By Anis Ahmed

DHAKA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Troops moved out of their barracks and took up positions at key locations around the Bangladesh capital on Sunday after the government ordered the deployment to ensure a peaceful run up to elections next month.

"We have started deploying across the country," an army officer told a Reuters cameraman at Dhaka University campus.

The campus is a hotbed of students supporting either former prime ministers Begum Khaleda Zia or her main rival, Sheikh Hasina, who are also main contenders in the elections duw on January 23.

Officials said the troops would assist the civil administration in maintaining order until the elections are over and a new government takes office.

On Saturday, President Iajuddin Ahmed ordered the deployment of the army in the wake of deteriorating order and following threats by a multi-party alliance led by Hasina, chief of Awami League, to besiege the president's palace.

All gatherings and processions had been banned around the presidential palace with immediate effect ahead of the election which is due on Jan. 23.

Abdul Jalil, general secretary of the Awami League and coordinator of the 14-party alliance, gave a cautious welcome to the deployment.

"We will observe their activities," he said. "If they take action against the corrupt and criminals, we will welcome them with flowers."

At least 44 people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes between rival political activists since late October.

Begum Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), ended her five-year tenure as prime minister late in October and handed power to an interim government headed by the president to oversee the polls.

Khaleda and Hasina have alternated as premiers of impoverished Bangladesh for the last 15 years after they toppled military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad after nearly nine years of power through a people's revolt in December 1990.

But they have since been political foes who refuse to even speak to each other.

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