Bombs wound 8 in Bangladesh as political row persists

DHAKA, Nov 15 (Reuters) A series of small bombs wounded eight people in the Bangladeshi capital as a transport shutdown to force the dismissal of election officials paralysed the country for a fourth day today.

Witnesses said the overnight blasts near the office of the Awami League, the main party enforcing the blockade, triggered widespread panic in Dhaka.

Police said they were investigating the blasts which came after rival political groups refused to compromise on the removal of the controversial election officials ahead of general elections in January.

At least 30 people were injured in fresh clashes today between Awami League activists and those of its bitter rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

The Awami League, led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, says the officials are biased in favour of the BNP led by Begum Khaleda Zia, whose term as prime minister expired in October.

''We are concerned about problems caused by the transport shutdown, but it is necessary to keep up the pressure,'' Hasina told thousands of cheering supporters outside her home in Dhaka, defying a police ban on rallies and gatherings.

The BNP, which handed power to a caretaker government last month after completing its five-year term in office, says removing the officials is out of the question.

''We have told a panel of advisers of the interim administration that they have no legal mandate to fire any election commissioners,'' said Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, the BNP's secretary-general.

BNP supporters staged counter-rallies in Dhaka and elsewhere, saying the Awami League was trying to disrupt the election by insisting on removal of chief election commissioner M A Aziz.

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