Bangladesh Army Chief to address all 'available officers' on Tuesday: Reports

Dhaka, May 19 (IANS) In a significant development, the US Charge d'affaires to Bangladesh Tracey Ann Jacobson on Monday met Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman in a bid to make what sources termed as the "last-ditch attempt" to convince Dhaka on the criticality of a 'humanitarian corridor' on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

Jacobson was joined by senior US officials, including Political and Economic Counselor Eric Geelan and Defence Attache Lt. Col. Michael DeMichiei, during the meeting.

Interestingly, it has been revealed that General Zaman will address all "available officers" in Dhaka at the Army's Senaprangan facility at 9:30 am BST on May 20.

The Army authorities have issued instructions that the attending officers must be dressed in their "combat uniforms". Following this meeting, Zaman is scheduled to hold a one-on-one meeting with Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus, the head of the current interim government in the country.

Yunus met Khalilur Rahman, the National Security Advisor and High Representative to the Chief Advisor on Rohingya Crisis and Priority Issues, and Lieutenant General Kamrul Hassan, the Principal Staff Officer in the Armed Forces Division (AFD), at his Tejgaon office on Sunday afternoon.

Sources confirmed that Yunus, Rahman and Hassan drew up a plan to use the good offices of the American Charge d'Affaires so that she could convince Army Chief Zaman to give in to the necessity of the 'humanitarian corridor' for the passage of logistics and supply of provisions to the Rakhine State in Myanmar.

Bangladeshi security service sources later said that the Army chief has not budged from his original position.

Jacobson also met Rahman in the office of the Chief Advisor on Monday afternoon.

It may be recalled that the Bangladesh Army Chief sought the immediate removal of Lt. Gen. Hassan who had rushed to meet Jacobson at the US Embassy in Dhaka's Baridhara neighbourhood.

The AFD's position on the 'humanitarian corridor' issue is that the "only way to effectively address the ongoing border security challenges, maintain a stable humanitarian corridor and reduce the burden on the BGB is by declaring the Bangladesh-Myanmar border a Military Operations Zone (MOZ)".

Sources said that AFD is in favour of allowing the Bangladesh armed forces to take "full control" of the border and secure it effectively, enabling the proper distribution of resources and freeing up the BGB for other important security tasks, including managing the border with India.

However, certain sections within the Bangladesh Army view prevailing security situation along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as an outcome of the geopolitical and geostrategic measures that the United States seeks to play by employing the Bangladesh Army in furtively backing the Arakan Army and other People's Defence Forces in Myanmar, thus pushing Dhaka in further quagmire.

--IANS

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