Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 4 Num 213 Wed. December 31, 2003  
   
Front Page


Hasina wants to pay homage to dead army officials


Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed willingness to pay her last tribute to the 15 army officers who died in an air crash in Benin on December 25.

In a letter to Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, Hasina's Personal Secretary Mohammad Nazrul Islam Khan requested the Army Headquarters to make necessary arrangements for the programme.

Hasina with other AL central leaders wished to pay their homage either at Zia International Airport when the bodies would be flown in or at any other convenient place and time, the letter said.

The principal staff officer to the army chief would communicate the army headquarters' response to the opposition leader's letter this morning, Nazrul told The Daily Star last night.

A special UN aircraft, carrying the bodies of army peacekeepers, arrives in Dhaka today. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is scheduled to receive the bodies at the airport.