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| Bangladesh |
| Politicians barred from BD independence ceremonies |
| 2007-03-27 |
| Bangladesh staged an impressive military parade on Monday to mark the 36th anniversary of its independence but barred political parties from holding their own ceremonies, witnesses and officials said. President Iajuddin Ahmed and the head of the army-backed interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, took the salute at the parade in the capital, Dhaka. They were flanked by the army, navy and air force chiefs. But the politicians who usually occupy front seats at the parade ground were absent, leaving the chairs to advisers of the interim government, bureaucrats and senior military figures. Sheikh Hasina, one of two feuding former prime ministers, was away in the United States but Begum Khaleda Zia was at her home in the capital. Police had told Khaleda, whose five-year term in office ended in October, not to venture out for security reasons. Media said police had told her she could be targeted by militants. “We have had reports of a threat by JMB (Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh) and so to avoid any incident we have deployed 5,500 police in Dhaka city to strengthen security,” Dhaka police commissioner Naim Ahmed told AFP. Hundreds more police were guarding key installations such as power plants, he said. Khaleda was barred from making her regular independence day visit with leaders of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to the national memorial for independence war martyrs at Savar, near the capital and to the Dhaka grave of her husband, the late president Ziaur Rahman. Officials of Hasina’s Awami League were prevented from holding a meeting at the graveside of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. |
| Posted by:Fred |