Bangla Oppn party office cordoned off

DHAKA: Law enforcers on Saturday cordoned off the headquarters of Bangladesh’s largest opposition party here ahead of a demonstration on Sunday.

Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced the countrywide demonstration after it was not allowed to hold a rally here to protest against the general election on 5 January 2014, which the party dubbed as “democracy killing day”.

However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling Bangladesh Awami League observes 5 January as a “victory day of democracy”, Xinhua news agency reported.

Anti-riot policemen surrounded the headquarters here since morning.

Tensions are running high across Bangladesh as the country’s political situation is once again heating up centering on the third anniversary of 5 January elections which 21 parties, including Zia’s BNP, boycotted.

AFP MONKS AGAINST CHINA IN LANKA: A Sri Lankan policeman leads a monk from a protest in the southern port city of Hambantota on Saturday. Sri Lankan nationalists, monks and local residents are protesting the creation of an industrial zone for Chinese investments on the island.