B'desh should be wary of democracy threat: US

Dhaka. Jun 30: Bangladesh must be on guard against any threat to its democratic credentials, a US diplomat said today, amid squabbling between the main parties ahead of next January's general election.

The main opposition Awami League has said it will boycott the vote unless electoral reforms are implemented and analysts fear more violence in the Muslim majority state, hit by a spate of Islamist bomb attacks last year.

''With the upcoming election ... it is more important than ever that Bangladesh keep constant watch against threats to the fundamentals of democracy,'' Patricia Butenis, the US ambassador in Dhaka, said in a statement.

''All of us, Americans and Bangladeshis, must remember that democracy cannot be taken for granted.'' Butenis' statement came three days after Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan had asked foreign diplomats not to interfere in Bangladesh's internal affairs and politics.

''Diplomats should not cross their limits,'' he told reporters after diplomats from the European Union met Hasina to discuss matters relating to the election.

Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and her predecessor, Awami leader Sheikh Hasina, have been bitter rivals for years, and strikes and protests by their supporters have often turned violent.

Bangladesh is still reeling from threats by Islamist militants seeking to turn the Muslim majority democracy into a sharia-based Islamic state.

Although the leaders of two outlawed Islamist groups, Jamaat-ul Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), have been detained and sentenced to death, remnants of the militant groups are still active, diplomats and officials said.

In a written threat they said they would blow up the Indian High Commission in Dhaka unless JMJB chief Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai was freed.

The High Commission and the foreign ministry have both confirmed the threat and say it has been taken seriously.

REUTERS