B'desh police detain hundreds ahead of road march

DHAKA, July 24 (Reuters) Police in Bangladesh have detained up to 200 people in a countrywide swoop ahead of a series of road marches planned by opposition parties in their latest bid to force the government implement electoral reforms.

Police went on high alert after the State Minister for Home Affairs, Lutufuzzaman Babar, told reporters at the weekend that ''extremists might try to launch fresh attacks'' using the opposition marches as a pretext.

He did not elaborate but a series of bomb attacks by Islamist militants between August and December last year killed at least 30 people and wounded 150.

The marches, each about five km long in and around the capital Dhaka, begin tomorrow and last for six days.

A 14-party opposition alliance led by Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina has tried over the years to topple the government of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.

Hasina accuses the government of being corrupt, inefficient and repressive. Parliamentary elections are due next January.

Hasina said her alliance would boycott the election if their demands on removing chief election commissioner M A Aziz, whom they accuse of pro-government bias, are not met.

They also want a say in choosing the chief of a caretaker administration that would supervise the election.

REUTERS AB DS1237