----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
News: Bangladesh opposition may siege presidential palace
Date:
Sun, 31 Mar 96 06:46:14 -0500
From:
Eonderer
Organization:
Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
29-MAR-1996 23:44 Bangladesh opposition may siege presidential palace
By Anis Ahmed
DHAKA, March 30 (Reuter) - Bangladesh's main opposition leader Sheikh Hasina has called on
her supporters to besiege the presidential palace if a neutral caretaker government is not
appointed by noon (0600 GMT) on Saturday.
Hasina, speaking to opposition activists late on Friday, said Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia
was still trying to keep power and prevent the collapse of her beleaguered government, which
most analysts believe is in its dying days.
"Be on continuous alert. The conspiracy (to keep power) is not over yet," Hasina said.
She asked her supporters to besiege the palace if President Abdur Rahman Biswas did not
appoint a caretaker government to replace Khaleda.
Hasina spoke after Khaleda met Biswas and asked him to set up a non-party government as soon
as possible.
Hasina's Awami League and the allied Jatiya party and Jamaat-e-Islami on Saturday described
Khaleda's request as a ploy to fool the nation.
"We urge people not to be misled by any eyewash or ploy and instead keep their vigil until
Khaleda Zia resigns," Mohammad Nasim, a senior Awami figure and spokesman for the three
parties' liaison committee, said in a statement.
Opposition leaders have been trying for two years to topple Khaleda's government and boycotted a
general election in February, insisting that the ruling party was incapable of conducting a fair vote.
They have since stepped up their nationwide campaign of strikes and protests.
The Bangladesh parliament, almost entirely comprised of members from Khaleda's Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP), passed a law on Tuesday allowing non-party caretaker governments to
oversee all future elections.
But Khaleda herself has remained defiant and refused to annul the February 15 poll or resign
immediately -- two of the opposition's main demands.
"She is buying time to hatch a new conspiracy," Nasim said.
Khaleda's government has become almost totally isolated as professional groups, including civil
servants, have withdrawn their support, analysts said.
Police and the army have also played little role, standing back as tens of thousands of Khaleda'
opponents stage regular street protests across the country.
Protesters have pulled Khaleda's portraits down from many government offices and burned
effigies of her. Many newspapers have also taken a stand against the prime minister, ridiculing
her in cartoons and editorials.
Newspapers reported on Saturday that former Chief Justice Habibur Rahman had already consented
to be appointed by the president as chief advisor of the caretaker government.
The new law provides for an 11-member caretaker administration headed by a chief adviser,
who must be an ex-chief justice, responsible for holding elections within 90 days after parliament
is dissolved.
Mohammad Hanif, mayor of Dhaka and an Awami member, said on Friday: "Our victory is just a
matter of days."
^REUTER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
Finally, Khaleda Quits!!!
Date:
Sat, 30 Mar 1996 11:42:09 -0800
From:
IMRAN ZAMAN
Organization:
Netcom
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
DATE=3/30/96
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-195096
TITLE=BANGLA/POL (S-UPDATE)
BYLINE=MICHAEL DRUDGE
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: EMBATTLED BANGLADESHI PRIME MINISTER KHALEDA ZIA HAS RESIGNED, CLEARING
THE WAY FOR NEW ELECTIONS AFTER A TWO-YEAR POLITICAL CRISIS. CORRESPONDENT
MICHAEL DRUDGE AT THE V-O-A SOUTH ASIA BUREAU HAS DETAILS.
TEXT: MRS. ZIA ANNOUNCED HER RESIGNATION AT A MASS RALLY OF HER BANGLADESH
NATIONALIST PARTY IN DHAKA SATURDAY. SHE HAS HANDED OVER POWER TO A CARETAKER
PRIME MINISTER WHO WILL OVERSEE FRESH ELECTIONS EXPECTED IN MAY.
PRESIDENT ABDUR RAHMAN BISWAS HAS NAMED RETIRED CHIEF JUSTICE MOHAMMAD
HABIBUR RAHMAN TO LEAD THE INTERIM ADMINISTRATION.
MRS. ZIA'S RESIGNATION CAME AFTER ENORMOUS PRESSURE FROM THE THREE MAIN
OPPOSITION PARTIES, WHICH HAVE BEEN DEMANDING NEW ELECTIONS SINCE 1994.
THOUSANDS OF OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS DANCED IN THE STREETS AS NEWS OF THE RESIGNATION
SPREAD.
MRS. ZIA'S GOVERNMENT CRUMBLED UNDER THE PRESSURE OF A GENERAL STRIKE THE
OPPOSITION IMPOSED ON MARCH 9TH.
MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN POLITICAL VIOLENCE SINCE THE OPPOSITION STORMED
OUT OF PARLIAMENT TWO YEARS AGO.
///REST UNVOICED OPT///
MRS. ZIA HAD INTENDED TO HOLD ONE FINAL SESSION OF PARLIAMENT ON SUNDAY TO
CONCLUDE SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
BUT SHE APPARENTLY CHANGED HER MIND AS THOUSANDS OF OPPOSTION SUPPORTERS
GATHERED TO BESEIGE THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE.
THE OPPOSITION HAD SAID SHE WAS NEEDLESSLY DELAYING HER RESIGNATION AND CHIEF
OPPOSITION LEADER SHEIKH HASINA HAD WARNED OF A CONSPIRACY TO HOLD ON TO POWER.
(SIGNED).
NEB/MWD/CB/SD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30-Mar-96 10:40 AM EST (1540 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
Subject:
NEWS: Khalida Resigned
Date:
Sat, 30 Mar 1996 16:16:48 -0600
From:
MMR
Organization:
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
AP 30 Mar 96 13:21 EST V0769
Copyright 1996 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise
distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
Bangladesh PM Resigns
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- After two years of relentless public pressure, Prime Minister Khaleda
Zia on Saturday resigned and dissolved Parliament, clearing the way for a neutral authority to
hold new elections.
"I am no more the prime minister. I have transferred power constitutionally and I want fresh
elections to be held in May," Mrs. Zia told a crowd of more than 50,000 supporters in the capital
Dhaka.
Bangladesh has been paralyzed by uption and incompetence have called general strikes and
often-violent protests. An anti-government strike launched on March 9 hanned to convene
Parliament for one last session on Sunday, but that became impossible Saturday when staff
workers at the governn of anonymity.
Ultimately, Mrs. Zia had cabinet minister Oli Ahmed deliver her letter of resignation to President
Abdur Rah Justice Mohammad Habibur Rahman as a caretaker prime minister. Rahman will
appoint an 11-member Council of Advisors.
Withihman's ascension, Sheik Hasina, the main opposition leader, called off her protests.
"It is the victory of the people. We mrnede out on the streets and until late in the evening,
cramming Dhaka's main roads with traffic.
The jubilation was marred 3,00release of deposed President Hussain Muhammed Ershad, who
is serving a 9-year sentence for corruption and abuse of power. rshaof the Jatiya Party, one of
three parties that worked together to oust Mrs. Zia.
But in most places, the mood was one oe be, a housewife.
The cost of forcing Mrs. Zia out of office has been enormous.
Street clashes between activists and police have left at least 227 people dead in the last two years.
The country -- its ports, factories, offices, trains and buses -- have been shut for 250 days in the
past two years. For eaex is estimated at $80 million.
Strikes hit crucial grned much-needed foreign exchange, leading the nation's business commuo
join the opposition campaign.
Mrs. Zia, 51, came to power in Bangladesh's first free election in 1991. She is the widow by army
rivals.
In December 1994, the 147 opposition members of Parliament resigned in protest of Mrs. Zia's
administration. Following failed negotiations and national strikes, Parliament was dissolved in
November 1995.
Mrs. Zia held new elec re-elected, but opposition leaders boycotted the vote and refused to accept
the results.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
PM resign
Date:
31 Mar 1996 01:49:43 GMT
From:
mislam@cs.wright.edu (Mohammed Kamrul Islam)
Organization:
Wright State University, Dayton,OH
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
HI,
I got this email just now and repost it to SCB.
