Bangladesh candidates invoke Islam in polls
| They aren't Lutherans ... |
Hundreds of foreign election observers are fanning out across Bangladesh in an attempt to ensure a fair election in a country where the main candidates have invoked Islam in order to win. The stakes in Monday's parliamentary elections in the Muslim-majority country, which come two years after a military coup, are high as the growing influence of Islamic radicals threatens to undermine Bangladesh's most important diplomatic relationships.
The country's biggest donors are spending millions of pounds on the vote - Britain has given £1 million to the Asian Network for Free Elections - after putting pressure on the desperately poor country to hold the polls. The foreign ministry in Dhaka estimates that 500 observers will monitor the election.
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