Bangladesh's interim govt bans indoor politics

DHAKA, Mar 9 (Reuters) After detaining dozens of influential leaders in raids across the country, the army-backed interim government has further restricted political activities for an indefinite period, officials today said.

The new order bans politics held indoors. Outdoor rallies have been disallowed since a state of emergency was imposed in January.

''The ban was imposed late yesterday after student activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) tried to hold a protest rally in the Dhaka university campus against the arrest of Tareque,'' a home ministry official said.

Tareque Rahman, the influential son of immediate-past Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and senior joint secretary of the BNP, was among a number of political leaders arrested on Wednesday.

Khaleda ended her five-year rule in October and handed power to an interim government in charge of holding the next election.

''Stern legal actions will be taken against violation of the order (ban on indoor politics),'' The home ministry said in a statement issued late yesterday.

A January 22 general election was postponed after an impasse over election procedures between the two main political groups and in the wake of political violence that killed 45 people, resulting in the imposition of emergency law.

The interim authority, headed by former central bank chief Fakhruddin Ahmed, is tasked with holding a fair and credible election as soon as possible.

A Dhaka court remanded Tareque, dubbed ''Yubaraj'' (prince), to police custody for four more days for questioning in an extortion case after he had been produced before a magistrate yesterday night amid tight security.

Police escorted Tareque, 38, to and from the court and gave him a bullet-proof jacket and a steel helmet to wear. He is charged with extorting 145,000 dollar from a real-estate developer.

The charge carries a penalty of up to 14 years in jail, one lawyer said.

Police said more cases of money laundering, extorting commissions from companies and manipulating tenders by misusing official power would be brought against Tareque and other arrested political leaders.

Since January, police have arrested more than 160 leaders, including several former ministers belonging to the BNP and the Awami League of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The two women, have alternated as prime ministers for last 15 years.

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