Ex-PM issues Bangladesh demands

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/7734148.stm

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Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has given the government two days to lift emergency rule, officials from her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) say.

They say that the BNP will not take part in next month's national elections if the demand is not met.

The ultimatum was issued after Ms Zia met party members and supporters.

The state of emergency was imposed by Bangladesh's military-backed caretaker government in January 2007 to ensure that "law and order" was preserved.

Ms Zia also called for the elections to be postponed to allow pilgrims currently on the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia to return home in time for the vote.

The BBC's Mark Dummett, in Dhaka, says that there are believed to be about 60,000 Bangladeshis on the pilgrimage to Islam's holy sites.

Most are likely to be out of the country until the end of December, he adds.

Bitter rivals

Critics say that Ms Zia has taken this hard line because at the moment Sheikh Hasina, of the Awami League, appears to be the most likely winner of the elections, which will bring an end to the unpopular two-year rule of the caretaker government.

Our correspondent says that the government will now be under huge pressure to comply to her demands, at least in part.

It has pledged to hold the fairest elections in Bangladesh's history and wants all the main parties to participate.

Last week Ms Zia's officials indicated that they were willing to hold talks with her bitter rival Sheikh Hasina - also a former prime minister - ahead of December's elections.

The two women are believed to have barely spoken since the early 1990s.