DHAKA, Dec 21: Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Wednesday said the government had succeeded in forging a united front against militants and that those who had ‘stayed out of it’ were accomplices of the bombers.

“A national unity against bomb attacks has been forged as some opposition parties with representation in parliament, professional bodies and different organizations participated in the dialogue meant for finding ways to combat Islamist militancy,” Khaleda Zia said at a public meeting of the ruling BNP at Paltan Maidan. ‘Those who have stayed out of it [dialogue about militancy] are accomplices of the militants.’

The prime minister also said the next general election, slated for early 2007, would be held as scheduled and under the existing constitutional provisions.

In a veiled reply to recent remarks by Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina urging civil and military officials not to be ‘party to the unlawful activities of the government’, the prime minister said the people who made such ‘provocative’ statements would be tried for treason.

On Dec 12, Sheikh Hasina said at a seminar that it was time for ‘civil and military officials to decide whether they should remain with the people or protect the illegally amassed wealth of the prime minister’s family’.

“You [Hasina] will be tried and punished for treason if you don’t stop making such provocative statements,’ Begum Khaleda said.

She criticized the Awami League for boycotting the national dialogue on militancy. “We wanted to have their [AL-led alliance’s] opinion on militancy, which I believe is a national problem. But they did not respond. They did not even receive our letter. [I wonder] How they will be in politics with such a parochial attitude.”