Former Bangladesh PM arrested

DHAKA – Police in Bangladesh arrested former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and one of her sons yesterday on charges of corruption and misuse of power, officials said.

The military-backed government cancelled elections earlier this year after months of politically motivated violence, and yesterday’s arrest appeared to be the latest in a series of moves by authorities to undermine the country’s political elite, a group widely viewed as deeply corrupt. Zia told a Dhaka court that she and her son are innocent, but they were both ordered jailed pending trial.”This is a conspiracy to tarnish the image of my family and my party,” Zia said.”We have done nothing wrong.This case against us must be lifted.”From the court, Zia, escorted by hundreds of police, was taken to a makeshift prison near the Parliament building.Her prison is just a few blocks from where her archrival and another ex-premier, Sheikh Hasina, has been held since July on extortion charges.The officials arrested Zia at her home in the Bangladeshi capital hours after a case was filed by an anti-corruption official against her and her youngest son, Arafat Rahman Coco, Dhaka Metropolitan Police official Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman told The Associated Press by phone.Zia, who ended her five-year term in October, is accused of misusing her power by awarding contracts to a local company, Global Agro Trade Company, when she was in office in 2003.Coco allegedly influenced his mother to approve the deal.The complaint said Zia’s administration did not follow standard procedure in awarding the company work involving two cargo terminals, one in Dhaka’s Kamlapur Railway Station and another in the country’s main Chittagong seaport.Officials could not immediately be reached for comment.Zia’s elder son, Tarique Rahman, was arrested on charges of extortion in March.Rahman, a senior leader of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, is now in jail awaiting trial.A case was filed separately late on Sunday against Hasina on charges of taking a bribe in return to allow a company to build a power plant when she was in power in 1997, a police official said.Hasina, a bitter rival of Zia, is accused of taking US$435 000 from the Khulna Power Company Ltd.to approve the project, Dhaka Metropolitan Police official Jane Alam told reporters.She and her Awami League party denied the allegation.She faces three other charges of extortion and has been in jail awaiting trial since July 16.Nampa-APZia told a Dhaka court that she and her son are innocent, but they were both ordered jailed pending trial.”This is a conspiracy to tarnish the image of my family and my party,” Zia said.”We have done nothing wrong.This case against us must be lifted.”From the court, Zia, escorted by hundreds of police, was taken to a makeshift prison near the Parliament building.Her prison is just a few blocks from where her archrival and another ex-premier, Sheikh Hasina, has been held since July on extortion charges.The officials arrested Zia at her home in the Bangladeshi capital hours after a case was filed by an anti-corruption official against her and her youngest son, Arafat Rahman Coco, Dhaka Metropolitan Police official Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman told The Associated Press by phone.Zia, who ended her five-year term in October, is accused of misusing her power by awarding contracts to a local company, Global Agro Trade Company, when she was in office in 2003.Coco allegedly influenced his mother to approve the deal.The complaint said Zia’s administration did not follow standard procedure in awarding the company work involving two cargo terminals, one in Dhaka’s Kamlapur Railway Station and another in the country’s main Chittagong seaport.Officials could not immediately be reached for comment.Zia’s elder son, Tarique Rahman, was arrested on charges of extortion in March.Rahman, a senior leader of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, is now in jail awaiting trial.A case was filed separately late on Sunday against Hasina on charges of taking a bribe in return to allow a company to build a power plant when she was in power in 1997, a police official said.Hasina, a bitter rival of Zia, is accused of taking US$435 000 from the Khulna Power Company Ltd.to approve the project, Dhaka Metropolitan Police official Jane Alam told reporters.She and her Awami League party denied the allegation.She faces three other charges of extortion and has been in jail awaiting trial since July 16.Nampa-AP