Nobel winner Yunus challenges firing

DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 3 (UPI) -- Bangladesh's Nobel Peace Prize winning economist Muhammad Yunus Thursday filed a legal challenge against the central bank for firing him from his bank post.

Yunus' petition to the high court questioned the action by the Bangladesh Bank, which, through a letter Wednesday, removed him as managing director of Grameen Bank, the Bangladesh Daily Star reported.

Grameen Bank, 25 percent state-owned, was founded by Yunus, who won wide international acclaim for his pioneering microfinance campaign to provide small loans to help poor villagers improve their economic lot.

In its letter, the central bank said Yunus had failed to seek its approval when he was reappointed to his Grameen Bank position, the Star report said. His bank has defended his reappointment.

The dismissal is seen by some as another development in the feuding between the government and Yunus.

The New York Times said the dismissal is seen as an effort to diminish the influence of the 70-year-old economist, whose bank books are being examined by officials who say the bank lacked proper oversight and governance. Yunus' supporters say the government only wants to discredit one its critics.