Ex-general secretary of Bangladesh's ruling party dies

Syed Ashraful Islam, Bangladesh's Public Administration Minister and former general secretary of the ruling Awami League, has passed away at 67 in Bangkok after a long battle with cancer.

Islam, who had been re-elected member of the Parliament in the national election on December 30, breathed his last at the Bumrungrad Hospital on Thursday night, his personal assistant AKM Sazzad Alam Shahin told journalists in Dhaka.

Islam was the son of Syed Nazrul Islam who served as the country's acting President in the absence of Bangladesh founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during the country's Liberation War in 1971.

The mortal remains of the minister will be brought to Bangladesh on Saturday evening, his personal assistant AKM Sazzad Alam Shahin told bdnews24.com.

Islam was chosen as ruling Awami League party's general secretary in 2009 and served for two consecutive terms till 2016. He had been made a new member of Awami League presidium, the party's highest policy-making body.

He had also served as the country's Minister of Public Administration since 2009.

Bangladeshi President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, among others, mourned the death of Islam. He fell ill after losing his wife Sheila Islam to cancer in 2017. They are survived by their daughter Reema Islam.

--IANS

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