UK's Starmer Urged To Fire Minister Hit By Bangladesh Graft Probe

London: Britain's Keir Starmer faced fresh pressure Monday to sack his anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq, as Bangladesh's graft watchdog filed new cases against her and her aunt, the country's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina.

Siddiq, 42, has been dogged by claims about her links to Hasina, who fled Bangladesh last August after a student-led uprising against her decades-long, increasingly authoritarian tenure as prime minister.

Hasina, 77, has defied extradition requests to face Bangladeshi charges including mass murder.

On Monday, Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission announced she and family members including Siddiq were subject to another graft probe, this time over an alleged land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital Dhaka.

Family members including Siddiq had already emerged as named targets of the commission's investigation into accusations of embezzlement of $5 billion connected to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant.

Bangladeshi money laundering investigators have since ordered the country's big banks to hand over details of transactions relating to Siddiq as part of the probe.

Earlier this month, the UK minister referred herself to Starmer's standards adviser, following the flurry of allegations, which also included that she lived in properties linked to her aunt's Awami League party.

Siddiq has insisted that she has done nothing wrong.

Asked Monday whether her position in the UK government remained tenable, senior British minister Pat McFadden told Sky News she had "done the right thing" with the self-referral.

He insisted the standards adviser had the powers to "carry out investigations into allegations like this".

"That is what he is doing, and that is the right way to deal with this," McFadden said.

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