Clinton skips war memorial, Bangladesh upset

DHAKA, MARCH 20. Bangladeshis were enraged today when Mr. Clinton became the first visiting head of state not to pay respects at a memorial for the country's 1971 independence martyrs.

The President, the first U.S. head of state to visit Bangladesh since the bloody nine-month independence war with Pakistan, was scheduled to lay a wreath and plant a sapling as is the tradition for visiting world leaders here.

War veterans, journalists and leading community figures said the snub was an insult to the people of Bangladesh.

``This is an insult to the three million martyrs of the war and an act of mockery against our independence,'' said Mr. Shahriar Kabir, a local writer.

Another war veteran and senior journalist, said, ``Mr. Clinton has made a mistake like his predecessor in 1971 (Richard Nixon) and it will hurt the whole Bengali nation. This will remind Bengalis about the U.S. role in 1971 and it was unexpected out of a President who is a democrat and who preaches human rights.''

Earlier, police held back hundreds of left-wing students in Dhaka University protesting the visit.

``Go back Clinton, you are an imperialist,'' chanted the protesters, who made futile attempts to get out of the campus and demonstrate on the streets, witnesses said.

- AFP, Reuters

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