news about the meeting of the BNP Secretary General with the US ambassador is misleading. No such meeting took place. Total lies and rumors are being spread.’
Asked whether BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul had any meeting with US Ambassador Peter Haas, the spokesperson of the US Embassy in Dhaka, Brian Schiller, told the Bangla Tribune on Thursday evening, ‘Ambassador Haas regularly meets with various classes of people in Bangladesh, including government officials and ordinary citizens. We publicize these meetings when appropriate.’
Brian Schiller mentioned in the email given to this reporter of Bangla Tribune, the request to keep an eye on the Facebook and X of the embassy to know about the activities of the ambassador and the employees of the US Embassy in Dhaka.
The head of several parties involved in the simultaneous movement with the BNP and the party told the Bengali Tribune that the news of the meeting came to light on Thursday afternoon. BNP does not want to bring forward the news of the meeting due to any special reason related to diplomatic etiquette.
An influential state intelligence source told the Bangla Tribune around 9:30 on Thursday night that the meeting between Peter Haas and Mirza Fakhrul was held at the American Club.
According to the source, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, US Ambassador Pete Haas and Political and Economic Counselor of the US Embassy Arthur Hines met at the American Club in Gulshan today from 12:50 to 1:50.
