Posted on Mon, Aug. 30, 2004


General Strike Cripples Bangladesh


Associated Press

A general strike to protest a recent grenade attack that killed 20 people at an opposition political rally brought Bangladesh to a near standstill Monday.

Shops and schools were closed and most traffic halted across the country during the dawn-to-dusk strike called by opposition Awami League activists. It was the fourth strike in a week.

Meanwhile, ruling party supporters also held street rallies Monday to protest the grenade attack, saying those who seek to weaken the government were behind it.

Violent protests and a series of strikes have disrupted life in this South Asian nation after the Aug. 21 attack, in which a dozen grenades were lobbed into the crowd outside the Awami League's headquarters in central Dhaka. Twenty people were killed and more than 300 injured.

Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, who escaped unharmed, blamed the government for the blasts and demanded its resignation. She accused police of allowing the attackers to escape.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's government has denied the allegation and condemned the attack.

Fearing renewed violence during Monday's strike, authorities deployed thousands of security forces in the country's more than 60 cities and towns. However, no violence was reported.

More than 7,000 police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled Dhaka streets, which were empty of cars.

Many commuters used tricycle rickshaws that strike organizers allowed to operate. A few public buses and some taxis plied the streets, defying the shutdown.

Strike supporters, meanwhile, briefly stopped trains on two routes near Dhaka, the Railway Department said.

River ferries and airline flights operated as normal, authorities said.

Riot police erected barbed wire barricades around the Awami League headquarters to stop dozens of protesters from taking to the streets, witnesses said.

On Sunday the Bangladesh government offered a reward of $173,635 to anyone who identifies those behind the Aug. 21 attack.

The Home Ministry made the announcement as two anti-terrorism experts from Interpol, the French-based international police agency, arrived in Dhaka to help local police investigate the blasts.

Since losing power in 2001 elections, the Awami League has staged a campaign of general strikes accusing the government of corruption, incompetence and authoritarianism.

The government has denied the allegations and refused to step down before its five-year term ends in 2006.





© 2004 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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