Bangladesh ambassador in Washington Syed Hassan Ahmed and US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca initialled the agreement in the US capital on August 17.

" It's not a secret agreement...Some 50 countries around the world and most countries in South Asia have already signed it," Foreign Secretary Shamser Mobin Chowdhury told reporters at a weekly press briefing at the foreign ministry yesterday.

Asked why the government did not make it public, he said as he could not meet the press since then, he could not communicate it.

He said India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal had entered into the pact two to four months ago, and Bangladesh is the last signatory from South Asia.

The agreement stipulates that if any American soldier or officer is charged with criminal offences in Bangladesh, or prosecuted by tribunals for committing offences in other countries and takes shelter here, he cannot be handed over to the International Criminal Court, set up under the Rome Statute in 1998.

The accused US soldier or officer must be handed over to the US authorities.

Bangladesh is a signatory to the Rome Statute, but is not a state party. Following the signing of the bilateral agreement with the US, Bangladesh would not come under the jurisdiction of Article 9 of the Rome Statute.

The Article 9 concerns international cooperation and legal assistance and provides that the state parties must cooperate fully with the court, especially with regard to handing over people prosecuted by the tribunal or seeking items of evidence. In order to comply with this, in their national legislation the state parties must provide for procedures enabling these forms of cooperation to be set up. The court may also request the cooperation on an ad hoc basis of states which are not parties to the Statute, or the cooperation of inter-governmental organisations.

However, as the foreign secretary put it, if Bangladesh wants to try any US military personnel, Dhaka needs to issue prior notification to the US authorities for consent.

This provision will equally be applicable for Bangladeshi soldiers. If Bangladeshi military personnel in UN peacekeeping mission commit crimes, the US will help handover of the accused to Bangladesh government.

When asked about the Indian river-linking project, the foreign secretary said the Indian Supreme Court has directed the government to implement the project.

He said Bangladesh has expressed concern over the Indian plan and is awaiting reply from Delhi.

"After getting reply, we shall take our next steps in this regard", the foreign secretary said.