June 21, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 05, 1428

DHAKA: The leaders of Bangladesh's main political parties are likely to lose their positions as a result of an anti-graft crackdown by the country's emergency government, a minister said on Wednesday.

“We are filing corruption cases as part of overall reforms. We are not doing it to settle scores,” interim law minister Moinul Hosein told the private ATN television channel.

“The legal process we have initiated will not even allow many to stay as leaders because of their involvement in corruption,” Hosein added.

The minister's comments came amid flurry of reports that reformists in Bangladesh's two main parties have planned sweeping changes that may force out two former prime ministers as rival party heads.

Khaleda Zia, a two-time prime minister and the leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), reportedly faces a rebellion and would be asked to quit as party chief by a reformist group led by her party's secretary general.

Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who was premier between 1996 and 2001 and the leader of Awami League, also faces similar rebellion, according to reports in newspapers.

The two have dominated the political landscape since 1991 after military dictator Hussain Mohammad Ershad was forced out.

Sheikh Hasina has been charged with corruption in at least half a dozen cases by the military-backed government.—AFP