DAVOS: Musharraf To Bangladesh PM:Don't Dwell On Human Rights

[-Sher Dil Afridi-]

DAVOS: Musharraf To Bangladesh PM:Don't Dwell On Human Rights

DAVOS, Switzerland -(Dow Jones)- Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf Thursday told Bangladesh's Prime Minister Fakhruddin Ahmed he shouldn't worry about human rights abuses.

"I think you are doing a great job. Carry on doing it no matter what anyone thinks, irrespective of human rights," Musharraf said, shaking Ahmed's hand in front of Dow Jones Newswires.

Bangladesh's army installed Ahmed's caretaker government last January. Elections scheduled for later that month were canceled and emergency rules established to suppress protests from rival political parties.

Human rights organizations say tens of thousands of Bangladeshis have been jailed in the past year and allege scores have been tortured to death or summarily executed.

Musharraf, Ahmed, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai together appeared at a panel discussion in Davos Thursday to discuss 'The Quest for Peace and Stability.'

Musharraf told the audience Pakistan and other politically and socially turbulent countries shouldn't be held to the same human rights standards as stable, Western democracies.

"Please don't judge (Pakistan) on the idealistic, maybe unrealistic, Western perceptions of democracy and human rights," Musharraf said during the panel discussion.

After the panel, Ahmed told Dow Jones Newswires that Bangladesh is respecting human rights. The government hasn't set a new date for elections, he said, adding political rivals and former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheik Hasina, currently under arrest restrictions, will be allowed to participate if courts clear them of corruption charges.

"The allegations against them absolutely are not politically motivated," he said.

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[-Sher Dil Afridi-]

Bangladesh Zindabad
Pakistan Zindabad

[MrNaga]

Bangladesh and Pakistan friendship.