Manjoor Rahim named Dhaka foreign secretary

The post had been vacant after foreign secretary Hemayetuddin joined Organisation of Islamic Conference.

Bangladesh announced the appointment of AB Manjoor Rahim as the new foreign secretary while it prepares to hand over the leadership of the regional forum, SAARC, to India at the summit scheduled in April.

HT Image

Rahim was previously ambassador to Germany. His earlier appointments include Bangladesh missions in Rome, Seoul, Stockholm, Jeddah, and the Permanent Mission in New York.

The post of foreign secretary had been vacant for more than two months after foreign secretary Hemayetuddin joined the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretariat at Jeddah as its director general.

India's external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to visit in Dhaka this month to formally invite Bangladesh to attend the summit in New Delhi, scheduled on April 3-4.

Bangladesh is the current chair of the eight-nation regional forum SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and had hosted the 13th SAARC Summit here two years ago.

Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed is expected to pass on the baton of the SAARC chairmanship to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the New Age newspaper said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh also announced the appointment of Rear Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam as the new chief of the Bangladesh Navy, The Daily Star said.