Dhaka keen to send Ansar, BDR to UN missions

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be requested by home ministry to raise the issue of sending members of Ansar and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) to United Nation's (UN) peacekeeping missions when she attends the UN's 65th general assembly next month.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Home Minister Sahara Khatun at her ministry yesterday afternoon, the meeting sources said.
At the last general assembly, the prime minister drew UN's attention to send the Form Police Unit (FPU) compromised of women members of Bangladesh Police.
Responding to her call, the UN gave permission to send the women of FPU. Presently, 150 policewomen of FPU are engaged in UN peacekeeping operation in Haiti.
The meeting also formed a 4-member committee headed by Additional Secretary of the home ministry Iqbal Khan Chowdhury to examine the possibility of sending members of Ansar and BDR to UN peacekeeping missions.
Three other members of the committee are Benazir Ahmed, deputy inspector general (DIG) of administration at Police Headquarters, Lt Col Nasim of BDR and Mizanur Rahman, deputy director general of Ansar and Village Defense Party (VDP).
The committee will find out ways to send members of Ansar and BDR as Form Ansar Unit and Form BDR Unit in consultation with the UN through foreign ministry.
Official sources said 15 Ansars were sent to UN peacekeeping mission in 2005 as members of Armed Police Battalion.
According to existing UN policy, there is no provision to send members of Ansar and BDR to peacekeeping missions.
Presently, around 12,000 members of Bangladesh's armed forces and nearly 2000 members of Bangladesh Police are successfully participating in different peacekeeping missions.
Inspector general of police, director generals of BDR and Ansar and concerned officials attended the meeting.