Bangladesh, RI cooperate on Islam

Bangladesh, RI cooperate on Islam

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh and Indonesia have pledged to work together to stop the words Islam and terrorism becoming synonymous, Foreign Minister Morshed Khan said on Wednesday.

Khan was quoted by the official news agency BSS as saying the two countries needed to correct the false notion that Islam and terrorism were automatically connected.

Khan was briefing reporters on Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's visit to Indonesia earlier this week.

He added that Dhaka and Jakarta had also agreed to share intelligence in the fight against terrorism.

The subject is a sensitive one in Bangladesh, which has consistently challenged what it considers attempts to besmirch its reputation as a moderate Muslim nation.

In 2002, the government furiously denounced an article in Time magazine alleging that Bangladesh had harbored Taliban and al- Qaeda members. The article was based on unnamed sources. -- AFP