'Time' report called fictitious, malicious

Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Shamser Mobin Chowdhury yesterday termed the Time magazine article on the country as "fiction" and "an orchestrated campaign" to hurt Bangladesh's democratic image.

"It is fiction and a figment of wild imagination. There is nothing to substantiate it. It's irresponsible journalism," Chowdhury told reporters at a weekly briefing.

Time in its current issue carried an article entitled Deadly Cargo that said "signs abound that Bangladesh has become a safe haven for jihadis, including Taliban and Al Qaida fighters fresh off the boat from Afghanistan".

"This is malicious. It's certainly a campaign against Bangladesh. We must resist it unitedly in our national interest," Chowdhury said. "We are an open and democratic society and foreign journalists have abused our hospitality and sought to hurt the country's image.

"We're worried about its long-term implications in terms of Bangladeshis travelling to the Middle East, Asia, Europe, North America and Australia," the foreign secretary said.

He said Time carried the article at a time when Bangladesh is recognised as a role model of communal harmony and a transparent Muslim nation and when the U.S. and Europe have praised Bangladesh for its clear stand against terrorism in all its forms.

"We stand up to our commitment to democracy, freedom of movement, free press and culture of religious tolerance," asserted the foreign secretary.

He said U.S. President George W. Bush wrote a letter to the Bangladesh president lauding the country's commitment to combating terrorism.