Bangladesh's interim govt chief Yunus appoints ex-general as special assistant for security affairs

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus on Friday appointed retired Lieutenant General Abdul Hafiz as his special assistant on security national reconciliation affairs with the status of an adviser or minister.

“He (Hafiz) will extend his assistance to the Chief Adviser (Yunus) on security and affairs related to the development of national reconciliation,” an official gazette notification said.

According to the gazette, Hafiz would enjoy the status of an adviser in the interim government’s council of advisers or ministers.

Officials familiar with his background said 67-year-old Hafiz, a former chief of general staff (CGS), belongs to the military’s infantry corps.

During his career, Hafiz served as the force commander of UN peacekeeping missions in Western Sahara and Cote d’Ivoire.

Beyond his professional courses in Bangladesh, he studied small and heavy arms of infantry in China, Advanced Infantry Officer's course in the US and graduated from the Defence Intelligence College of France.

Bangladesh descended into chaos after ousted premier Sheikh Hasina's government collapsed and she fled to India on August 5 amid violent protests over quota reforms for government jobs, while the Army stepped in to fill the power vacuum.

Before that, the anti-government protests had killed more than 500 people since mid-July. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took oath as the Chief Adviser of the interim government on August 8.

According to a primary report of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published on August 16, between July 16 and August 11, as many as 650 people were killed in Bangladesh during the student-led protests and after the fall of the Awami League regime.