Bangladesh ex-premier flies home to face charges

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Britain for home today, facing possible arrest on arrival on charges of extortion and of abetting deaths in political street fights -- charges she has denied.

''She has checked in. Her luggage is through. She is flying,'' her spokesman said by telephone from London's Heathrow airport.

''She may be arrested when she arrives, but she feels she has to go back anyway.'' Hasina was flying with Etihad Airlines to Abu Dhabi, where she planned to change planes and take a flight landing in Dhaka at 5 p.m. (630 hrs Ist) tomorrow.

She has been in Britain since April 19 when she stopped off after a holiday in the United States and was barred from flying to Dhaka by Bangladesh's army-backed interim government.

The ban was lifted six days later under intense local and international pressure.

A Bangladesh government adviser has said Hasina will face legal action on her return, but would not say if she might be arrested.

Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January 11, and parliamentary elections planned for January 22 were cancelled after widespread political violence. All political activities are also banned.

Hasina has been charged with abetting deaths cause by street battles between militant supporters of her Awami League and its opponents, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of her bitter rival, Begum Khaleda Zia.

The two women have alternated in power as prime minister since 1991. Khaleda's most recent term ended last October.

Hasina also faces charges of extorting some 430,000 dollars from a businessman when she was in power in 1998. She has denied all the charges and says they were fabricated to keep her out of the political process.

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