December 10, 2007	Monday	Ziqa'ad 29, 1428

DHAKA, Dec 9: Two former Bangladesh prime ministers were charged Sunday over multi-million dollar deals awarded to a Canadian gas company, officials said.

Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who between them ruled the country for 16 years, awarded three virgin gas fields to Niko Resources in an alleged bid to profit from the deals, an anti-corruption commission spokesman said.

“We have filed two corruption cases against the two former prime ministers,” spokesman Hanif Iqbal said.

“They declared three virgin gas fields ‘abandoned’ and ‘marginal’ and then handed over the three fields to Niko without inviting tender,” Iqbal said.

“These illegal deals cost the country a loss of 236.44 billion taka ($3.45 billion). They abused their power to get the deals done,” he added.

A vice-president of Niko Resources Bangladesh Limited and three former ministers have also been named in the two cases, he said. An investigative officer at the anti-graft body, Mahbubur Rahman, said the charges follow a months-long investigation into the deals.

Two-time prime minister Khaleda is the leader of the Bangladesh Natioalist Party (BNP) which ruled the country until October last year, while Sheikh Hasina heads the Awami League party which was in power from 1996-2001.

Both were arrested earlier this year by the country’s military-backed emergency government on at least half a dozen other charges of corruption.

There was no immediate comment from the company involved, and details of the deals have not been revealed.—AFP