Ex-foreign secretary Faruq Ahmed Chy dies

Prominent diplomat and former foreign secretary Faruq Ahmed Choudhury, 84, died early Wednesday. He breathed his last at Square Hospital in the capital around 4.30am.

The first namaz-e-janaza of Faruq will be held at Baitul Aman Jame mosque of Dhanmondi-7 after Asr prayer.

Later, his body will be taken to the ministry of foreign affairs and another namaz-e-janaza is expected to be held there.

According to the ministry of foreign affairs’ website, Born in 1934, Faruk A Choudhury entered the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1956 and subsequently held various appointments in the Pakistan Foreign Office and Missions abroad.

Upon the emergence of Bangladesh, he was appointed the first Chief of Protocol of Bangladesh in 1972. He served as Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in United Kingdom from 1972-76.

During this period, he was involved with final phase of the negotiations leading to Bangladesh`s entry to the Commonwealth. From 1976-78, he was Ambassador to UAE and Bahrain and from 1978-82 he was Ambassador to EEC and Benelux countries.

After returning to the headquarters in 1982, he became the Chief Coordinator of the 13th OIC Foreign Ministers` Meeting held in Dhaka in 1983. From 1983-84, he was Additional Foreign Secretary in the Ministry. He became Foreign Secretary in 1984 and continued in that position upto 1986.

He then served as Bangladesh High Commissioner to India from 1986-92. After retirement from the government service in 1992, Choudhury associated himself with social service and authored a number of books. He also served Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), one of the largest NGOs of the world, in different capacities.