Taranco, Nisha Desai talk BD political situation

Resuming his role as a mediator in a changed situation now, United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez Taranco discussed with United States Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal the ongoing political impasse in Bangladesh.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, disclosed the holding of a meeting between the two in Washington, DC, on February 11 on assignment from the chief executive of the world body.  
The UN spokesperson made the disclosure on February 12 while responding to a question from a journalist at the daily press briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.      
In response to a question on Bangladesh at the briefing, he said Assistant Secretary-General in charge of Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, as part of his functions, is in regular contact with member-states, including the United States (US).
In his meeting with Ms Nisha Biswal, Mr Taranco discussed, among other issues, the situation in Bangladesh, expressing concern about the escalation of violence and stressing the need for peaceful de-escalation of the situation.
The senior UN executive had played the go-between to disengage the two battling political camps led by Awami League and BNP before the January 5, 2014 general election and forge a consensus on the issue, but to no avail.     
The election, boycotted by the latter, brought the AL and its allies to power. And the standoff resumed after the lapse of a year of relative peace, as the boycotting BNP and its allies eventually launched a nonstop blockade programme for fresh polls.                  
When the spokesperson's attention was drawn over the confinement of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and the latest move for not allowing food inside her Gulshan office, he said, obviously, the Secretary General was concerned about the situation.
"He's calling for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing political tensions that we see, and it is something that his Assistant Secretary General, Mr Taranco, is following closely," he further said.
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