Encourage democracies, Hasina tells Clinton

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA, MARCH 20. The Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, today urged the visiting United States President, Mr. Bill Clinton, to continue to lend support to democratic governments and discourage unconstitutional and illegal change of governments across the globe.

``The U.S., as the champion of democracy and human rights, should continue to send strong messages to the world in support of democratic governments and strongly discourage unconstitutional and illegal changes of government,'' Ms. Hasina said during official talks held between the two leaders at the Prime Minister's Office here this morning.

Ms. Hasina has emphasised that democracies, particularly in developing countries, must feel reassured by such messages.

Mr. Clinton, who earlier arrived on a day's visit - the first by a U.S. President in the country's 29 year-old history - drove straight to the PMO from the Zia International Airport for talks which lasted 55 minutes.

Ms. Hasina told Mr. Clinton about her firm commitment to democracy and said ``ballot, rather than bullets, should be the means of electing a government''. She, however, regretted that democracy in Bangladesh has been the story of military interventions, phoney elections and fake votes, where the Government machinery was manipulated to stuff ballots and rig results.

On gas export

Making a statement before the 400-odd members of the local and international press, in the presence of the American President, the Bangladesh Prime Minister reiterated Dhaka's position on the question of export of gas. She said her country would think of exporting natural gas only after meeting the local needs for half a century. ``After fully meeting our domestic requirements and ensuring reserves for 50 years'' the remaining surplus will be available for export, she said.

Earlier, Mr. Clinton landed here at 11.20 a.m. to a rousing red carpet reception at the Dhaka's international airport, where he was received by the President, Mr. Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, and the Prime Minister. A bouquet presented by a young girl and a 21- gun salute heralded his arrival.

The airport ceremony over, a motorcade carrying the U.S. President left for the Prime Minister's Office. Mr. Clinton boarded a jeep instead of the limousine which was to carry the honoured guest.

The city was on a high security alert, with police and crack soldiers posted along the road to the airport and throughout the downtown area. They were coordinating with a team of U.S. Marines and Presidential Guards.

New deals

Reuters reports:

The U.S. Commerce Secretary, Mr. William Daley, said American investment might sharply increase in Bangladesh's energy sector, provided the country introduced the right policies. ``Let me say, that with the right policies in place, we could see a sharp increase in American investments in your rich energy resources,'' Mr. Daley told a conference of U.S.-Bangladesh Chamber officials in Dhaka.

Mr. Daley, who was accompanying Mr. Clinton, said U.S. oil companies, Unocal Corp. and Pangea Energy, signed new deals on gas exploration. Unocal is already producing around 100 million cubic feet of gas in its northeastern blocks.

He said Worldtel would agree to build and operate a new phone system in Dhaka and another deal would be for an undersea fibre optic system between Bangladesh and Singapore to be built by Tyco Submarine Systems.

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