Upon arrival, Scholz condemned the Iranian strikes on Israel
Forty global figures including Ban Ki-moon, Hillary Clinton and Bono published on Wednesday a joint letter calling on Bangladesh to stop “unfair” attacks and harassment of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Yunus is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering micro-credit bank, but he has fallen out with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who has said he is “sucking blood” from the poor.
The anti-graft watchdog last year ordered a wide-ranging probe into firms Yunus chairs and Hasina has attacked him personally, blaming him for the World Bank pulling out from a bridge project that was mired in corruption allegations.
The letter signed by former UN chief Ban, former US secretary of state Clinton, U2 singer Bono, former US vice-president Al Gore and others said that they had "deep concerns" about Yunus’s “well-being” and ability to focus on his work.
“It is ... painful to see Prof Yunus, a man of impeccable integrity, and his life's work unfairly attacked and repeatedly harassed and investigated by your government,” they said in the letter, which was also published in the Washington Post newspaper.
There was no immediate comment from the government.
Bangladesh’s state-run Anti-Corruption Commission is winding up its investigations into Yunus and his social business firms, a senior ACC official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We are analysing thousands of documents," he said.
Yunus, 82, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, has seen his reputation at home tarnished by a labour dispute with Hasina.
He was forced from his position as Grameen Bank’s managing director in 2011 in a move his supporters blamed on the conflict. His interests include a multi-billion dollar stake in the country's largest mobile phone operator.
The bridge near Dhaka was finally opened in June after years of construction delays, and Hasina took the occasion to say Yunus should be "dipped in a river" for jeopardising its completion.
Upon arrival, Scholz condemned the Iranian strikes on Israel
Police have named the assailant as 40-year-old itinerant man Joel Cauchi
Family expresses condolences to the victims
The airline has already suspended flights to and from Tehran until April 18
All flights at Egyptian airports are according to the usual schedules, except for some flights heading to countries that have closed their airspace, said the govt
Air India and Vistara have announced avoidance of Iranian airspace and are taking longer flight paths for their Europe and US operations
Israel has a multi-layered air defence system that has intercepted thousands of rockets since it first went into operation in 2011
Police said there was no evidence to suggest Joel Cauchi was 'driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise'