Ambassadors should pay for additional security: Home Minister

Staff Reporter :
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said if the foreign diplomats want to get extra security they can get by paying money.
Responding to query to the newsmen at home ministry meeting room at secretariat he made the comment on Wednesday.
He said when the terrorism reached its highest point in the country, then we have provided special route protection of four diplomats. It was not written agreement and they did not seek to us. We have served them willingly for their security.

Home minister said we think such type of situation doesn’t remain in the country. So for that we have cancelled the special route protection of them.
Asaduzaman Khan further said if any diplomat want to extra security we will provided it by our newly formed special ANSAR guard regiment. But they have to pay for it.

When asked is there any diplomat requested for extra security, home minister said we just now disclosed the new security system. After knowing that they will ask or not you will know. Earlier, the government withdrawn ‘additional’ police escorts given to foreign mission heads in Dhaka in a move to revise their security protocols.
‘We have decided to withdraw such protection for foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka as the law and order situation here is not so bad. This is unnecessary, and so we don’t want to continue providing additional security to them with taxpayers’ money,’ foreign minister AK Abdul Momen told the media on Monday.

Asked whether ‘police escorts’ for the envoys of the United States and the United Kingdom were withdrawn, he said that the police authorities were informed of the government’s decision for its enforcement.

The minister, however, said that if any foreign missions wanted additional escorts for their envoys, they could hire armed personnel from Ansar on payment.
Momen said that providing the police escort was not ‘reciprocal’. ‘We do not get such police escorts in their countries,’ he added.