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Wednesday, Sep 01, 2004

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Political storm brewing in Bangladesh

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA, AUG. 31. A political storm is brewing in Bangladesh in the aftermath of the deadly grenade attack on the rally addressed by the Opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka a week ago.

After their third highly responsive nation-wide hartal recently, the mainstream Opposition parties said they would announce a new programme soon to inject more momentum into the ongoing agitation for the "ouster of the Government". Another hartal was being enforced on Monday at the call of the women's wing of the Awami League, backed by leading women's organisations in the country.

New turn

Leaders of the ruling alliance are keeping a close watch on the developments, and the Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, has offered to hold a dialogue with the Opposition. However, the Opposition leaders rejected the offer outright.

The grenade attack on the rally has taken a new turn with Sheikh Hasina accusing the Prime Minister, her eldest son Tareque Rahman, the State Minister for Home, Lutffozzaman Babar, and the Prime Minister's parliamentary affairs advisor, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, of being directly involved in the assassination attempt.

The Awami League, the 11-party Opposition combine and other minor parties are holding consultations in a bid to formulate a programme to force the Government out. The Opposition programme may be announced within a day or two and indications are that the agitation will not be a short one nor peaceful. Pro-Government activists have already unleashed attacks on Opposition programmes in many parts of the country and the situation will only worsen in the coming days.

Interpol to aid probe

Meanwhile, two Interpol experts have arrived to assist the Bangladesh police in probing the grenade attack.

The Opposition leaders, stating that they did not have any confidence in the local police who operate under the Government's orders, had demanded an international probe.

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