Detained Bangladesh party leader quits politics

Dhaka, July 5: The detained general secretary of Bangladesh's biggest party has decided to quit politics for health reasons, his wife announced today.

She said Abdul Jalil, currently in jail charged with corruption and abuse of power, was sick and unable to perform his duties as number two in the Awami League, which is led by beleaguered former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

''He (Jalil) has conveyed his decision to quit politics considering his poor health and the future of his family and children,'' Rehana Jalil told reporters.

In a statement read out by Rehana, her husband criticised Hasina for her ''authoritarian leadership''. He did not elaborate.

Analysts said Jalil's decision dealt a further blow to Hasina, already reeling from news that several former loyalists including some party presidium members were demanding drastic party reforms apparently aimed at ousting her from the top job.

Jalil was arrested by army-led joint forces in late May as part of an anti-corruption drive, in which more than 170 key political figures have been netted.

They include the elder son of Hasina rival Begum Khaleda Zia, another former prime minister, and more than a dozen former ministers from both the Awami League and Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Some have already been sentenced to various prison terms for graft and extortion while in power.

Reformists in the BNP also want Khaleda out but they need to wait until the army-backed interim government lifts a ban on indoor political activity.

That would allow the various parties to convene national congresses to debate the reform plans. Both Khaleda and Hasina said they would challenge the reformists.

The interim government intervened in January to sideline the feuding political parties amidst street violence, cancelling nationwide elections set for Jan. 22.

Reuters>