"Most representatives at the conference hailed our candidate as the best among the three after he made his speech," Morshed told reporters at Zia International Airport yesterday on his return from the International Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) of the OIC held in Turkey. SQ Chowdhury also returned with him.

"The candidate as an individual is a secondary issue, there were no discussions about this at the ICFM," he added.

Morshed said, "We have lost the election for the post but there's a victory in the loss as it showed the OIC is a democratic and a more transparent body than even the UN."

"We have also to remember we fought against Malaysia which currently holds the OIC chairmanship, and Turkey, the host country," the foreign minister said.

"Representatives from all countries attending the conference lauded our efforts to ensure that for the first time the OIC secretary general was elected, rather than selected under the influence of pressure groups behind the scenes," said Morshed.

When reminded he was confident and hopeful about winning the election as he left for the ICFM, Morshed said, "No-one contests any election, be it international, national or municipal, without hope. If you do not nurture any hope to win, why would you take part in an election?"

SQ Chowdhury described his defeat as a victory for Israeli-American interests. "The country that won is the only OIC member to have diplomatic relations with Israel when Palestinians are being killed like flies. It is a member of Nato but is yet to sign the charter of the OIC," he added.

He however noted there is no Jewish lobby within the OIC but it was state interests that dictated the election.

Chowdhury said although Bangladesh received only 12 votes, the countries with the biggest Muslim population voted for it.

He also criticised the Awami League's questioning his credibility for the post and an apparent demand by AL MP Suranjit Sengupta for the resignation of Morshed Khan. "I was surprised that he (Sengupta) made a remark about Bangladesh's participation in a Muslim organisation," he said without explaining.

Bangladesh and Malaysia received 12 votes each as they lost to Turkey's candidate Ekmeluddin Ihsanoglu, who received 32 votes out of 56 .

Meanwhile, opposition parties, former diplomats, and social organisations said Bangladesh's nomination of an 'inappropriate candidate' led to its loss of the prestigious post of OIC secretary general.