A Bangladeshi court has sentenced five people to death for killing Saudi diplomat Khalaf bin Mohammed Salem Al-Ali in Dhaka in March last year.
The five killers were found guilty by a summary court in Dhaka last December. The convicts were Al-Amin, Khokun, Lalu, Mamoon and Seleem, the last named still on the run.
“Soon after the murder, my government launched a countrywide search for the criminals who were responsible for the death of Saudi diplomat Khalaf bin Mohammed Salem Al-Ali,” the minister said, pointing out that the government was successful in bringing the culprits to book.
“The fifth will be captured soon. The case is currently under appeal and we will see to it that all the killers get the punishment they deserve,” she said.
“This was was the first time that such a heinous crime was committed against a foreign diplomat in the annals of Bangladesh,” she regretted. Moni, who arrived in Jeddah Saturday, held talks with Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, her counterpart Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Labor Minister Adel Fakeih.
During a meeting with the Crown Prince Salman, Moni handed a letter from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, appealing to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to lift a ban on the transfer of iqamas for Bangladeshi workers.
She appreciated the grace period offered by the king but said Bangladeshis could not avail themselves of this facility in the face of the ban. Moni said that during her talks with the labor minister, she was assured of positive steps to help Bangladeshi workers to regularize their visa status in accordance with the Nitaqat program.
