Yunus receives support after losing state battle

Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Hillary Clinton and Bangladesh Foreign Minster Dipu Moni The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, threw her support on Sunday, behind microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, during a visit to Bangladesh, after the Nobel laureate lost a high-profile battle with the state.
Clinton invited Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank, which provides small loans to the poor, to morning tea before waiting cameras at the US ambassador\'s residence, a day after she met Bangladesh\'s bickering political leaders.With a wide smile, the top US diplomat welcomed Yunus and Fazle Hasan Abed – the head of the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee which is a major development group –and praised their work before entering closed-door talks.
\"These are two of my favourite men in the world,\" Clinton said.
Despite winning the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and becoming friends with former US president Bill Clinton, Yunus was removed from the helm of his bank last year in a move widely seen as engineered by an envious government.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking Saturday, at the office of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, said that Grameen Bank had inspired the world and \"unleashed the potential of millions of women\" both in Bangladesh and overseas.