Bangladesh still restricts ex-PM's moves--party

DHAKA, Apr 30 (Reuters) Bangladesh's army-backed interim government is still restricting the movements of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, despite public denials from the authorities, her brother and close associates said today.

Khaleda could not attend post-funeral rites for a dead colleague from her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the capital late yesterday because she did not receive clearance from the security forces, associates said.

''The reason is well understood by all of us,'' Khaleda's younger brother, Sayed Iskandar, told reporters.

Media reports earlier said Khaleda had been under virtual confinement at her home since April 1, while the South Asian country's caretaker government sought to persuade her to go into exile. The government has denied such moves.

Khaleda and her main political rival, Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, have been targeted by the interim government in an anti-corruption drive ahead of elections.

''For safety, it is our duty to advise VIPs to avoid certain unimportant engagements,'' a senior security official told Reuters today. He did not elaborate.

Khaleda visited Iskandar's house for a family dinner and also met some BNP leaders at her home in recent days, after authorities said on Wednesday they had put no restrictions on her movement. They denied they were pressing her to go into exile.

Iskandar, a former lawmaker and special secretary of the BNP told a local television channel today that Khaleda had named him a party vice president.

''Khaleda Zia has appointed me one of the vice presidents of the BNP, pending a meeting of the party standing committee,'' its highest decision-making body, he told ATN Bangla.

FAMILIES DOMINATE The appointment came following recent criticism of the nation's politics by Mainul Huseain, adviser to the interim government and head of the information and law ministries.

Mainul called for reform of a political system he said had been dominated for decades by relatives of the two iconic party leaders.

Khaleda has led the BNP since her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, was killed in an abortive military coup in 1981. while Hasina has headed the Awami League since the early 1980s.

Hasina and younger sister Sheikh Rehana were abroad and so escaped with their lives in 1975 when their father, independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was killed with most of his family in a coup.

Close associates said Khaleda might still soon visit Saudi Arabia -- where she had been thought to be heading into exile -- to perform a short pilgrimage to Mecca with most of her family.

Meanwhile, leaders of Hasina's Awami League said they expected the former prime minister to fly back to Bangladesh on May 7, after the government on Wednesday reversed a decision to bar her from returning from a holiday in the United States.

Hasina faces charges of corruption and murder related to street violence in Dhaka last October. She has denied the allegations and vowed to clear her name.

British Airways refused to fly her from London to Bangladesh on April 15, citing government restrictions.

The rivalry between Khaleda and Hasina -- who had alternated in power for the past 15 years -- flared into violence last October, prompting the interim government to cancel elections in January and declare a state of emergency.

All political activity has since been banned and security forces have detained more then 160 key political figures, including Khaleda's elder son and political heir-apparent, on various corruption charges.

REUTERS SS RAI2002