One killed, 100 hurt in Dhaka election

One killed, 100 hurt in Dhaka election

DHAKA (Reuter): Bangladeshis voted in large numbers in the
country's second parliamentary election in four months yesterday,
but the polling was marred by scattered violence that killed one
person and injured nearly 100.

Voting closed at 4 p.m (1000 GMT) and counting of ballots
began immediately. Final results from the 300 constituencies were
expected by tomorrow.

Witnesses and poll officials said turnout was heavy and they
expected at least 70 percent of the more than 56 million
registered voters to have cast ballots.

After a peaceful start to elections that Bangladeshis hope
will mark a turning point in their nation's disaster-prone
history, fighting between political activists broke out in the
afternoon despite tight security imposed by 440,000 soldiers and
security personnel.

Police said Ismail Hossain Bahar, an election agent of the
Awami League, was shot dead on Sandwip island. At least 10 people
were wounded. Voting in eight polling centres on the island was
suspended, local reporters said.

In Dhaka, five people were injured as activists of the Awami
League and its main rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
led by former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, fought with home-
made bombs and knives, witnesses said.

Police drove away the fighters, they said.

Violence was also reported in the southeastern Chandpur
district, where at least 10 people were injured, officials said,
adding that voting in three centres had been suspended.

More than 60 people were injured in clashes at Balaganj and
Bianibazar constituencies in northeastern tea-growing district of
Sylhet, local officials said.

Scattered violence was also reported in Nilphapari and
Mithapukur areas in the north, police said.

Despite the violence, a senior police officer described the
incidents as "fewer than feared" and said voting in most of the
country was largely peaceful and disciplined.

A smooth election followed by a result that is accepted by the
main contenders for power would be an encouraging boost for
democracy in a nation that has spent much of its 25 years of
independence under military rule.

"We are not apprehensive of violence during voting but we are
afraid of violence when the losing party would refuse to accept
the results," said a government official.

Among the first to vote in the capital Dhaka was Golam Azam,
leader of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party, who cast his
ballot in a Bangladeshi election for the first time.

"I am delighted to be able to exercise my citizen's right for
the first time in independent Bangladesh," he told reporters.

Azam opposed Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan and
lived abroad until 1987 when he returned and regained his
citizenship after a long court battle.

Yesterday's election was called after a vote in February was
boycotted by opposition parties led by the Awami League of Sheikh
Hasina.

Political analysts expect the race between the BNP and the
Awami League to be close.

A third group, the Jatiya (national) Party, led by jailed
former president Hossain Mohammad Ershad, is likely to hold the
balance in the event of a hung parliament.

More than 150 Western and Asian observers monitored the
elections, which were held under a caretaker government following
the resignation of prime minister Khaleda in March.