Thanks to FAISEL.
KAMRUL
March 30, 1996
Editor: Faruq Faisel
Resident Editor: Tasmima Hossain
Posted by: Centre for Alternative Information and Analysis, Ottawa,Canada
Contact address: ffaisel@web.apc.org
Khaleda Zia Resigned
Khaleda Zia has resigned as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. President Abdur Rahman Biswas
has dissolved the Parliament. Justice Habibur Rahman has been selected as the Chief of the
Caretaker government. He has not taken his oath yet (Ottawa time 12.27 noon and Bangladesh
time 11.27 in the night). It is expected that he will take oath as the Chief of the Caretaker government
of Bangladesh any moment, may be tonight or tomorrow before midday, Bangladesh time.
According to a source in Dhaka, before resigning Khaleda, Zia addressed a of armed supporters and
BNP thugs. She came with her Prime Minister's flag and national flag posted on her car but left the
meeting without posting the flags. Yesterday (saturday) was a violent day in Dhaka. Jatyo Party
brought out a huge procession and they were going towards the Central Jail. It is assumed that they
were heading towards the jail in an attepmt to free Ershad. At Lalbagh the JP procession was attacked
by the armed caders of BNP. They threw bombs and cock-tails on the procession. Several people were
injured. Secretary General of JP Anowar Hossain Manju was hit by a splinter of the bomb on the face.
He was taken to a private clinic and operated for two and half hours. Another source reports that the
former minister of JP government Maidul Islam has got bullet injuery also.
Army, police and BDR are posted in different key-points of Dhaka and Chittagong. Before resigning
Khaleda Zia urged the nation to stay calm. No reaction from combined opposition parties has been
issued yet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
News: President Abdur Rahman Biswas earlier dissolved parliament
Date:
Sun, 31 Mar 96 06:41:29 -0500
From:
Eonderer
Organization:
Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
5 30-MAR-1996 11:56 President Abdur Rahman Biswas earlier dissolved parliament
paving the way for the installation of the neutral caretaker government to oversee fresh elections.
Oppposition leaders had demanded Khaleda step down and had orchestrated a campaign of
strikes and violence.
The dissolution of parliament came three days after the assembly passed a law allowing
formation of the caretaker government.
Earlier on Saturday, Khaleda announced she had asked the president to dissolve parliament and
arrange to transfer power to a caretaker administration.
^REUTER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
News: Sheikh Hasina pursues dream of democratic power
Date:
Sun, 31 Mar 96 06:43:31 -0500
From:
Eonderer
Organization:
Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
30-MAR-1996 11:21 Sheikh Hasina pursues dream of democratic power
By Anis Ahmed
DHAKA, March 30 (Reuter) - Bangladeshi opposition leader Sheikh Hasina has for decades
pursued an elusive dream of rising to power and stepping into the shoes of her assassinated
father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the nation's first president.
In the process, the Awami League chief has seen most of her family slain in a military coup, spent
months in detention and lived abroad for six years in self-imposed exile.
She lent her popularity to strengthen a campaign to topple army "autocrat" General Hossain
Mohammad Ershad in 1990 and tried her luck in a 1991parliamentary election that only reaffirmed
her position as opposition leader.
Hasina has upheld her father's mantle and led his party with a determination and stoicism that has
often earned her criticism within and outside her party.
Ever since Ershad's fall in a 1990 popular uprising, Hasina has remained pitted against current
Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who on Saturday stepped aside for a non-party, caretaker
government to take over to supervise fresh elections.
Hasina says she is not crazy for power but is eager to establish a flawless democracy and a
foolproof system of clean voting in this south Asian country.
Born on September 28, 1947, at Tungipara village in northern Bangldesh (in what was then East
Pakistan), Hasina graduated from Dhaka University in 1973.
She gained her early poliltical experience as a go-between for her father, who led Bangladesh to
independence in 1971, and his student followers.
