NEW DELHI; Norway is understood to have decided to grant asylum to the Bangladeshi writer Ms. Taslima Nasreen now in hiding. A formal clearance at the highest level followed by an announcement is expected shortly.
This was reportedly communicated to Sanal Edamaruku general secretary of the Rationalists’ Association of India (RAD by the Norwegian charge d’affaires here Mr.Odder said. The Norwegian prime minister is merely to sign he was told:
Mr Laegread had visited Dhaka recently under instruction from his government. Mr Edamaruku provided him the telephone numbers of contacts and certain code-words’ to establish his credentials there Mr Edamaruku has been asked by Ms Nasreen’s family to negotiate her asylum Let’s say I’m the key person he said adding that efforts were on to negotiate asylum without humiliating or embarrassing the Bangladeshi government. She is not hiding at the Norwegian embassy in Dhaka he said denying reports. Neither is she at any other western country’s embassy. He called these reports an attempt by the fundamentalists to divert attention and scare ‘away the western countries
Article extracted from this publication >> July 15, 1994
