US senators urge early election in Bangladesh

DHAKA, May 17 (Reuters) Fifteen US senators including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have urged Bangladesh's army-backed interim government to end emergency rule and hold elections.

In a letter to Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of the interim authority, they called for an announcement within the next two months of a roadmap towards free and fair elections to be held as soon as possible.

Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January 11, imposed in the wake of deadly violence between supporters of former prime ministers Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina.

An election planned for January 22 was cancelled and all political activity banned.

''We are troubled that the indoor ban on political activity was not lifted, as planned, on May 8,'' the senators said.

''Moreover, we are concerned by the lack of progress towards free and fair elections in Bangladesh.'' Fakhruddin has said he hopes to hold an election before the end of 2008, while the Election Commission said it would not be rushed by what other nations were saying.

Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) and Hasina's Awami league are also demanding an early election and the immediate lifting of the ban on indoor political activity.

The US senators lauded the efforts of the government to address corruption, saying that it was ''critically important that any anti-corruption campaign be implemented in conjunction with Bangladeshi law and international standards''.

Security forces have detained more than 160 key political figures including Khaleda's elder son and political heir apparent, Tareque Rahman, in an anti-corruption drive.

Khaleda's younger son Arafat Rahman also faces charges of extortion filed by a businessman on Wednesday, police said.

Hasina is facing charges of extortion and murders linked to political violence in Dhaka last October, weeks after Khaleda ended her five-year term as prime minister.

''COUNTRY IS SUFFOCATING'' Hasina told party leaders at her home today that freedoms were being stifled.

''No one has any political right today. People cannot speak their minds. The country is passing through a spell of suffocation,'' private news agency bdnews24.com quoted Hasina as saying.

The government denies the country has been turned into a police state and says politicians are free to talk.

Hasina and Khaleda have alternated as prime minister for 15 years until October 2006, and are likely to face off again in the coming polls.

Khaleda cancelled a planned trip to Singapore yesterday, for a second time in three days, after charges were filed against Arafat.

''The case against Arafat was aimed to prevent Khaleda from going abroad, because they (the government) feel she could exert more pressure on the government from outside,'' a close Khaleda associate said.

''Apparently the government has taken a lesson from Hasina,'' the associate said today, referring to wide media and diplomatic exposure the Awami League chief received while in London recently.

Hasina was stranded there on her way back from a holiday in the United States after the government banned her from returning.

Hasina came back on May 7 after authorities lifted the brief ban following intense local and international pressure.

REUTERS SKB ND1552