UNITED NATIONS: US President Joe Biden met on Tuesday with Bangladesh`s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on the margins of the UN`s annual summit, in a show of support after an uprising toppled the country` autocratic government.

Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was appointed as the country`s `chief adviser` in August following the bloody, student-led movement that ousted then-premier Sheikh Hasina, who has since fled the country.

According to a readout provided by Bangladeshi officials, Yunus briefed Biden on how the students `rose against the tyranny of the previous government and gave their lives to create this opportunity to rebuildBangladesh.` The 84-year-old economist, renowned for pioneering microfinance banking services for lowincome groups, said that his government would require US cooperation to help rebuild the nation.

Biden acknowledged the students` sacrifices and pledged his `full support` for Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi readout said. The White House did not immediately release details of the conversation.

Yunus also presented Biden with a book featuring paintings made by the students.

Hasina`s government was accused of widespread rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of political rivals.-AFP