Hasina and her sister, Sheikh Rehana, were on a visit to West Germany when army officers
staging a coup d'etat on August 15, 1975, gunned down Mujib, his wife, their two sons and several
relatives.
The two sisters remained in self-imposed exile in West Germany and other countries for six years
until 1981.
Returning home, Hasina became leader of the Awami League and reshaped it into a major political
force.
She was arrested several times during the rule of Ershad, a former general who seized power in a
bloodless coup in March 1982 and was forced to resign in December 1990.
Hasina was chosen as head of a 15-party opposition alliance that challenegd Ershad's power in the
1986 parliamentary elections.
She proved her popularity by winning three constituencies, including one in Dhaka. Although she
claimed her alliance had won more than two-thirds of the 300 seats in parliament, official results
gave her only 104.
Despite pressure from colleagues to boycott parliament, Hasina entered it as leader of the
opposition using it as a platform to challenge Ershad. When Ershad dissolved parliament on December 6, 1987, she hit the streets again, demanding
free elections and Ershad's resignation. Hasina led opposition legislators in a mass resigation
from parliament in December 1994 and later spearheaded a series of strikes and transport
blockades in her persistent bid to topple Khaleda's government.
Hasina's Awami League, along with Jatiya Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, boycotted elelctions on
February 15, 1996, which Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won overwhelmingly.
Hasina demanded new election, insisting that BNP was incapable of conducting free vote.
Eventually, Khaleda gave in when parliament passed a law on March 26 allowing fresh elections
to be overseen by a neutral caretaker administration.
Widely travelled, Sheikh Hasina has attended international seminars in the United States, Asia
and Europe. She is an avid reader of books and journals of international politics.
A devout Moslem, she visited Mecca in 1985. Married to nuclear physicist Dr. Wazed Ali Miah,
Hasina has two children, a son and a daughter.
^REUTER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
News: Bangladesh PM loses power after five-year tenure
Date:
Sun, 31 Mar 96 06:57:35 -0500
From:
Eonderer
Organization:
Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
30-MAR-1996 11:04 Bangladesh PM loses power after five-year tenure
By Anis Ahmed
DHAKA, March 30 (Reuter) - The five-year rule of Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia
came to an end on Saturday when President Abdur Rahman Biswas appointed a former Chief
Justice to succeed her until fresh elections.
Justice Habibur Rahman was named as head of the non-party, caretaker government after Khaleda,
facing mounting opposition pressure to quit, had asked the president to start the process of
transferring power.
Khaleda became prime minister on March 19, 1991, after her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
won a majority in the February 27 elections, billed as the country's first free poll.
But her powers were overshadowed by the absolute authority enjoyed by acting president
Shahabuddin Ahmed.
Khaleda became Bangladesh's first executive prime minister in September 1991after voters
confirmed in a referendum that they wanted an immediate return to parliamentary democracy,
ending 16 years of presidential rule.
Khaleda, a stoical widow who grew in stature after the 1981 assassination of her husband,
president Ziaur Rahman, accomplished a long-planned revenge when she was named
Bangladesh's first woman prime minister a decade later.
Khaleda had rarely ventured into public life during her husband's 1975-81rule of this south Asian
country.
After becoming prime minister, she held the reins firmly when Bangladesh was ravaged by its
worst cyclone on record on April 29, 1991, that killed over 138,000 people and left the economy in
ruins.
The daughter of a businessman, Iskander Majumder, in Feni district in south Bangladesh,
Khaleda is the third of her parents' five children.
She went to college in 1960 but was soon married to Zia, then a captain in the Pakistani army.
As East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) began a war of independence in March 1971, Khaleda's
husband rebelled and fled his post in southern port of Chittagong to command an elite section of
freedom fighters.
Khaleda was arrested by the Pakistani army and detained until December 16, 1971, when
Bangladesh became independent.
Khaleda led a modest life as a typical Bangladeshi housewife, mostly taking care of Zia and their
two sons, Even after her husband became president following a 1975 coup, she neither involved
herself in politics nor in matters of state.
