One killed, 100 hurt in Dhaka election<\/p>\n
DHAKA (Reuter): Bangladeshis voted in large numbers in the
\ncountry's second parliamentary election in four months yesterday,
\nbut the polling was marred by scattered violence that killed one
\nperson and injured nearly 100.<\/p>\n
Voting closed at 4 p.m (1000 GMT) and counting of ballots
\nbegan immediately. Final results from the 300 constituencies were
\nexpected by tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Witnesses and poll officials said turnout was heavy and they
\nexpected at least 70 percent of the more than 56 million
\nregistered voters to have cast ballots.<\/p>\n
After a peaceful start to elections that Bangladeshis hope
\nwill mark a turning point in their nation's disaster-prone
\nhistory, fighting between political activists broke out in the
\nafternoon despite tight security imposed by 440,000 soldiers and
\nsecurity personnel.<\/p>\n
Police said Ismail Hossain Bahar, an election agent of the
\nAwami League, was shot dead on Sandwip island. At least 10 people
\nwere wounded. Voting in eight polling centres on the island was
\nsuspended, local reporters said.<\/p>\n
In Dhaka, five people were injured as activists of the Awami
\nLeague and its main rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
\nled by former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, fought with home-
\nmade bombs and knives, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
Police drove away the fighters, they said.<\/p>\n
Violence was also reported in the southeastern Chandpur
\ndistrict, where at least 10 people were injured, officials said,
\nadding that voting in three centres had been suspended.<\/p>\n
More than 60 people were injured in clashes at Balaganj and
\nBianibazar constituencies in northeastern tea-growing district of
\nSylhet, local officials said.<\/p>\n
Scattered violence was also reported in Nilphapari and
\nMithapukur areas in the north, police said.<\/p>\n
Despite the violence, a senior police officer described the
\nincidents as "fewer than feared" and said voting in most of the
\ncountry was largely peaceful and disciplined.<\/p>\n
A smooth election followed by a result that is accepted by the
\nmain contenders for power would be an encouraging boost for
\ndemocracy in a nation that has spent much of its 25 years of
\nindependence under military rule.<\/p>\n
"We are not apprehensive of violence during voting but we are
\nafraid of violence when the losing party would refuse to accept
\nthe results," said a government official.<\/p>\n
Among the first to vote in the capital Dhaka was Golam Azam,
\nleader of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party, who cast his
\nballot in a Bangladeshi election for the first time.<\/p>\n
"I am delighted to be able to exercise my citizen's right for
\nthe first time in independent Bangladesh," he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Azam opposed Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan and
\nlived abroad until 1987 when he returned and regained his
\ncitizenship after a long court battle.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's election was called after a vote in February was
\nboycotted by opposition parties led by the Awami League of Sheikh
\nHasina.<\/p>\n
Political analysts expect the race between the BNP and the
\nAwami League to be close.<\/p>\n
A third group, the Jatiya (national) Party, led by jailed
\nformer president Hossain Mohammad Ershad, is likely to hold the
\nbalance in the event of a hung parliament.<\/p>\n
More than 150 Western and Asian observers monitored the
\nelections, which were held under a caretaker government following
\nthe resignation of prime minister Khaleda in March.<\/p>",
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