October 19, 2007	Friday	Shawwal 6, 1428

DHAKA, Oct 18: Bangladesh’s army chief has said the country came close to martial law in January when months of turmoil led to cancelled elections and the imposition of a state of emergency, a report said on Thursday.

General Moeen U. Ahmed said the country faced three options: to proceed with disputed elections despite vote-rigging allegations, martial law, or emergency rule under a caretaker government, the state-run BSS news agency reported.

“But we decided not to follow in the footsteps of our predecessors as the third option was adopted,” the report quoted him as saying late on Wednesday during a visit to New York.

Bangladesh has been under emergency rule since Jan 11 when polls scheduled for later that month were cancelled amid opposition allegations that the voter list contained 14 million ghost voters.

A military-backed interim government took over the following day vowing to clean up the nation’s notoriously corrupt politics before holding fresh elections late next year.

Moeen, who earlier this week denied any ambition to become president, said the crisis had marred Bangladesh’s reputation abroad.

“We were belittled among the world community who watched how brutally a human being could be killed on the streets,” he said, referring to months of street violence in which at least 35 people died.

The army chief added that the government’s main priority was tackling graft in order to clear the way for the restoration of democracy.

A fresh voter list would be completed by next July in time for elections several months later, he said.

Moeen is widely seen as having been instrumental in the events of Jan 11, but has repeatedly said the army has no intention of grabbing power.—AFP