Bangladesh's new poll chief takes oath of office

DHAKA, Feb 5 (Reuters) Bangladesh's newly appointed chief election commissioner (CEC) and his deputy were officially sworn in today as the caretaker government launched a major crackdown on corruption.

Chief Justice J R Mudassir Hossain administered the oath of office to former top bureaucrats A T M Shamsul Huda and Sohul Hossain as chief and deputy respectively, clearing the way for a long-delayed poll in the nation of 140 million people.

Another deputy is likely to be appointed soon following the resignations last week of several senior election officials.

The oath-taking came a day after security forces detained 20 senior politicians, including a media tycoon and seven former ministers, in swoops on homes across the capital, Dhaka.

''We don't want to chase small fish, but have launched the crackdown to grab the big fish first,'' said M A Matin, adviser to the administration charged with organising an election after weeks of political violence derailed plans for a January poll.

Huda replaced M A Aziz, who resigned last month ollowing controversy over his alleged bias towards the most recent prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Last Wednesday, Aziz's five deputies also stepped down, bowing to similar charges by Sheikh Hasina, Khaleda's predecessor and bitter rival, who heads the Awami League.

President Iajuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency on January 11 and appointed Fakhruddin Ahmed as the new chief of the interim administration the following day. The president ordered him to reform the election commission and clean up the voters list.

AID COMMUNITY CHEERING Huda told reporters after he was sworn in that he would update the list of registered voters and use transparent poll procedures.

Voters would be given identity cards to avoid rigging, he said.

Senior BNP leader and former law and parliamentary affairs minister Moudud Ahmed said: ''We hope they will settle down soon and start working for a credible election at the earliest.'' The series of arrests of senior politicians yesterday stunned Bangladeshis -- and cheered the aid community.

''Many vital projects could not be implemented due to them,'' said Asian Development Bank (ADB) country chief Hua Du at a meeting with the government's foreign affairs adviser. ''Now we hope to finish those projects during the rule of the caretaker government.'' Today afternoon, the arrested politicians -- including former BNP minister Nazmul Huda and Mohammad Nasim of the Awami League -- were refused bail at a magistrate's court in Dhaka.

They were ordered back to jail for up to 30 days, pending charges.

Newspapers said that more than 100 ''big names'' from the BNP and the Awami League had gone into hiding after the raids began before dawn yesterday.

''We mean business, and will do what we say ... that is crush corruption and punish the godfathers,'' said Mainul Husein, another adviser of the interim authority headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former central bank chief. ''So no one will be spared.'' The last to be detained last evening was Musaddek Ali, a close Khaleda associate and owner of two television channels and a daily newspaper.

Husein said steps were also being taken to reform and strengthen the anti-corruption commission. Bangladesh was ranked among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world last year by Transparency International's corruption perception index.

An election planned for January 22 was postponed when violence broke out across the country after Khaleda ended her five-year term in October and handed power to the interim authority.

The new date for the election has yet to be announced.

REUTERS DKA KN1955