UN official and Bangladeshi citizen AKM Sufiul Anam, who has been abducted in Yemen, couldn't be traced in three weeks.
There is no information till now as to whether he is alive. Over Tk 430 million has been demanded as ransom, Safiul's two colleagues have said.
Five UN officials including Sufiul were abducted on 11 February. The four others are Yemeni citizens.
Former UN officer Sufiul has been working at the UN for 20 years. He was working as UN security officer in Yemen. Sufiul Anam, who is over 60, joined the UN 20 years ago and was likely to retire soon.
Sufiul's family declined to talk with the media. Two UN high officials talked to Prothom Alo on Thursday night. On behalf of Sufiul's family, the officials disclosed certain information.
One of the officials said there is no information about those who have been abducted.
Yemen’s branch of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is involved in the abduction. They have demanded a ransom of 5 million dollars (Tk 430 million). Moreover, they demanded release of some of their members in Yemeni jail.
Another UN official said the Yemeni government on behalf of UN is negotiating with the abductors for their release. He also said the UN is regularly in contact with Sufiul's family. Bangladesh permanent representative in UN, Rabab Fatima, has taken the issue to the UN headquarters and requested urgent measures.
About the release of Sufiul by the Bangladesh government, Bangladesh officials in the UN said the country whose citizen is abducted has to take up a strong role for his release. Bangladesh has not taken any initiative till now to rescue Sufiul, the official said adding the Bangladesh government can contact the Yemeni government. Bangladesh can contact friendly countries like Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. These countries are assisting the Yemeni government.
Bangladeshi UN officials said Sufiul has been abducted for 21 days. Sufiul's rescue will be uncertain if strong steps are not taken.
When contacted, foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen were not available for comment.
Sufiul's wife live in Dhaka. They have a daughter and a son. They are now expatriates.
The UN officials said the entire family of Sufiul has broken down mentally.
Yemen has been mired in violence since the Iran-aligned Houthi movement ousted the government from the capital Sanaa in late 2014, prompting a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia to intervene month later.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions others.
*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo online edition, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.