Khaleda Zia took the first step of her political career in 1982 when she joined her husband's BNP.
In December 1983, she became its president with a burning desire to avenge Zia's assassination
in an abortive 1981 mutiny, when former president Hossain Mohammad Ershad was army chief.
Once her leadership qualities became obvious, Khaleda earned herself a fearsome enemy in
Ershad, who had risen to the presidency by overthrowing Zia's successor, Justice Abdus Sattar,
in a bloodless coup in 1982.
Ershad detained Khaleda seven times during his nearly nine years of rule in an effort to thwart
her political aspirations.
Undeterred, Khaleda was a vociferous opponent of Ershad and in 1987 brought seven opposition
parties into an alliance with the BNP.
Her revenge was complete when her party won a majority in 1991 parliamentary elections.
In the first two years of her rule, Khaleda initiated a number of economic reforms that opened
Bangladesh to international investors and brought her fulsome praise.
But her triumphant ride was slowed as the BNP locked horns with major opposition parties, led
by Sheikh Hasina's Awami League. As a result, opposition parties walked out of parliament in
March 1994 and resigned en masse in December that year.
^REUTER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
News: Bangladesh military pledges to help caretaker rule
Date:
Sun, 31 Mar 96 06:56:00 -0500
From:
Eonderer
Organization:
Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
31-MAR-1996 06:25 Bangladesh military pledges to help caretaker rule
(Updates with pledge by military chiefs)
By Anis Ahmed
DHAKA, March 31 (Reuter) - Bangladesh military chiefs pledged full support on Sunday to caretaker
head of government Habibur Rahman, who replaced Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, in the
run-up to fresh elections.
Army chief-of-staff Lieutenant-General Abu Saleh Mohammad Nasim, navy chief Rear-Admiral Nurul
Islam and air force chief Air Vice-Marshal Jamaluddin Ahmed met Rahman at his office, the official
BSS news agency said.
Rahman, a 66-year-old former chief justice, took over as head of the non-party caretaker
government on Saturday after President Abdur Rahman Biswas dissolved parliament under
mounting opposition pressure.
New elections have to be held within three months.
The three service chiefs assured Rahman of their "full support and cooperation in discharging his
responsibilities in upholding the constitution, maintenance of law and order, and holding free and
fair parliamentary elections," BSS said.
Earlier Nasim had a meeting with the president, it said.
Bangladeshis enjoyed a return to normal life on Sunday after a night of celebration following
Khaleda's departure from office.
Opposition leaders had been trying for two years to bring down Khaleda's government.
They boycotted elections in February polls, insisting that her Bangladesh National Party (BNP) was
incapable of conducting a fair vote. They then mounted a nationwide campaign of strikes and
protests.
Tight security was in force to prevent a possible backlash from Khaleda's followers after she stepped down.
But vehicles were moving again on the streets on Sunday, a working day in Moslem Bangladesh.
Many offices and businesses, which had been paralysed by political strikes, opened for the first
time in weeks.
Thousands of people swarmed on to the streets of Dhaka on Saturday night, dancing and singing
in celebration after Khaleda relinquished power.
BNP leaders and workers vowed at a rally to resist the elections unless senior civil servants who
walked off the job joined the protests against Khaleda were sacked.
Rahman told reporters: "I have difficult tasks ahead. My prime duty is to arrange a free and fair
election, but my primary duty is to restore law and order."
He said he would soon appoint 10 advisers to assist him.
The main opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, appealed on Saturday for calm
and discipline to ensure the caretaker government could do its job.
At least 120 people have been killed and thousands injured since January in political clashes across the country.
^REUTER
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
News: Bangladesh life returning to normal after Khaleda steps dow
Date:
Sun, 31 Mar 96 07:04:23 -0500
From:
Eonderer
Organization:
Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
30-MAR-1996 23:37 Bangladesh life returning to normal after Khaleda steps down
By Anis Ahmed
DHAKA, March 31 (Reuter) - Bangladeshis were enjoying a return to normal
life on Sunday after a night of celebration following the long-awaited departure
from office of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.
