Bangladesh ex-PM 'in exile deal'
Security forces in Bangladesh have released the younger son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, official sources have told the BBC.
Arafat Rahman was taken from Khaleda Zia's home in Dhaka, by army forces in a pre-dawn raid on Monday.

His release comes amid mounting speculation that it was part of a deal with the government under which Ms Zia's family would go into exile.

Khaleda Zia's elder son, Tarique Rahman, was also arrested last month.

'Everything finalised'

More than 160 suspects have been held from both of the main political parties in a government anti-corruption drive under a state of emergency imposed in January.

Unlike Tarique Rahman - whose case was suspended for six months by a High Court ruling on Tuesday - Arafat Rahman was not involved in politics.

Leading English-language newspapers including the Daily Star and the New Age reported that Arafat Rahman's release was part of a "negotiated deal" with the government.

"She will be leaving the country for Saudi Arabia in a couple of days. Initially she will be leaving with a one-month visa to perform Umrah [a minor pilgrimage to Mecca] and her permanent residence there will be finalised upon reaching the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the Daily Star said, citing a senior government source.

"Everything has been finalised... now only the formalities, including getting a visa, remain to be completed," it said, adding that the younger son would leave with his mother and the elder brother would follow later.

"Zia has agreed to leave the country but she is taking her time," an unnamed aide of Khaleda Zia told the AFP news agency.

'Long time'

Khaleda Zia has been under virtual house arrest since last week.

"The army held several round of negotiations with her. The release of Arafat Rahman and halting of the case against Tarique Rahman were part of that process," the aide told AFP.


Government officials and leaders of Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) were not available for comment.

Private ATN Bangla television reported that joint military and police forces carried out a massive search inside Khaleda Zia's house on Monday, while senior officials talked to her and her son for a "long time" before taking him into custody.

It said last month, security officials had searched Arafat Rahman's advertising firm, Adsign, and arrested one of his partners from the office on graft charges.

'False and fake'


The military-led caretaker government has launched a vigorous drive against corruption after its leader, Fakhruddin Ahmed, imposed a state of emergency and cancelled national elections planned for 22 January.

Ms Zia's Awami League rival Sheikh Hasina - who has been charged with murder and extortion - has meanwhile reiterated her intention to return home from the US to contest what she called the "false and fake cases" against her.

Sheikh Hasina told the Reuters news agency that she would leave Washington for London on Wednesday and intended to travel on to Dhaka at the week-end.

She said she did not fear detention or physical harm.

"They can do whatever they like, but I know my conscience is clear, I haven't done anything wrong, and I haven't committed any crimes," she said.

"They filed cases and more cases maybe just to punish me."

Leaders of Hasina's Awami League said they were preparing for a legal battle over the charges laid against her.

But some officials, who asked not to be identified, said the government might also want Sheikh Hasina out of the country as well as Khaleda Zia.

Courtesy: BBC.CO.UK


Do you guys think King Gyanendra should learn something from Bangladesh and do the same to our dear political leaders?? I think they will be more than happy to go on an exile to India as they love it so much and want to visit there in any given opportunity.

Here is another way of dealing curroption: King Gyanendra have a choice to follow Pakistan model too....



Musharraf, Bhutto finalise deal: Report

ISLAMABAD: The top emissaries of Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf and exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, have finalised the draft of a deal between the two leaders, according to a media report today.

Under the deal, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will first support Musharraf's re-election by the present assemblies which will be endorsed by the new houses after the general elections, according to a report in the The Daily Times .

In return, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which was pursuing a host of corruption cases against Bhutto and her spouse Asif Ali Zardari in Swiss courts, would drop them, said the report.

According to the report, the emissaries of the two leaders gave the finalised draft of the deal on Sunday night after four rounds of talks held in Dubai and Islamabad in less than a week.

A close relative of Benazir is said to be brokering the deal on her behalf, while a six-member team, headed by Tariq Aziz, National Security Council Secretary and top aide of the President, represented Musharraf at the talks.

Bhutto's close associate and PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim was also involved in the talks, said the report. During the fresh round of talks in Dubai last Friday and Saturday, the president's uniform, that is, his continuation as Army Chief, remained the bone of contention.

However, the president's team assured Bhutto of "flexibility" on the issue if she did the same, said the report. Before leaving for Dubai, the government team met with Benazir's emissaries at Fahim's farmhouse in Chak Shahzad in Islamabad.

PPP spokesman Fratullah Babar, however, denied the report saying that the party's principle stand was that it would not endorse Musharraf as a president in uniform.

"We stand by that and there is no change in that," he said while reacting to the newspaper story. “It is a part of the disinformation campaign by the government against Benazir,” said Babar.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said Bhutto was "begging" for a deal from President Pervez Musharraf and the PML government.

Addressing a public rally in Kohat, Durrani said that contrary to her claims for the last seven years that she won't back Musharraf, Bhutto was now convinced that Musharraf's development agenda had nationwide support.

Durrani said that "The doors of the East have been shut on those who are looking towards the West" for acquiring power. "We will not strike a deal with people who compromise national honour to foreigners," he said.

Commenting on Minister of Railways Sheikh Rashid's claim that the PPP was close to a deal with the government, Durrani told a private television channel that this was Rashid's personal opinion.


Courtesy: Times of India


In conclusion: You scratch my back I will scratch yours.