Khaleda reaches NY

NEW YORK, May 22 (bdnews24.com): BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has reached New York ending her week-long visit to London. She touched down at John F Kennedy International Airport at 3pm Saturday (local time) by a Virgin Atlantic Airlines flight. America-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries Director Hasanuzzaman Hasan said Bangladesh Embassy in Washington's official Mohammad Jasim Uddin and Consul of Bangladesh Mission in New York Mohammad Sahedul Haque welcomed her at the airport. Khaleda last visited New York as prime minister to join the United Nations General Assembly in 2005. She will be staying at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Party leaders Osman Farruk, Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Abdul Awal Mintoo and Maruf Kamal Khan are among those accompanying the opposition chief on her US tour. She is expected to attend a reception to be accorded by the Bangladeshi diaspora in the US at the New York Sheraton Hotel at 7pm local time Sunday. Earlier, a good number of Bangladeshi expatriates welcomed Khaleda outside the airport while the US Awami League supporters protested by waving black flags. Khaleda, who left Dhaka for London on May 14, is expected to return home on May 29.