Staff Correspondent

A total of 92 Nobel laureates, including former US President Barack Obama, have congratulated Prof Muhammad Yunus on his appointment as the chief adviser of Bangladesh's interim government.

Apart from this, a total of 106 dignitaries from various professions, including elected public representatives, business leaders, and civil society representatives from around the world, have also extended their heartfelt congratulations to Yunus.

Nobel laureates, elected representatives, businessmen and civil society leaders published advertisements, congratulating Prof Muhammad Yunus in the Washington Post, an American daily newspaper, BBC said in a report published on Thursday.

The advertisements recalled the harassment of Prof Yunus under the pressure of the dictatorship and it said that ‘dictatorship’ has been replaced by ‘hope’ thanks to the democratic forces and student-led protests.

In a joint statement, the Nobel laureates expressed their hopes that Prof Muhammad Yunus, from now on, would be able to work freely to take the country forward.

They also assured him, saying that they would remain beside Yunus in support of the interim government or any future necessity.

Alongside Barack Obama, human rights activist Shirin Ebadi and former US Vice President Al Gore were among the 92 signatories.

Earlier, the Washington Post published a statement addressing the deliberate harassment of Prof Yunus, which drew strong criticism from the ousted Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.

In an instant reaction, the then foreign minister Hasan Mahmud said that no news but an advertisement was published in the Washington Post, arranged by an office or a firm.