DHAKA - Bangladesh on Monday defended its handover to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of an American-born Bangladeshi to face possible terror charges. Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 19, who has US-Bangladeshi citizenship, was arrested in the capital Dhaka last week. “Sadequee’s activities were suspicious so we have deported him,” Home Minister Lutfozzaman Babar told reporters. | I'd say you'd really have to try hard to stand out in Bangladesh |
“This type of deportation is not the first we have done. In the past we have deported many people on a regular basis. Every year we deport five to seven people,” Babar said. The US ambassador to Bangladesh declined to comment on the case.
CNN earlier quoted unnamed law enforcement sources as saying Sadequee’s detention was linked to the arrest of US student Syed Haris Ahmed, 21, who was indicted last month in Atlanta by a grand jury on a charge of “material support of terrorism.” US attorney David Nahmias said in a statement the case against Ahmed “involves national security” and was “the first international terrorism charge” to be filed in Georgia state.
US court papers unsealed on Friday alleged Sadequee travelled with Ahmed, a Pakistan-born American, to Canada to meet “like-minded Islamic extremists” to plan an attack against the US, the New York Times newspaper said. | Canada, huh? How's that "Friendship Fence" coming? |
Sadequee’s father Sardar Mohammad Sharif, who was in Dhaka when his son was arrested, told AFP he was not involved in any terrorist activities. “My son is clean. He’s not involved with any terror organisation. But like most of his family, he’s a devout Muslim ... He knows the Koran by heart,” he said. | Well, that certainly makes me feel safer |
Bangladesh has been an ally in US President George BushÂ’s war against terrorism and has cooperated closely with Washington on security matters. |