Bangladesh said Wednesday it was ready to compromise on Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus's controversial dismissal after a US diplomat warned that the issue would affect bilateral ties. Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his concept of small cash loans for the poor, was fired last month from the pioneering microcredit bank he founded - a move he is fighting in the country's Supreme Court.
US assistant secretary of state Robert Blake said Tuesday in Dhaka that Washington was "deeply troubled" by Yunus's removal and that bilateral ties would be affected if an amicable solution was not found. Bangladesh's finance ministry said in a statement issued Wednesday that the government was now looking for an opportunity to find an "honourable solution" to the issue.
"At the initial stage, it was the government which had offered a compromise. The same offer still holds. The government is ready. But in this matter, Professor Yunus should come forward," the statement said. Supporters of Yunus claim the septuagenarian economist was ousted from the helm of his own bank after falling out with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after he set up a short-lived political party in 2007.