Bangladesh: No relations with Israel unless it withdraws from south Lebanon, Golan

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikha Hasina Wajed has denied any intention in her country to establish relations with Israel. She asserted that rumors in this regard are groundless.

In a statement to the Saudi daily al-Madina issued on Thursday, the Bangladeshi prime minister added that there is "no intention nor an attempt in my country to establish relations between Bangladesh and Israel. We had denied these statements and stressed that Bangladesh does not intend to establish any relations with Israel. This matter has never been debated, and we categorically refuse it."

She asserted her country's unwavering stand concerning the Middle East peace process, based on the need for Israel's implementation of all its set obligations and its acceptance of the land-for-peace formula, withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories in the Golan and south Lebanon and enabling the Palestinian people to establish their own independent state with Jerusalem as a capital.

She added that her country takes part in international conferences which call for the restoration of the occupied Arab territories to the Arab nation.