Bangladesh ex-ruler "missing" after court sentence

DHAKA, Dec 17 (Reuters) Bangladesh's former army ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad was ''missing or hiding'' today, three days after the High Court confirmed a two-year jail sentence against him, his associates said.

''He (Ershad) has remained unreachable since Sunday morning,'' said his brother, G M Quader, a former lawmaker and senior leader of Ershad's Jatiya Party.

Another party leader Kazi Zafar Ahmed, a former prime minister, said Ershad was in a hospital in his home town of Rangpur in northern Bangladesh ''for rest and medical check ups''.

Hospital officials told reporters that Ershad had not been admitted.

Kazi Feroze Rashaid, another leader of the Jatiya Party, said: ''Our chairman is at his home, taking a rest.'' Calls made by Reuters to his Dhaka residence were not answered.

Police declined to comment.

Some people said he might be trying to escape arrest after the confirmation of his sentence.

Ershad was sentenced by a lower court years ago for squandering state funds in a deal to purchase patrol boats from Japan while he was in power from 1982 to 1990.

The High Court confirmed his sentence suddenly on Thursday, as the retired general was planning to conclude a deal to support a 14-party alliance headed by Sheikh Hasina, chief of Awami League.

Ershad will not be able to contest the January 23 election unless the High Court ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court, legal officials said.

Earlier, Ershad said he could also forge an alliance with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Begum Khaleda Zia, the most immediate past prime minister.

Khaleda handed power to an interim government, headed by President Iajuddin Ahmed, after ending her five-year term as prime minister late in October.

The interim authority is in charge of conducting a free and fair election within three months after Khaleda stepped down.

Hasina said the High Court ruling was ''remote-controlled'' by her rivals to keep Ershad off the polls and from supporting the 14-party alliance.

Ershad seized power in a 1982 bloodless coup. He was ousted in December 1990 in a ''people's revolt'' led jointly by Hasina and Khaleda, then both opposition leaders.

The two women fell out after Ershad's fall and have not spoken to each other for a decade or so.

They alternated as Bangladesh's prime ministers for the last 15 years and are key contenders for power in the coming polls.

REUTERS AB RAI2056