February 08, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 19, 1428

DHAKA, Feb 7: Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus said on Wednesday the new government’s massive anti-graft drive had given Bangladesh hope.

The high-profile politicians – including nine former ministers with links to both the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the opposition Awami League – have been detained in raids by the army, police and security forces since Sunday.

“Those in politics should be corruption-free so we can enjoy a new country. A new favourable environment has been created by the present caretaker government and it is giving the people optimism,” Yunus told reporters as he arrived back in Bangladesh, following a visit to India.

Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize last October for his pioneering work giving tiny loans to the very poor.

Asked if he would consider entering politics, he said he might be ready to consider the possibility.

“I am saying, as before, that if there is necessity I will immerse myself in politics. You advise me when is the right time to enter politics. If it is the right time, I will think over it,” he said.

His comments came as the head of Bangladesh’s anti-graft commission and one his deputies resigned on Wednesday in a move seen as crucial to the interim government’s corruption crackdown.

The commission was dismissed by critics as “comatose” and “dysfunctional” due to infighting among top officials.

The officials, however, have blamed the commission’s failure on a lack of manpower and guidelines.

Meanwhile, police said one more politician, Ali Asgar Lobi – a former president of Bangladesh Cricket Control Board and a lawmaker with the previous Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government – had been arrested in Dhaka on Tuesday.

So far 20 out of the 23 detainees have appeared in court and been remanded for a month.

The anti-corruption drive is part of the new interim government’s attempt to clean up political life in order to hold free and fair elections.—AFP