US Secretary of State John Kerry remembered Xulhaz Mannan, a former US embassy staff and editor of an LGBT magazine, who was brutally killed by extremists on April 25, and also the victims of the Gulshan terrorist attack.

"… Xulhas Mannan was murdered by extremists, his life taken away from us. And then of course, two months ago, just down the street from here at the Holey Artisan Bakery, 22 civilians -- Bangladeshi and others -- murdered, again, and two police officers who were trying to save their lives," he said while speaking to US embassy  officials yesterday.

About his embassy colleagues, Kerry said they are "serving here in Bangladesh in a very exciting time, a time of transformation, a time of huge possibilities, and yes, a time of challenge."

About his visit to Edward M Kennedy (EMK) Center in Dhanmondi, he said, "Ted Kennedy came here in 1971 and – in 1972 he came here, but in 1971 the war of independence began and was going on, and he supported the independence of Bangladesh, as did people in my state of Massachusetts.