<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>The sanctions imposed against Bangladesh's elite force RAB are not being withdrawn, said the United States.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Those claims are false. The U.S. is not withdrawing sanctions against the RAB," said Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the US Department of State Vedant Patel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In a regular briefing at the US Department of State, he said sanctions are intended to change "behaviour and promote accountability".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nobody from the government of Bangladesh claimed that the US is withdrawing the sanctions, prompting a question who made these false claims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The issue is with the US Department of Justice which is independent and separate from the White House and the State Department. They work independently," PM's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman told reporters earlier on Tuesday night in Dhaka.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Salman said the White House and the US Department of State are in favour of lifting sanctions on the RAB but it depends on the Department of Justice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The issue is moving through a process," Salman said after his discussion over dinner with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu who on a three-day visit here last week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>