Hopes rise of breakthrough to end Bangladesh political crisis

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh officials raised hopes of a breakthrough in the bloody political crisis that has paralysed the nation as a new transport blockade entered a second day on Tuesday.

The caretaker government said it was confident of resolving the standoff over the opposition's demands to sack an election chief it accuses of trying to rig national polls in January.

"We finally see light at the end of the tunnel. We hope we will get a result within the next 24 to 48 hours," government cabinet member Mahbubul Alam told reporters late Monday.

Alam made the comments as Bangladesh again ground to a halt after the opposition reimposed a transport shutdown and supporters held streets protests to try to oust election commissioner M.A. Aziz.

The main opposition Awami League and its left-leaning allies accuse Aziz of seeking to fix the elections in favour of the outgoing government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). It said free and fair polls were not possible while he was in charge.

A delegation from the interim government, charged with overseeing the elections, visited Aziz at his Dhaka office on Monday. Details of their discussions were not disclosed. The opposition had earlier gone ahead with its threat to reimpose an indefinite transport shutdown. Supporters blocked roads and train tracks linking the main cities and deliveries to and from the main port in southeastern Chittagong came to a standstill.

The opposition had called off a four-day-old blockade last Wednesday and gave President Iajuddin Ahmed, who heads the non-party caretaker body, until late Sunday to sack Aziz or face renewed nationwide disruptions.

Thousands of opposition supporters chanting "sack Aziz and save the country" marched in the capital Dhaka on Monday and separate rallies were held by the Awami League and rival BNP in towns and cities.

In the northern town of Natore clashes between gun-toting activists left 20 people with bullet wounds. Several small bombs were flung during the confrontation, with police using tear gas to disperse the crowds. "Supporters of both parties clashed with guns and bombs at the heart of the town as both wanted to hold rallies there," said police officer Liakat Ali.

In the capital a small bomb was also hurled from a moving vehicle at a rarely-used entrance to the presidential palace. No one was injured.

Normal life in Dhaka halted with cars off the streets, roads from the city blocked and shops, businesses and schools all closed for the day.

"The capital has been cut off from the rest of the country," said Aurangjeb Mahbub, the deputy commissioner of Dhaka Police.

Business leaders have estimated that the shutdowns cost the impoverished country's textile exporters more than 70 million dollars a day.

The opposition has staged dozens of protests and national strikes this year aimed at ousting officials it accuses of political bias.

Four days of clashes between rival party activists from October 27, when the BNP government's five-year tenure ran out, left at least 25 people dead.

Dhaka, Tuesday, AFP