November 13, 2008	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 14, 1429

DHAKA, Nov 12: Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed is willing to meet her bitter rival Khaleda Zia in an effort to restore democratic rule to the country, one of her party officials said on Wednesday.

Sheikh Hasina and Zia are believed to have barely spoken since 1991, when they worked together to overthrow the military regime in Bangladesh.

The women, from opposing political dynasties, ruled Bangladesh alternately from then until January 2007, when a state of emergency was imposed and an army-backed government stepped in.

The current interim authorities have repeatedly called for talks between the two political leaders ahead of polls on December 18, the first parliamentary elections in seven years.

The acting general secretary of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party said the 61-year-old leader had agreed to the meeting.

“She is ready for talks, but there has to be an agenda. If we get a formal proposal, we’ll obviously consider it,” Syed Ashraful Islam said.

According to lawyers, Zia is also willing to meet with Sheikh Hasina.

The intense personal animosity between the two, who are known as the “battling begums” — begum is a Muslim female honorific — has long paralysed political life in Bangladesh.

They are both blamed for rampant corruption and Bangladesh’s political meltdown that prompted the declaration of a state of emergency last year.

That crisis saw the Awami League accuse Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of trying to rig elections, and weeks of strikes and violent protests brought the country to a standstill, prompting the army’s intervention.

In the latest sign that the run-up to polling day may not be smooth, the government on Wednesday temporarily banned political rallies after violent demonstrations in Dhaka over the arrest of an Islamic party leader.

—AFP