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