Man posing as adviser to US President should be arrested immediately: Momen

Regarding the person who introduced himself as the "advisor to US President Joe Biden," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said anyone advocating violence in the country should be promptly arrested, regardless of their nationality or affiliation.

"My personal position is that such a person who promotes violence should be arrested. I will talk to officials of the relevant department," he told reporters when his attention was drawn to Mian Zahidul Islam Arefy who introduced himself as an "advisor to the US president" and spoke at a BNP press briefing on Saturday (28 October).

Momen was visiting Central Police Hospital (CPH) to see injured police personnel today.

The foreign minister said the party activists who attacked police personnel should be ashamed. "It is very unfortunate. They should apologise publicly."

Momen said such attacks on security personnel are not acceptable at all. "They [attackers] should be given exemplary punishment so that no one dares to repeat such attacks."

Talking about Arefy, the foreign minister said US President Biden is not imprudent and wouldn't have such an adviser. "I don't believe it." 

Introduced as an "adviser to Joe Biden," BNP leaders brought Mian Arefy at the party's central office in Dhaka and held a press conference where Arefy assured BNP and Jamaat of "support from US President Joe Biden to ensure regime change in Bangladesh."

The US Embassy in Dhaka has said rumors of any movement of the embassy are completely "false and inaccurate."

When the US Embassy's attention was drawn to a video, an embassy spokesperson said, "This gentleman does not speak for the US government and is a private individual."

Sitting with BNP leader Ishraque Hossain, son of former Dhaka city mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Arefy — at the BNP office in Nayapaltan — even went as far as to claim that the US president is in full favour of restoration of the caretaker government.

Apart from Biden, Arefy bragged about his day-to-day contact with the US State Department and embassy officials in Bangladesh and claimed that all key players within the US government back the opposition's movement.

Video of Arefy sitting at BNP office, surrounded by party leaders was circulated on social media by pro-BNP and Jamaat netizens claiming that Arefy, "on behalf of Biden," came to BNP's party office to support their cause to overthrow the government.