BANGLADESH

The Maldivian ambassador to Dhaka, Ahmed Sareer, on Monday confirmed that SAARC secretary-general Dhiyana Saeed has resigned.

"I can confirm that her resignation has been accepted. Ahmed Naseem, chairman of the SAARC council of ministers and foreign minister of Maldives, has already informed the SAARC countries about this development," he told .

Saeed was previously the Maldives' attorney general, and also served as the Maldivian government's envoy for South Asia.

The Maldives will also appoint a new secretary-general soon to complete the rest of the four-year tenure of the country.

She took over as the SAARC secretary-general in March last year and is the first to resign from the post before the end of her term.

The resignation comes over the recent controversy that arose with her participation in a lawyers' news conference condemning the recent arrests of the country's chief criminal court judge Abdulla Mohamed and senior opposition leaders.

The Maldivian president's spokesperson Mohammad Zuhair accused her of 'clearly contravening' with the SAARC Charter by stating her "personal and private position" on TV, the Male-based Haveeru newspaper reported.

"I did not interfere with any internal affairs of the Maldives and I will submit my resignation to Ahmed Naseem, Chairman of the SAARC council of ministers and foreign minister of Maldives today," she was quoted as saying.

She had also added that she had 'not' violated the SAARC charter.