B'desh parties fear military intervention

BANGLADESH: Opposition parties in Bangladesh are holding back from further violent protests for fear that more bloodshed could result in military intervention, analysts said.

Experts say the main opposition Awami League's decision to scale back planned protests and failure to condemn the president's appointment as head of an interim administration are calculated to prevent a further deterioration of law and order.

Shakhawat Hossain, a retired Brigadier general and political and defence analyst, predicted the lawlessness would now ebb.

"There will of course be some personal score settling but the possibility of widespread violence and killings is fading," he said.

"Things were going almost out of control over the last two days. The country was almost on the brink and there were rumours that the military was about to be called in.

"I was informed that the army was put on an hour's notice to move which would have been a catastrophe for democracy," he added.

At least 21 people have died in clashes since Friday, when the five-year mandate of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government ran out.

President Iajuddin Ahmed named himself as the head of a caretaker government Sunday after talks to find a candidate acceptable to both the BNP and Awami League broke down. The president said he had no alternative amid escalating bloodshed.

The Awami League announced nationwide demonstrations and blockades in protest at the decision, but stopped short of its earlier pledge to "paralyse" the nation with indefinite national strikes.

Ataur Rahman, a professor of political science at Dhaka University, said an outright condemnation and a more aggressive protest programme would have seen violence in the politically polarised nation spiral out of control.

"I think the president's solution (to appoint himself) was acceptable because within the political reality and constitutional options it was the only thing he could do to avert a serious crisis," said Rahman.

"The opposition parties have realised that beyond this option (of appointing himself) is the entry of the military."

Meanwhile Bangladesh's national police chief vowed there would be "zero tolerance" of violence following a political crisis that sparked deadly clashes between rival parties.

At least 15,000 police were on the streets of the capital Dhaka and thousands more were deployed nationwide after three days of protests led by the leftist main opposition Awami League that left at least 21 people dead.

"There will be zero tolerance of further violence. Anyone who tries to disrupt law and order will be punished," Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Anwarul Iqbal told AFP.

"We have now enough police and paramilitaries all over the country and the situation has improved markedly," he added.

Awami League activists burned an effigy of outgoing prime minister and BNP chief Khaleda Zia, an AFP photographer said.

An isolated clash was reported on the southern island of Bhola that left at least 35 people injured, according to the private ATN Bangla television channel.

Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed met the president Monday in his capacity as the new interim head and asked him to reform the voters list and the election commission by November 3, adding that the opposition would suspend protests until then.

"He has to prove his neutrality through his activities and he has to remove all suspicion about lack of neutrality," she told reporters.

Dhaka, Tuesday, AFP