Dhaka: Bangladesh's army-backed interim administration has asked foreign diplomats, who often make comments on domestic politics, not to interfere in the country's internal affairs.

The government move came on the heels of recent visits by foreigners who made comments on the country's criminal justice system and human rights situation.

There has been a renewed perceptible tendency on the part of some foreign diplomats to make remarks in public that a section of the media has perceived to be interference in Bangladesh's internal affairs, a foreign ministry statement said late on Thursday.

It said recognised diplomatic norms and standards should be adhered to.

Bangladeshis had earned Independence and sought to guard their sense of sovereignty with zeal and pride, the statement said.

The diplomatic agents concerned are urged to take note of this fact, and act in consonance with these sentiments.

Recently, the US charge d Affaires in Dhaka, Geeta Pasi, held meetings with top leaders of mainstream political parties, including the Awami League of detained former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The United States has also urged the Bangladesh government to hold free and fair parliamentary elections within a promised timeframe this year by ensuring participation of all political parties in a democratic process.

A US embassy spokesman in Dhaka today said they had been giving the same message to the Bangladesh authorities for months and had done nothing beyond that.

Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January 2007,which banned all political activities and street protests.

The government launched a massive anti-corruption drive in which Hasina, her rival and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia and dozens of their former ministers have been detained.

Bangladesh, which depends largely on foreign aid and development support, usually makes no complaints over prescriptions from donors. But this time their repeated suggestions over something that the government had already committed to accomplish is causing confusion among the public, said an official who asked not to be named.

Instead they should try to help the (election) process going on smoothly and completed within the deadline, he added.

Source : UNI