DHAKA: A street clash between supporters of two small opposition political parties left at least one person dead and 30 others injured yesterday in the Bangladeshi capital, while a suspected New Year's Eve suicide bomb attack was foiled by security forces, sources said.

The clash began when a procession of Jatiya Party supporters reached a downtown area where the Communist Party of Bangladesh was holding a rally, said a police officer, who cannot be named under official briefing rules.

Supporters of the rival parties fought with bricks and bamboo sticks, and burned several buses and cars in the busy office district.

Hundreds of vehicles were blocked in the area and office workers fled in panic.

Shops and cafes also closed their doors.

More than 30 people were injured in the melee. Riot police and firefighters broke up the fighting after about an hour.

At least 18 seriously injured people, including party activists and bystanders, were taken to nearby Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where a young man died of his injuries, a doctor at the state-run facility said on customary condition of anonymity.

Both parties accused the other of instigating the clash.

The Jatiya Party, led by former military dictator Hossain Mohammad Ershad, was celebrating its 20th anniversary yesterday, while the Communist party staged the rally to protest imperialism and price hikes, party

sources said.

Jatiya Party has a few seats in the national parliament, while the Communist Party has none.

Meanwhile, a suspected New Year's Eve suicide bomb attack was foiled in Dhaka when elite security force arrested a man carrying explosives inside a package of sweets.

Hafez Ahmed Kader, 21, a former madrassa (Islamic school) student, was arrested in a market after he was found carrying a bomb.

"He is a suicide squad member of Jamayetul Mujahideen and the second battalion of RAB has learned that he came to Dhaka from Chittagong to carry out a bomb attack," it said.

"The bomb-disposal team of RAB defused the bomb," the statement said