Latif Siddiqui \\\'in New York again\\\'

Telecoms Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui, who is facing the axe over his anti-Hajj rant, has reportedly returned to New York from Mexico. Government officials have been tightlipped on the matter, but several expatriate Bangladeshis confirmed that they had seen Latif Siddiqui going to the City’s Queens area in a cab. A ‘Tangail Samiti’ member said his arrival was not being publicised in the USA as various organisations of expatriates had been agitating against Siddiqui’s remarks. An expatriate Bangladeshi said Siddiqui landed at John F Kennedy Airport on Friday morning local time. No activists of the Awami League turned up to greet him, neither any government vehicles were there to pick him. He hired a cab and went to Queens, several expatriates said. When approached, Bangladesh’s permanent UN envoy AKA Momen said he had no knowledge of Siddiqui’s visit as he was not on the prime minister’s entourage. Bangladesh Consul General in New York Shamim Ahsan said Latif Siddiqui had flown to Mexico on Sept 29. ‘I was not officially told anything after that. I don’t know if he had returned to New York,’ according to a news agency.