Hasina's warrant suspended
24/04/2007| IslamWeb
A Bangladeshi court yesterday suspended an arrest warrant for former prime minister Sheikh Hasina after police sought more time to investigate murder charges she is facing.Another former premier Khaleda Zia, meanwhile, has packed her bags for an imminent departure into exile, a source close to the family said yesterday, the day after her arch rival was barred from returning to the country.
Zia and her long-time adversary Sheikh Hasina, the head of the Awami League, are being forced out as part of a corruption crackdown by emergency-ruled Bangladesh's interim government.
Sheikh Hasina, who was charged in absentia with involvement in political killings, was earlier stopped from boarding a flight from London's Heathrow airport to Dhaka - in line with a government order for her to stay abroad.
A court in Dhaka, meanwhile, suspended a warrant for her arrest in connection with the killings to give officers more time to investigate - a legal procedure that does not signal any change in the decision to keep her in exile.
A source close to Zia's family said that Zia's belongings stood packed and ready at her residence in Dhaka where she has been under virtual house arrest for the past week.
"Everything has been packed up in boxes. It is all waiting to be moved," said the source.
The family, including her daughter-in-laws and three grandchildren, remained at the house and were awaiting news from the government, said the source.
The Bengali-language daily Naya Diganta, which is close to Zia's political circle, said there was still "uncertainty about Khalada Zia going to Saudi Arabia" as authorities had planned.
"The visa activities and other related activities have not yet been completed," said the paper, which supports the Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami- the main ally of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Reports over the weekend had said visa arrangements were close to being finalised and that a specially chartered plane has been waiting at Dhaka airport to take her to Saudi Arabia.
But the paper quoted a government source saying that if visas for Saudi Arabia are not secured for Zia and her family, other countries would also be considered - including Kuwait, the UAE, Oman and Singapore.
"The officers have not yet come to her house. She was told to pack up, but there are still some visa complications," another source close to the family said.
Zia is reported to have agreed to leave the country in return for leniency for her two sons.
Her influential elder son Tareque Rahman has been in custody since March on extortion charges. Zia's younger son Arafat Rahman was briefly arrested last week and also faces corruption allegations.
Zia and Sheikh Hasina, who are arch rivals and said to hate each other, are accused of years of misrule that ended in a cancelled elections and the imposition of a state of emergency earlier this year.
The new government, which has behind the scenes support from the armed forces, has pledged to clean up Bangladesh's notoriously corrupt and dysfunctional political system before holding new elections before the end of 2008.
Zia's four-party coalition government stepped down at the end of its five-year term in October.
As part of its anti-graft campaign, the current government has arrested scores of prominent figures from both parties on corruption allegations.
Zia and Sheikh Hasina are both members of opposing Bangladeshi political dynasties.
They are known as the "battling begums" for their longstanding personal rivalry, and have ruled the country alternately since democracy was reinstated in 1991.
Many Bangladeshis blame the rivalry between Hasina and Zia for worsening the country's widespread poverty and corruption. Bangladesh's current interim government took over in January from a Zia-backed caretaker administration, which replaced her after her five-year term ended in October.
PHOTO CAPTION
Bangladeshi security personnel stand guard at the VIP Entrance to Zia International airport in Dhaka, early 22 April 2007. (AFP)