Hasina given hospital treatment

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The former Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina has been taken to hospital for treatment for high blood pressure, officials say.

Sheikh Hasina has been held in a special jail on the grounds of the parliament Building in Dhaka since July after being accused of corruption.

She and two family members deny receiving $435,000 in bribes from a businessman between 1996 and 2001.

They say that the allegation is politically motivated.

Her lawyers argue the charges have been drawn up to stop her competing in elections which the military-backed interim government has said will be held some time in 2008.

Security concerns

"She will get treatment as per advice of the doctors at the prison," a home ministry official said.

Officials from her Awami League party say that Sheikh Hasina has been reluctant to undergo treatment for high blood pressure and ear and eye problems in Bangladesh because of security concerns.

She has been eager to get treatment in the US - where her son and daughter live - but has been forbidden from doing so by the authorities.

"Under the present rules no prisoner can be sent abroad for treatment, under any circumstances," Shamsul Hyder Chowdhury, deputy inspector general of prisons, said.

But this week Sheikh Hasina - who is accused of receiving the bribes in return for authorising the construction of an electricity plant during her time as prime minister between 1996 to 2001 - agreed to treatment at a Dhaka hospital of her choosing.

A court on Tuesday adjourned her case until 26 February.