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Dhaka charges ex-PM in Niko graft probe


Staff & news wires

Bangladesh's military-backed interim government formally charged former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia with graft in a case involving the Canadian oil exploration player Niko Resources, officials said today.

"We have ample evidence to substantiate the corruption charges," an Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) official told reporters.

Niko representatives were not immediately available when contacted by UpstreamOnline.

In December a company an official told Reuters that the company had not operated unethically in Bangladesh. The official also said Niko had not been contacted by the Bangladesh authorities after the charges were laid.

The ACC said Khaleda's government had failed to recover millions of dollars in compensation for environmental damage caused by two blow-outs at the Chattak gas field in 2005.

Khaleda has been detained since last year while authorities investigate cases of corruption and abuse of power.

The authorities also plan to bring formal charges against her rival former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on grounds that her government first allowed the Canadian player to operate in Bangladesh "without transparent deeds".

Hasina was prime minister between 1996 until 2001, while Khaleda ended her five-year term in 2006.

Both women have been held in separate buildings in a parliament compound since their arrests last year.

Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January last year, when the army-backed interim government took charge following months of political violence.

More than 170 leading politicians, including dozens of ex-ministers, have been detained in the anti-corruption drive.


Monday, 05 May, 2008, 16:23 GMT  | last updated: Monday, 05 May, 2008, 16:23 GMT

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