Reassuring America

THE government of Bangladesh is indignantly defending itself against claims that over the past year the country has been used as a safe haven for members of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation. Time magazine said this month that Bangladesh may become a dangerous new front in America's war against terror. Ministers and officials are especially upset over a claim by an intelligence official in Dhaka, not named by the magazine, that Mr bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, may have been hiding in the country for months. The magazine said nearly 150 members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda fled from Afghanistan and arrived by ship in Bangladesh last December. The government denies this and says that such reports are an attempt to damage Bangladesh's tolerant reputation.