Online Desk: The home ministry has clarified the meeting between US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas and home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal held on Sunday.

A press release signed by the senior public relations officer of the home ministry, Md Sharif Mahmud, was issued on Monday, with details of the discussion.

It said that ambassador Peter Haas paid a courtesy call on home minister Asaduzzman Khan at secretariat at 2:30 pm on Sunday.

The meeting which took place in a very cordial atmosphere and discussed on several issues, including the forthcoming election, the October 28 rally, Durga Puja, the issue of Rohingya who fled from Rohingya and took shelter in Bangladesh, and other relevant issues.

During the discussions, Haas asked several questions and wanted to know views on various issues.

The minister spoke at a briefing after the meeting. In replying to newsmen’s questions at the briefing, the minister made statements based on the general issues discussed at the meeting and also on information outside of the discussion, the release added.

Earlier on Sunday (22 October), several media reported that during the home minister’s meeting with the US embassy at the Secretariat, Peter Haas had asked whether the government would close the roads in Dhaka during the BNP rally on 28 October.

Later, the US embassy in a statement said that there were no discussions with Kamal on road closures on October 28 centring the BNP rally set for the same day.

“In the US embassy meeting with the home minister today [22 October], the subject of road closures in Dhaka on 28 October was not discussed,” the statement said.

“Ambassador Haas expressed the importance of peaceful demonstrations and interference-free participation in the political process,” the statement added.