Condemning the recent spate of violence and hartals, the United States yesterday asked the ruling Awami League and the BNP to hold dialogues and work out a mechanism for conducting the next parliamentary elections.

"Both the parties should avoid the hartal and try to resolve their differences peacefully and peacefully in parliament," said US State Department official RobertO Blake.

Whatever resolution both the parties agree upon will be acceptable to the international community, he said at his predeparture press briefing at Westin Hotel in the capital.

Blake, assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs, arrived here on December 8 on a four-day visit to attend the Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium as well as to hold talks on the evolving political situation with top leaders of the government and the opposition and civil society members.

The State Department official opposed hartal for two reasons --it causes suffering to poor people who rely on daily wages to sustain themselves and their families and it also damages Bangladesh's image and its efforts to try to attract new investments.

Blake said foreign investors wanted safe and easy working environment but hartal made it difficult for their businesses.

"We strongly support resumption of dialogue. We strongly support BNP returning to parliament and participate in passing the laws that need to be passed in your legislature."

Asked how the gap between the two parties could be narrowed down in the wake of the arrest of BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Blake said he had not expressed concern over the arrest as it appeared in yesterday's newspapers.

BNP's claim of his expressing concern over the issue was inaccurate, he said. "This is a matter for Bangladesh judiciary to consider and obviously we hope his constitutional right is respected."

Making his point clear, the US state department official further said he was worried over the violence.

Referring to the killing of Bishwajit in old Dhaka during the roadblock on Sunday, he said he hoped that the perpetrators would be brought to swift trial as per Bangladeshi law.

Asked whether the independence of the judiciary is in question after the disclosure of Skype conversation of the chairman of an international crimes tribunal with another legal expert, he said "he cannot comment on specifics of a Bangladeshi court."

However, he reiterated US position on the war crimes trial, urging the government to ensure that the trial fully respects the due process of Bangladeshi law and that it is credible, independent and transparent in bringing the perpetrators to justice.