Bangladesh garment workers protest for higher wages

DHAKA, June 1 (Reuters) Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers took to the streets of an export zone near the capital Dhaka today, throwing stones and breaking windows as they demonstrated for higher wages, police and witnesses said.

Authorities deployed police and troops to contain the violence as some 3,000 agitating workers rampaged in the Savar export zone, north of Dhaka.

''The situation is under control but tense,'' a police inspector at the scene told Reuters.

The agitation started yesterday and spread overnight after a week's lull following violence in which one worker was killed and several factories were burned in the capital and its suburbs.

Garments are impoverished Bangladesh's biggest export, fetching the country more than 6 billion dollars a year. The industry has over 4,000 factories and employs nearly two million workers.

Patricia A Butenis, US ambassador to Bangladesh, expressed concern at last week's violence.

''Events like last week affect the international reputation of Bangladesh as a safe place to invest and a reliable business partner,'' Butenis told a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Dhaka today.

U S buys some 45 percent of Bangladeshi garment exports.

Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association said the latest unrest affected production at a handful of factories.

Bangladesh has been reeling for months from widespread violent protests over shortages of electricity, drinking water and diesel for months.

REUTERS SI ND1542