One dead, 50 injured as Bangladesh blockade begins

BANGLADESH: One person died and 50 were injured as Bangladesh was paralysed by the first day of an indefinite opposition transport blockade Sunday as talks aimed at trying to resolve the crisis ended without news of a resolution, police and an interim government spokesman said.

The clash took place in the northeast Sylhet district during rallies by both the main opposition Awami League and the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who are embroiled in a dispute over electoral reforms ahead of January polls.

"Supporters of the parties threw stones and small bombs at each other at each other and exchanged gunfire," said police sub-inspector Saffaet Hossen.

Police responded by firing tear gas to disperse the crowds.

One man, a BNP activist, was hit by a bullet and died later in hospital, said Hossen.

Members of the interim administration's advisory council - effectively a cabinet - met Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed and BNP chief Khaleda Zia late Sunday.

Advisory council member Mahbubul Alam told reporters the talks had ended but did not elaborate.

The details of the discussions would be reviewed Monday by the president and other members of the council, media reports said. Officials were not available for comment.

Earlier, in Dhaka, a police officer was seriously injured while five activists suffered minor injuries after police baton-charged rampaging protesters, police inspector Aminul Alam said.

Opposition supporters set up blockades on roads connecting the country's main towns and cities.

Thousands of main opposition Awami League supporters also marched through the streets of the capital chanting slogans.

The blockade left the normally congested city deserted, with cars off the roads and many businesses and offices closed on Sunday, which is a normal working day in the majority Muslim nation of 144 million.

Other main towns and cities were also affected by the shutdown.

"Public life has been stopped and all transport links have been severed," said Khan Sayeed Hasan, deputy inspector general of police in the northwest Rajshahi region.

The opposition has pledged to continue with the blockade until its demands for reforms are met.

They include President Iajuddin Ahmed's resignation as head of the interim government overseeing the elections, a revision of a voters' list it claimed included 14 million fake names, and "reconstitution" of the election commission.

The opposition has said the reforms were necessary to prevent the polls being tilted in favour of the outgoing government, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Earlier, opposition blockades and strikes had paralysed the nation for days, cost businesses millions of dollars and led to violent clashes between rival parties.

The opposition accuses the BNP of trying to rig the elections by appointing party loyalists to key positions within the supposedly neutral caretaker administration and the election commission.

At least 31 people have now died, mostly in clashes between rival supporters, since the end of the BNP-led government's five-year mandate on October 27.

The president appointed himself as head of the caretaker government after the original choice for the job - former Supreme Court judge K.M. Hasan, a senior BNP official in the late 1970s - stepped aside as a result of opposition protests.

DHAKA, Monday, AFP