Bangladesh Interim Chief Hopes for Polls Ahead of Schedule – TV

Text of report by Bangladeshi NTV on 24 September

[Newsreader] Bangladesh caretaker government Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said polls will be held before December 2008 if the election commission can complete the voters roll earlier than it had planned. This came during a meeting with Joseph Crowley, the chief of Bangladesh Caucus in the US.

Dr Ahmed met Mr Crowley when he reached New York yesterday on an official visit to attend the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). He arrived at the John F Kennedy International Airport, New York at 8.30 am [US time] on an Emirates Airlines flight.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Humayun Kabir and Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the UN Ismat Jahan welcomed the chief adviser at the airport.

The chief adviser is leading a high-powered delegation that includes Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumdar and Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim.

Dr Ahmed was taken to the Intercontinental Barclay New York Hotel in a special motorcade.

As his first official programme, on September 24, the chief adviser is to attend an informal reception hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. He will co-chair a session on climate change with the Dutch Prime Minister.

Originally published by NTV, Dhaka, in Bengali 0600 24 Sep 07.

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