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    DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse thousands of stone-throwing protesters demanding electoral reform in Bangladesh's capital Monday, and one demonstrator died when a police van ran over him. Dozens of police and protesters have been injured at the violent demonstrations that started Sunday in support of a strike, called by an alliance of 14 political parties, to press for the resignation of elections officials. The alliance has demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner M. A. Aziz and his three deputies, accusing them of favoring former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's coalition government. Aziz denies the allegations and has refused to step down. The alliance, led by the Awami League, which was the main opposition party during Zia's tenure, also says the caretaker government headed by President Iajuddin Ahmed has failed to take steps to ensure elections due in January will be free and fair. On Monday, Ahmed asked four advisers to talk to the Awami League's alliance and the four political parties of Zia's coalition government to end the standoff, government spokesman Mahbubul Alam said. "The government wants an early resolution to the crisis," Alam said. Nevertheless the alliance threatened to stretch the strike into a third day. "We will continue the strike program unless our demands are met," Awami League spokesman Abdul Jalil told reporters Monday. The Awami League's main rival, Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party, meanwhile announced it also will hold rallies Tuesday. "We will hold peaceful demonstrations across the country to protest the alliance's undemocratic, violent protests," said party spokesman Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan. On Monday, slogan-chanting activists rallied on the streets of Dhaka and halted public transportation except for tricycle pedicabs. Baton-wielding police clashed with about 5,000 demonstrators in the capital after they started throwing stones and smashing vehicles for defying the strike. 25 people woundedPolice used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters who attacked vehicles in Narayanganj town near Dhaka. At least 25 people, including two policemen, were wounded in the melee, the United News of Bangladesh news agency reported. At Savar industrial zone outside the capital, pro-strike workers damaged 11 buses, the news agency said. Two demonstrators were injured when a police van knocked them over as it sped away to avoid a mob, Dhaka Metropolitan Police said in a statement. One of the two later died in a hospital, the statement said. United News of Bangladesh said the police van was chasing the demonstrators. Police will investigate the incident and those responsible will be punished, the police statement said. Also Monday, at least 50 passengers were injured, five seriously, when a train derailed in Mymensingh, 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Dhaka, UNB reported, quoting railway sources. The report said protesters had removed parts of the track. Demonstrators converged on highways leading into and out of the capital, cutting off Dhaka from the rest of the country, ATN Bangla TV station reported. The shutdown also hampered activities at the country's main sea port in Chittagong, 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Dhaka, and halted goods trucks at five checkpoints on the border with India. On Sunday, protesters set fire to a train and attacked public transport workers who defied the strike call. One man died in Sunday's violence. The government denied domestic media reports that it planned to deploy the army to quell any unrest. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
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Bangladeshi riot police charge protesters Monday in Dhaka.
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