Bangladesh strike turns violent; 100 hurt

DHAKA, June 13 (Reuters) Almost 100 people were wounded in Bangladesh today and transport and business largely paralysed as opposition activists fought police at the start of a two-day strike for electoral reforms.

An opposition alliance led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina called the strike to try to force the government to accept demands for electoral reform ahead of next January's parliamentary election.

The demands include the removal of the election commissioner and an opposition say in the caretaker administration to be appointed to run the country ahead of the polls.

The clashes occurred in Dhaka, nearby Narayanganj and northern Sirajganj, where police used batons and tear gas to disperse rock-throwing activists, witnesses said.

Police detained more than 150 activists across the country. ''We picked them up for resorting to violence and damaging properties,'' an officer at the Dhaka police headquarters said.

Protesters set fire to seven vehicles, including a police car and three goods trucks, in Dhaka and its suburbs, police said.

More vehicles were damaged in Narayanganj, Sirajganj and southern Chittagong port city, witnesses told Reuters.

The strikers attacked and damaged two railway stations in northern Bangladesh disrupting movement of trains.

Inter-district buses were off the road, but river ferries operated with fewer than normal loads, witnesses said.

Several domestic and international flights were cancelled or delayed, airport officials said.

Chittagong port remained mostly idle with no deliveries of goods, though some ships were loaded and unloaded, port officials said.

Bangladesh's two stock exchanges in Dhaka and Chittagong were closed.

FED UP While the impoverished country remains divided over political issues, the business community says it is fed up with repeated shut downs that badly affect production and exports.

Mr Obaidul Karim, chairman of the Orion Group of industries, said: ''During hartals (strikes) we are forced to close our trade and business.

''All my factories and firms have been closed as we do not want to take any risk of their being attacked or damaged. On each hartal day, the country suffers industrial losses up to 6 billion taka (85 million dollars ).'' The Orion Group does business in textiles, pharmaceuticals, banking, electronics, printing, power and construction sectors.

Analysts said the latest stoppage was just a repetition of earlier actions by opponents of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who shows no sign of bending under pressure.

Begum Khaleda's five-year term will end in October when the caretaker administration -- appointed by the president in consultation with the government -- will take over until January's election.

Reuters SHB GC2035