U.S. to inquire whether Khaleda under house arrest

Washington, Jan. 3 (NsNewsWire) — The U.S. government will inquire into the whereabouts of the leader of the opposition in Bangladesh to make sure whether the ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia really remained under house arrest since the last week.

“I don’t think that I do. I can check with our team and see – I don’t have anything on that. I’m happy to check with our folks,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Marie Harf, told reporters at Daily Press Briefing in Washington DC on Jan. 2, 2014.

TRANSCRIPT:

QUESTION: One more on Bangladesh. Do you have any update on the current situation in Bangladesh?

MS. HARF: I don’t have a lot of an update from when I think when we talked about this on Monday. As I said then and I still will repeat it today, we believe it’s even more urgent than ever for the major parties to redouble their efforts to engage in constructive dialogue. They need to find a way forward, to hold free and fair elections that are credible, and violence is not acceptable – never acceptable – because it subverts the democratic process.

We – there are parliamentary elections this weekend, as I understand. We will not be deploying observers for this election. We’re disappointed that the major political parties have not yet reached a consensus on a way to hold free, fair, and credible elections. Obviously, that’s what we’re encouraging, and we will keep monitoring the situation and engaging as necessary.

QUESTION: More than half of the seats in Bangladesh parliament are remaining uncontested because, one, major political parties are not contesting the election. Would you recognize the election results?

MS. HARF: I don’t want to get ahead of what we’ll say in response to the election results. As I’ve been clear, they haven’t taken steps to hold free, fair, and credible elections, so clearly that’s not a good sign. But I don’t want to prejudge the outcome or what we’ll say afterwards.

QUESTION: Do you have anything to say on the house arrest of the leader of the opposition?

MS. HARF: I don’t think that I do. I can check with our team and see – I don’t have anything on that. I’m happy to check with our folks.

Yes, sorry. I will go back to you.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MS. HARF: You’re welcome.