President Abdul Hamid left Dhaka for South Africa on Monday on a three-day visit to attend an emotional farewell to Nelson Mandela – a funeral that will draw an unprecedented gathering of world leaders and luminaries, reflecting the antiapartheid icon’s transcendent influence.
A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the President and his entourage took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 4:15 pm.
Land, and Disaster Management and Relief Minister Amir HossainAmu, Industries, and Housing and Public Works Minister Tofail Ahmed, the dean of the diplomatic corps in Bangladesh, the cabinet secretary, the chiefs of the three services and high civil and military officials concerned saw the President off at the airport.
Hamid is scheduled to attend a programme to pay his last respects to the towering leader along with other heads of state and government.
The President is likely to return home on December 12.
Modern South Africa’s founding father Mandela died late Thursday at the age of 95.
The state funeral and burial for the Nobel peace prize laureate will be held in his rural hometown of Qunu in the Eastern Cape Province on December 15.
Source: UNB Connect
