& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

’Unconditional' release for Khaleda very soon

All procedures finalised, says adviser Quader; JCD men vandalise cars for her freedom

Staff Correspondent
Detained BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will be released "unconditionally" very soon as the caretaker government has finalised all procedures in this regard. She is expected to be freed under an executive order.
"Khaleda Zia will be released without any condition...The process for her release has reached the final stage," Communications Adviser Ghulam Quader said while responding to reporters' queries at the Bangladesh Secretariat yesterday.
The adviser, however, could not say when the BNP chief would be released. "It is difficult for me to answer," he said.
Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman also said the government was fully aware of its responsibilities regarding her release. "We are determined... but we do not want to talk about any date."
Nirjaton Protirodh Chhatra Andolan (student movement to
resist repression) a platform backed by the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) staged demonstrations on Dhaka University campus last night demanding immediate release of Khaleda Zia.
Sources said the students vandalised around seven vehicles and set a few tyres on fire on the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) intersection around 8:15pm.
Army-led joint forces arrested former prime minister Khaleda at her cantonment home on September 3 last year in connection with the Gatco corruption case. She is now held at a makeshift special prison set up on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises. Khaleda is facing four corruption cases now.
The army-backed government detained Khaleda and former premier Sheikh Hasina and dozens of high-profile politicians and businessmen as part its countrywide crackdown on corruption.
FROM PAGE 1
The release of her elder son Tarique Rahman, now at the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). may take time as he is accused in 15 corruption and extortion cases.
'The process of releasing Tarique, also senior joint secretary general of BNP. is underway. Like nis younger brother Arafat Rahman Koko he is also expected to leave the country straightaway for medical treatment." said a senior home ministry official.
About the progress made so far for releasing Tarique, Ghulam Quader said it was difficult for him to ascertain whether the process was at the final stage. He, however, said tire government was dealing ^nith the issue of releasing Tanquc on humanitarian grounds.
BNP insiders said Khaleda's first move after her release would be to unite the party which has split into several factions and now faces a serious image crisis in the absence of its chief.
She may also withdraw the expulsion orders on former BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Ashraf Hossain to brine all the feuding factions together and face the upcoming parliamentary elections in full strength of the party, they added
They said the BNP chief is not happy with the stance BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain has taken as he failed to keep the party united.
"She is somewhat annoyed with Delwar," said an insider.
Khaleda may opt not to stay at her cantonment home aiming to move freely and oversee party activities. The government, however, will want her to stay at her cantonment home, one of her close aides told The Daily Star.
"She (Khaleda) may leave the country within a couple of days of her release to perform umrah? the aide added.
। A number of BNP leaders * alleged that the government kept them in the dark about her release. They said only the close aides of Khaleda were involved in the secret negotiations regarding her release.
^The advisers are saying that her release is in the final stage but the party has not been informed of the matter," Rizvi Ahmed, acting office secretary of BNP, told reporters
yesterday.
The process of releasing Khaleda was expedited after her political archnval Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina was released on lune 11. Hasina was also released without any conditions and on medical grounds. She is now in the US having treatment for her eyes and ears.
The release of Khaleda is being delayed as she has refused to leave the country leaving behind her sons. Koko, facing two corruption cases and an extortion case, was released for two months under an executive order on July 17.
The home ministry was supposed to issue an executive order regarding Khaleda's release yesterday. Officials of the ministry, how-ever, said the order might be issued today.
Tne BNP-led alliance leaders yesterday gave the government a 72-hour ultimatum to release Khaleda or else they would go for tough programmes.
Meanwhile. Nirjaton Protirodh Chhatra Andolan in support of their demand brought out a procession from Madhu's canteen on DU campus around 7:40pm and marched towards Shahbagh intersection, sources said.
Police stopped the procession in front of the Fine Arts faculty and asked student leaders to not to take the procession forward. The procession made a U-tum and headed towards TSC intersection started vandalisingvchicles.
Later, a good number of armoured police were deployed at TSC and at Shahbagh to avoid further violence.