Arab and other Muslim countries are of the view that the killing of Italian national Cesare Tavella in Dhaka was a criminal act, not a crime committed by any terrorists.
Their view is just the opposite of the Western countries which are trying to portray it as “terrorist crime.”
“I am the dean of Arab ambassadors now. We will convene a meeting probably in the next week. We will reiterate that this is not a terrorist act,” Egyptian Ambassador and Dean of the Arab Diplomatic Corps Mahmoud Yehia M Ezzat Mostafa told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Ezzat had an informal discussion with top diplomats of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Pakistan and all of them agreed that the killing had nothing to do with terrorism.
“Yesterday [Tuesday] evening, on the sidelines of the Saudi national day reception, I informally talked with Arab and OIC countries’ envoys and we all agreed that this was not a terrorist act and it does not represent any kind of danger against the foreigners,” Ezzat said.
Asked about the views of the Western countries who termed this as a terrorism crime and issued travel alerts, he said: “I don’t share their ideas or assessments.
“I also don’t share what the Canadians, Americans and Europeans did by issuing alerts for their citizens not to come to Bangladesh or leave Bangladesh. This is really overdoing.”
He also said that before the completion of investigation, it is unfair to comment that it was a terrorist crime.
European Union (EU) Ambassador Pierre Mayaudon issued a press release on Tuesday terming the incident as “terrorist crime” while the Italian embassy Tuesday said: “It’s still not clear the motive behind the murder – crime or terrorist act – of the aid worker Cesare Tavella.”
The Egyptian ambassador said that the Western countries claimed that they had “reliable information” but they have yet to share that with other countries.
He said that almost all foreign ambassadors had a meeting at the residence of British high Commissioner Robert Gibson on Tuesday but the reliable information issue was not discussed.
“The Western countries have not shared the reliable information with us,” he said.
The Egyptian ambassador said Islamic State [IS] are busy in Syria and Iraq and as far as they know, they do not have any operations in Bangladesh.
He fee;s that not only the diplomats but also all foreigners are safe in Bangladesh and they are not exposed to any terrorist act.
Egyptians living in Bangladesh contacted him and he advised them not to send their families to Cairo, he said.
He, however, said that this was the first time any foreign national had been killed in the diplomatic zone.
“It is the first one and it is very dangerous because this is a protected zone,” Ezzat said.
He also said that even during the last year’s political turbulence period, they felt secured.
He said extra security arrangements are needed in the diplomatic zone so that this never happens again.
“We want to know what is happening,” he added.
