Talks with Haas: Home ministry explains the purpose of meeting

A range of topics, including the upcoming elections, the October 28 rally, the ongoing Durga Puja, Rohingya crisis and similar issues, were discussed between US Ambassador Peter Haas and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Sunday.

The discussion took place in an affable environment, said the home ministry in a statement yesterday.

The statement was issued in response to a US embassy statement on Sunday night which stated the subject of road closures in Dhaka surrounding the October 28 rally was not discussed between the home boss and the US envoy.

"Ambassador Haas expressed the importance of peaceful demonstrations and interference-free participation in the political process," a statement from the US Embassy in Dhaka read.

In response, the ministry clarified that the US ambassador had a courtesy meeting with the minister around 2:30pm on Sunday. During this interaction, the ambassador inquired about the mentioned issues and sought the minister's opinions on those matters.

Following the courtesy meeting, the minister conducted a media briefing. In the context of subsequent questions from journalists, the minister responded to various queries, based on the theme of the discussion. Besides, he answered various questions that were not discussed in the meeting, the home ministry statement reads.

On Sunday, the home minister told journalists following their meeting that the US envoy asked him whether the government plans to close roads or do something else when BNP tries to bring a lot of people to its October 28 rally.

The minister then went on to say he told Haas the government had no intentions of closing roads during the BNP's grand rally on October 28.