U.S. urges restraint as B'desh braces for violence
Source: Reuters
(Adds police advice, BNP news conference) By Anis Ahmed DHAKA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Bangladesh authorities banned demonstrations and barricades on Saturday ahead of a deadline set by a 14-party political alliance for the removal of the chief election commissioner over allegations of bias. Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League alliance said they would go ahead with a nationwide transport blockade from Sunday if Bangladesh's interim administration did not fire the commissioner before national elections in January. "We have instructed our followers to paralyse the country ... including ports, buses and trains and ferries," Awami general secretary Abdul Jalil told reporters after a party meeting. Police said they imposed an indefinite ban on rallies and demonstrations in the capital Dhaka, home to 10 million people, from Sunday and vowed to protect law and order at all costs. "The country is up for a likely breakdown in law and order as the political rivals have drawn the battle lines," said a senior police officer. Road blockades, other "obstructive acts" and the carrying of weapons and sticks in Dhaka have also been banned. Police using loudspeakers advised people not to gather in the streets on Sunday, witnesses said. Hasina has urged President Iajuddin Ahmed, who heads a caretaker administration that will run the country through the January polls, to prove his neutrality by restructuring the election commission. Hasina accuses Chief Election Commissioner M.A. Aziz and his deputies of being partial towards his party's main rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who stepped down last month to allow an interim administration to hold the elections. Supporters of Khaleda have rejected the charges. "Awami League and its allies will be responsible if elections are foiled due to violent political campaigns," Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, secretary-general of BNP, told a news conference. "We will not resist them and have asked our supporters to stay calm, but we will retaliate if attacked," he said. TIGHT SECURITY Iajuddin met police officials and the elite Rapid Action Battalion force to review security arrangements. "This may push the country into an unprecedented political crisis," said a government official. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said after talks with Foreign Secretary M. Hemayetuddin in Dhaka that Washington was concerned over political violence in past weeks which killed at least 30 people and injured hundreds. "Violence does not do any good," he told reporters and urged political parties to "work with consensus to lower the level of violence as you proceed to elections". "The United States hopes to see a free, fair and non-violent election in Bangladesh. The caretaker government has a big task ahead ... the election commission needs to be free of influence," said Boucher. Answering a question, Boucher said: "Any military takeover (in the wake of political violence) does not help achieving the goal (of strengthening democracy)." Elections in Bangladesh have in the past been violent and marred by allegations of rigging and voter intimidation. Schools and universities will likely remain shut on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh, education officials said. (Additional reporting by Nizam Ahmed)
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
