February 21, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 19, 1423

DHAKA, Feb 20: Commonwealth Secretary-General, Don McKinnon has said that Bangladesh would be one of the worst-affected countries if there was war against Iraq.

The Commonwealth secretary-general is on a three-day visit to Bangladesh to address members of the Commonwealth Journalists Association, which is holding its silver jubilee conference in Dhaka.

“War in Iraq would have an enormous economic impact on the world in general, while Bangladesh would be one of the worst-affected countries outside the Middle East as a large number of Bangladeshis are employed in different Middle Eastern countries,” Mr McKinnon said while addressing members of the Commonwealth Society of Bangladesh on Thursday morning.

According to a government estimate, about 1.7 million Bangladeshis work in the Gulf region, including one million in Saudi Arabia, 300,000 in the United Arab Emirates and more than 150,000 each in Kuwait and Oman.