Bangladesh Opposition Leader Leaves Office for First Time in Three Months

Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia left her office for the first time in three months Sunday in a sign of easing tensions after deadly protests plunged the country into a political crisis.

Zia, 69, was taken by car to court where she will seek bail in graft cases against her. Authorities had confined her inside the compound in an upscale district of Dhaka on January 3, after she threatened to lead a massive anti-government rally through the capital on the first anniversary of a disputed national election.

A judge issued an arrest warrant against the former prime minister last month after she had repeatedly failed to attend hearings in the graft cases against her.

"She left the office at 9.55 am (0355 GMT) and will be in the court in about an hour," Shamsuddin Dider, a spokesman of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), told Agence France Presse.

"It's the first time in more than three months she has stepped out of her office where she was confined on the night January 3," he added.

Zia had threatened to lead a massive anti-government rally in the capital on the first anniversary of the disputed January 5 polls.

Police had padlocked her office's front gate, sprayed pepper at her as she tried to leave the compound, and parked ten trucks loaded with sand and bricks outside the gate in a bid to thwart her from leading the rally.

Although security was relaxed weeks later, there were restrictions on entering the compound. More than a dozen people were arrested as they tried to meet with Zia or bring food for her.       

While confined, a defiant Zia called her supporters to try to enforce nationwide transport blockade to force her bitter rival, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to quit and pave the way for new polls under a neutral administration.        

The protests have unleashed deadly violence leaving more than 120 people dead, with opposition activists firebombing hundreds of buses and trucks and police responding by firing live rounds.

Around 15,000 opposition supporters and dozens of BNP senior officials have been arrested as part of a crackdown by Hasina to end the unrest.

Zia leads a 20-party opposition alliance which boycotted last year's vote on the grounds it would be rigged.

Last month a lower court issued an arrest warrant against her for embezzling $650,000 from a charity and a trust when she was the premier in 2001-6. The warrant, however, has not been executed. 

Zia has called the cases politically motivated and aimed at destroying her party. The opposition leader also faces at least four unrelated charges over the ongoing violence.

The United Nations and the European Union, Dhaka's biggest trade partner, have urged the government and the opposition to hold talks to end the crisis.