The United States on Thursday welcomed the new interim government in Bangladesh led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, saying it hoped to work together to advance democracy.
“We welcome Dr. Yunus’s call for an end to the recent violence and we stand ready to work with the interim government and Dr. Yunus as it charts a democratic future for the people of Bangladesh,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
He said that the highest-ranking US diplomat in Bangladesh, Helen LaFave, attended the inauguration ceremony and has been in touch with the interim government.
Yunus was sworn in days after increasingly authoritarian prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country following a student-led uprising.
The United States had a largely cooperative relationship with Hasina over her 15 years in power that had grown tense as she bristled over US criticism on her record on democracy.
