Bangladesh opposition hails calls for dialogue to end political impasse

Days after Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina brushed aside calls for a dialogue to end the ongoing political crisis, ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's opposition alliance Sunday said it would welcome any such initiative.

"We would welcome any initiative of dialogue which paves the way for holding an inclusive election under a non-party government, " Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Spokesman Salauddin Ahmed said in a statement Sunday night.

Bangladesh politicians, academics, jurists and former bureaucrats have already urged President Abdul Hamid to hold a national dialogue to resolve the current political crisis in the country.

The group of eminent citizens have recently sent letters to the Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, asking them to hold talks to end the political crisis that has reportedly claimed the lives of 70 people since Jan. 5.

The BNP and its allies have been enforcing a nonstop blockade since Jan. 6, demanding fresh parliament polls under a non-party caretaker government system.

Two days after the calls on Wednesday morning after visiting Dhaka Medical College and Hospital where most of the political violence victims are undergoing treatment, Prime Minister Sheikh rejected the calls by eminent citizens, saying culprits responsible will be brought to book. Endi