12 December 2004	Sunday	29 Shawwal 1425

DHAKA, Dec 11: Up to 100 people were injured in clashes in Bangladesh as millions of opposition activists formed a 900-km "human chain" to demonstrate no confidence in the government on Saturday.

"The clashes erupted among stick-wielding activists of different political parties in the northern region," said a senior administrative official at Bogra, 250kms north of Dhaka.

Despite the clashes the opposition said the demonstration of no confidence in the government was successful.

"The programme was a success as some 10 million people, double our expectation, joined the programme, despite obstruction by the government," Mohammad Abdul Jalil, general Secretary of the Awami League, said.

Leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) denied that the party's workers were involved in the clashes, saying they occurred between rival groups from opposition parties.

Participants stood hand in hand on the roadsides linking Teknaf, in the southeast, with Tentulia, in the northwest, for an hour to show no confidence in the government of Begum Khaleda Zia, Mr Jalil said.

The government deployed thousands of police and paramilitary troops to tackle any possible violence during the formation of the cross-country human chain.

Thousands of activists carrying loudspeakers, banners and placards with anti-government slogans had been converging since the morning.

Helicopters carrying troops from the elite Rapid Action Battalion flew over major urban centres in the densely populated country of 132 million to monitor the protest.

"We want resignation of the government as it failed to give security to the public life, curb corruption, halt commodity price hikes and gagged the opposition," said Rashed Khan Menon, president of the Bangladesh Workers Party.-AFP