Bangladesh parties in poll U-turn

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The Bangladeshi opposition alliance led by the Awami League has called off a boycott of next month's elections.

The announcement came after the interim government agreed to implement a raft of electoral reforms in order to assure a free and fair poll.

A deadline for candidate nominations has been extended until Tuesday.

Campaigning has been marred by months of opposition protests over alleged bias in the electoral process in favour of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP).

An Awami League spokesman said the 14-party opposition alliance would now meet to discuss the sharing of parliamentary seats and forming a coalition to fight the election.

Political turmoil

The nation of 144 million people has been in political turmoil since the BNP's five-year mandate expired in October.

The Awami League and its allies had vowed to boycott the 22 January general election, alleging that the ballot would be rigged.

Months of strikes, blockades and political violence have claimed at least 35 lives and cost the impoverished country millions of dollars each day in lost business.

Earlier this week, the interim government made two key concessions, including putting a controversial election chief on extended leave and scrapping a voter list alleged to contain millions of fake names.