Brushing aside the possibility of any international link with the recent threats of attacks on her, Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina yesterday and alleged that the government has a hand in it.

In an oblique reference to the government, Hasina told a press conference in the city, "Failing to face us politically, they have resorted to killing, and as part of the plot have been propagandising that top hit man Kala Jahangir has died." Hasina, also president of the main opposition, Awami League (AL), returned yesterday morning from Istanbul after attending a conference of D-8 signatories there.

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"The government will be responsible if the killer hits me," she warned, adding security measures provided by the government for her were not sufficient.

On Monday last, Hasina received phone threats of attack simultaneously in Dhaka and at her hotel room in Istanbul.

She said, "The identities of those who have threatened me are quite obvious The persons

who have been patronising the killers of Bangabandhu and celebrating birthdays on his death anniversaries are doing this." On several occasions in the past, Hasina had alleged that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia observes August 15 as her birthday, though it is not her real date of birth.

Describing the phone threats received in Istanbul, Hasina said, "The caller identified himself as Kala Janhangir and asked me to leave the hotel room, saying there would be attack on me." "When I asked his identity, the caller said he was from Kolkata. However, after a while, he changed his name and said he was like my youngest brother, Russell." Russell was gunned down on August 15, 1975 along with his father, Bangabandhu, and other family members.

Hasina also alleged Kala Jahangir, a listed top criminal, is very close to the prime minister's eldest son.

On the controversial Dhaka-10 parliamentary by-polls, Hasina took a swipe at the Election Commission (EC) saying, "Either

the commission has no backbone or its members were bribed."

She noted, when all the election observers and media [except Bangladesh Television and ntv] reported widespread fake voting at the polls, the EC in the shortest time possible published the gazette and the Jatiya Sangsad speaker arranged for ruling alliance candidate's oath. She claimed the Dhaka-10 by-polls also proves that there were widespread rigging in the last general elections as well.

The AL president accused the government of snatching the people's franchise guaranteed by the constitution in the by-election. She, however, confirmed that her party will contest in the Gazipur-2 by-polls slated for August 1.

On corruption cases pressed against her, Hasina said, "It's not me, but they are the ones who are corrupt. The prime minister, her family members and the entire government have plunged into corruption."

Senior leaders of the AL including Abdus Samad Azad, Abdul Jalil, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Kazi Zafar Ullah, Mohiuudin Khan Alamgir, Obaidul Kader, Syed Abul Hossain and Asaduzzaman Noor were present at the conference.

Earlier, in the morning, leaders of the AL and its front organisations received Hasina at the Zia International Airport, in front of which this time police did not allow any gathering.