Politics
Bangladesh president, feeling ‘humiliated’, wants to step down halfway through term
Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin said on Thursday he plans to step down midway through his term after February’s parliamentary election, telling Reuters he has felt humiliated by the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
As head of state, Shahabuddin is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but the role is largely ceremonial, and executive power rests with the prime minister and cabinet of the mainly Muslim country of 173 million people.
However, his position gained prominence when a student-led uprising forced long-time premier Sheikh Hasina to flee to New Delhi in August 2024, leaving him as the last remaining constitutional authority after parliament was dissolved.
Shahabuddin, 75, had been elected unopposed for a five-year term in 2023 as a nominee of Hasina’s Awami League party, which has been barred from contesting the February 12 election.
Bangladesh president says Yunus sidelined him
“I am keen to leave. I am interested to go out,” he said in a WhatsApp interview from his official residence in Dhaka, in what he said was his first media interview since taking office.
“Until elections are held, I should continue,” Shahabuddin said. “I am upholding my position because of the constitutionally held presidency.”
He later said that despite his personal desire to resign, he would let the next government decide his future.
“If they tell me they plan to choose their own president, I will step aside,” he said late on Thursday.
Opinion polls suggest the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and Jamaat-e-Islami will be the frontrunners to form the next government. They were part of a coalition that ruled between 2001 and 2006.
The president said Yunus had not met him for nearly seven months, his press department had been taken away and, in September, his portraits were removed from Bangladeshi embassies around the world.
“There was the portrait of the president, picture of the president in all consulates, embassies and high commissions, and this has been eliminated suddenly in one night,” he said. “A wrong message goes to the people that perhaps the president is going to be eliminated. I felt very much humiliated.”
Shahabuddin said he had written to Yunus about the portraits, but no action was taken. “My voice has been stifled,” he added.
Yunus’ press advisers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President in contact with army chief
The president said he was in regular touch with Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, whose troops stood aside in August 2024 amid deadly protests against Hasina, sealing the fate of the veteran politician. Shahabuddin said Zaman had made it clear he had no intention of grabbing power.
Bangladesh has a history of military rule, but Zaman has said he wants democracy to return.
Shahabuddin said that, although some student protesters had initially demanded that he resign, no political party had asked him to do so in recent months.
Asked if Hasina, who had governed for 20 years, had tried to contact him after fleeing, Shahabuddin declined to answer. He said he had been independent since becoming president, not affiliated to any party.
- Contract supports APG-66 and APG-68 radar systems.
- Work to be completed by March 2036.
- Includes multiple allies under foreign military sales plan.
The United States Air Force has contracted Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in a $488 million deal to provide engineering and technical support for F-16 radar systems under its Foreign Military Sales programme, with Pakistan among the beneficiary countries.
According to an official award notice issued by the US Department of War, the firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covers support for F-16 System Programme Office Foreign Military Sales (FMS) as well as Air Force and Navy requirements.
The contract includes engineering and technical support for APG-66 and APG-68 radar systems. The work will be carried out at Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2036.
The contract involves foreign military sales to multiple countries, including Bahrain, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Thailand and Türkiye.
The US Air Force said the contract was awarded on a sole-source basis. Fiscal 2026 non-appropriated, Air Force and Navy funds amounting to $2,644,922 have been obligated at the time of the award.
The Air Force Lifecycle Management Centre at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting authority for the agreement, which was awarded on April 27, 2026.
The development comes months after the United States, in December 2025, approved the sale of advanced technology and support services worth $686 million for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter aircraft fleet.
According to a letter from the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress dated December 8, the package covers Link-16 data link systems, cryptographic gear, avionics upgrades, training, and wide-ranging logistical support.
The DSCA says the decision aligns with Washington’s broader strategic aims, stating the sale “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by allowing Pakistan to retain interoperability with US and partner forces in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.”
The letter notes that the upgrades are intended to modernise Pakistan’s Block-52 and Mid-Life Upgrade F-16s and address operational safety requirements. According to the letter, the sale will “maintain Pakistan’s capability to meet current and future threats by updating and refurbishing its Block-52 and Mid Life Upgrade F-16 fleet.”
- US approves of sales to Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Israel.
- US govt says emergency exists to waive congressional review.
- Washington faces scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, UAE, Qatar.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has bypassed congressional review to approve military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The State Department announcements on Friday came as the US and Israel’s war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.
The State Department said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that an emergency existed that required immediate sales to those countries and waived the congressional review requirements for the sales.
The announcements included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing $4.01 billion and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing $992.4 million.
The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department said.
RTX and Lockheed Martin were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system sale to Kuwait and in the Patriot air and missile defense replenishment sale to Qatar, the State Department added.
Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale.
Over the years, Washington has faced scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar over those countries’ human rights track records that rights advocates say involve restrictions on and reported abuses of minorities, journalists, voices of dissent, the LGBT community and labourers.
Those nations have denied supporting or engaging in domestic rights abuses.
US support for Israel has also come under scrutiny from rights experts, particularly over Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to assessments of genocide from scholars and a UN inquiry.
Israel calls its actions self-defence after Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people in an October 2023 attack.
Washington has maintained support for its allies.
- Pentagon announced withdrawal of 5,000 troops.
- Transatlantic tensions simmer over Iran, tariffs.
- Germany on right track with Bundeswehr expansion: minister.
BERLIN: A planned drawdown of US troops from Germany should spur Europeans to strengthen their own defences further, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday, following the latest salvo from Washington against transatlantic ties.
The Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States would withdraw 5,000 soldiers from Germany, its largest European base, as a rift over the Iran war and tariff tensions place further strain on relations between the US and Europe.
Pistorius said the move was expected.
Trump had threatened a drawdown in forces earlier this week after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has questioned Washington’s strategy in the Middle East.
Germany boosting troops, military infrastructure
Pistorius said the partial withdrawal would affect a current US presence of almost 40,000 soldiers stationed in Germany. Other estimates put the active-duty troop presence at 35,000.
“We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our own security,” Pistorius said, adding, “Germany is on the right track” by expanding its armed forces, speeding up military procurement and building infrastructure.
Germany wants to boost the number of active-duty Bundeswehr soldiers from a current 185,000 to 260,000, though critics of the defence minister have called for more in response to a widely perceived growing threat from Russia.
Nato members have pledged to take on more responsibility for their own defence but with tight budgets and vast gaps in military capability it will take years for the region to meet its own security needs.
Long-range fire battalion cancelled
The US military presence in Germany, which began as an occupation force after World War Two, peaked during the 1960s when hundreds of thousands of American military personnel were stationed there to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The US presence includes the giant Ramstein airbase and Landstuhl hospital, both of which have been used by the US to support its war in Iran, as well as previous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon decision means one full brigade will leave Germany and a long-range fires battalion that was due to be deployed later this year will be cancelled.
The loss of the long-range fires will be a particular blow to Berlin, as it had been due to form a significant extra element of deterrence against Russia while Europeans developed such long-range missiles themselves.
US awards $488m F-16 radar support contract for Pakistan, other countries
US bypasses congressional review for military sales of $8.6bn to Middle East allies
Germany urges stronger European defence after US reduces troops
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