Muhammad Yunus loses final appeal

Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder and Managing director of Grameen Bank and pioneer of micro-credit speaks at a press conference in Dhaka, 19 February 2004. (AFP/Getty Images)

Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a final appeal by "banker to the poor" Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus against his dismissal as managing director of Grameen Bank, the micro-lender he founded, Reuters reported Thursday.

A government probe last month cleared Grameen of financial irregularities, but the finding did not change the decision to fire him, the agency said.

Yunus, 70, was dismissed on the grounds that he had overstayed his position and refused requests to quit. The official retirement age for managing directors of commercial banks is 60.

However, many observers have asserted that the real reason for what has been called the persecution of Yunus is his earlier attempt to float a political party, which won him a lasting enemy in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.