B'desh police fire tear gas at anti-govt protesters

BANGLADESH: Police fired tear gas Wednesday at dozens of protesters who attacked vehicles during a general strike in the Bangladesh capital to demand the government's ouster, witnesses say.

The violence broke out in Dhaka's central Mahakhali district on the second day of a nationwide general strike called by an opposition alliance.

Police used tear gas after about 100 rampaging activists smashed several commuter vehicles for defying the strike, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

Similar clashes on Tuesday, the first day of the 36-hour protest, left at least about 50 people wounded in Dhaka and nearby Narayanganj town, local media reported.

The strike has been sponsored by a 14-party opposition alliance to press for its campaign for electoral reforms and to demand that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia step down for early polls. The shutdown is due to end at 6 p.m. (1200 GMT) Wednesday.

The alliance, led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accuses Zia's government of influencing the election commission to guarantee its victory in the next election, due in January 2007.

Zia's government denies the allegations. She has vowed to stay in power until her five-year term expires in October when, under the constitution, she is to hand over power to a nonpartisan caretaker administration to supervise the election.

Stores and schools remained closed for the second straight day Wednesday because of the strike that disrupted public transportation in the capital Dhaka and more than 60 other cities and towns, the private United News of Bangladesh reported.

In Dhaka, the capital city of 10 million people, commuters relied on tricycle rickshaws that were allowed by strikers to operate, and a few buses that defied the shutdown.

General strikes are a common opposition tactic in the impoverished South Asian nation to press political demands and harass the government.

The opposition has held a series of strikes and street protests in recent months, trying to force Zia's resignation and call for an early election, as well as election commission reforms. Dhaka,Wednesday, AP