US happy over opportunity to work with BD on terrorism

Chargé d'affaires of US embassy in Dhaka David Meale said on Monday they are grateful for the opportunity given to work with Bangladesh on terrorism, an issue that challenges many in the world, reports UNB.

"One of the most striking features to me of our ties is the extent of our cooperation to fight terrorism," he said.

David Meale further said another most striking feature is to experience first hand the breadth and depth of the relationship between the United States and Bangladesh.

The US diplomat was addressing the inaugural session of a four-day regional counterterrorism conference in the city.

David Meale said the United States has a close working relationship with the Bangladeshi police which they also value greatly. "Our countries work together in so many areas-from building our economic relationship to addressing a range of security issues of a global nature to spurring regional connectivity to facilitating the movement of our respective citizens who wish to collaborate together for business and learning."

He mentioned that the US government remained committed to working with countries in the region to develop the capacity to address terrorism.

The United States Department of Justice, Office of Prosecutorial

Assistance, Development and Training (DOJ OPDAT), and the Office of the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Programme (DOJ ICITAP), working closely with the United Nations Counterterrorism Committee (UNCTED) and the government of Bangladesh, is sponsoring a regional counterterrorism conference at the Dhaka Police Staff College at Mirpur.

The four-day international programme united top experts from the United States and the United Nations with law enforcement officials and prosecutors from the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.