March 12, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

DHAKA, March 11: Doctors treating detained former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed advised on Tuesday she be taken to the United States for treatment on an ear problem which they say could leave her deaf.

A seven-doctor medical panel examined Sheikh Hasina at a hospital in Dhaka where she was admitted early on Tuesday, an official said.

They unanimously suggested she be treated at the same centre in the United States where she was first treated after she suffered the ear injury in an assassination attempt in 2004, M. Tahir, a member of the medical board, said.

Awami League party leader Sheikh Hasina, incarcerated on corruption charges last July by the military-backed government, was taken briefly to hospital last month complaining of ear trouble, high blood pressure and other ailments.

The former premier “also suffers from irregular blood pressure. Our unanimous opinion is that she should be sent to the United States for the treatment. Until then, she should stay hospitalised,” Mr Tahir said.

Ms Hasina’s hearing in her left ear was severely damaged in the 2004 grenade assassination attempt and she also suffered damage to her right ear.

She went to the United States for treatment but now risked going deaf if she did not get further treatment abroad, the country’s top ear specialist, Pran Gopal Datta, who is also a member of the medical board, told AFP on Monday.—AFP