But tight security was still in force to prevent a possible backlash by
followers of Khaleda, who has been replaced by former chief justice Habibur
Rahman to head a caretaker government to oversee fresh elections.
Vehicles were moving again on the streets on Sunday, a working day in Moslem
Bangladesh.
Offices and many businesses, which had been paralysed by political strikes,
reopened for the first time in weeks but officials said little work was expected
as people across the country celebrated Khaleda's departure.
Thousands of people swarmed onto the streets of the capital Dhaka on
Saturday night, dancing and singing in celebration after Khaleda relinquished
power.
"Democracy is reborn in Bangladesh," they chanted.
President Abdur Rahman Biswas dissolved the parliament chosen in February 15
elections and appointed Habibur Rahman as Chief Adviser in the new
administration.
Opposition leaders had been trying for two years to topple Khaleda's
government and boycotted the February polls, insisting that the ruling
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was incapable of conducting a fair vote. They
then mounted a nationwide campaign of strikes and protests.
Rahman's principal job would be holding new elections within 90 days of his
appointment but he told reporters on Saturday night that his immediate
responsibility was to restore law and order.
"I have difficult tasks ahead. My prime duty is to arrange a free and fair
election, but my primary duty is to restore law and order," he said.
The 66-year-old former chief justice said he soon would appoint 10 advisers
to assist him.
Khaleda took over as Bangladesh's first woman prime minister following 1991
elections but she drew widespread protest and indignation when the BNP heavily
stuffed ballot boxes to win last month's virtually "one-party" poll.
Opposition parties had stepped up their campaign of strikes and blockades
that all but crippled the country of 110 million people.
Civil servants who walked off the job last week and joined Khaleda's
opponents on the street prompted threats from the former prime minister on
Saturday night.
"They have conspired to overthrow an elected government and they must be
punished," Khaleda told a BNP rally.
The BNP's deputy leader Badruddoza Chowdhury said his party would not would
not participate in any election unless the "partisan" bureaucrats were sacked.
Main opposition leader Sheikh Hasina, chief of the Awami League, has
appealed for calm and discipline to ensure the caretaker government does its
job.
"The caretaker government has taken charge at a critical juncture of the
nation's history. We must all be very alert that no one can harm it by
conspiracy," Hasina said in a statement.
At least 120 people have been killed and thousands injured in political
clashes this year, and police said on Sunday they feared more violence in the
run-up to the next elections.
^REUTER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
News: The dissolution came three days after parliament passed a law
Date:
Sun, 31 Mar 96 07:06:36 -0500
From:
Eonderer
Organization:
Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
30-MAR-1996 08:25 The dissolution came three days after parliament passed a
law allowing formation of a neutral caretaker government to oversee future
elections.
Earlier on Saturday Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia had announced she had
asked the president to dissolve parliament and arrange to transfer power to a
caretaker administration.
Opposition leaders have been trying for two years to topple Khaleda's
government and boycotted a general election in February, insisting that the
ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was incapable of conducting a fair
vote. They have since mounted a nationwide campaign of strikes and protests.
BSS said chiefs of the Bangladesh army, navy and air force had met Khaleda
on Saturday. "The prime minister thanked the three service chiefs and through
them conveyed her good wishes to the members of the armed forces," the agency
said.
^REUTER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
News: "Justice Rahman has accepted the offer"
Date:
Sun, 31 Mar 96 07:07:22 -0500
From:
Eonderer
Organization:
Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.bangladesh
30-MAR-1996 04:29 "Justice Rahman has accepted the offer and started working
informally as the chief adviser-designate," the president told BSS in an
interview.
"Security has already been provided to him and other logistical support is
being given."
Opposition leaders have been trying for two years to topple Khaleda's
government and boycotted a general election in February, insisting that the
ruling party was incapable of conducting a fair vote. They have since mounted a
nationwide campaign of strikes and protests.
The newly elected parliament, made up almost entirely of legislators from
Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party, passed a law on Tuesday requiring that
all future elections be overseen by caretaker governments.
^REUTER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------